Oswald Wirth-Tarot of the Magicians

I was blessed with a used bookstore find of a 1996 reprint of the Tarot of Magicians in French with cards included in great condition. It was about ten or so dollars to them, but when I went online, it seems the value can be quite a bit higher.
At first it was fun to just pick out words in French, but I remembered where I could find the reprint in English by Samuel Weiser Inc. I found it easier to read than a paperback reprint of Papus' Tarot of the Bohemians. The translation is very good and
Anyway, if I believe what I sometimes see, Papus, Waite/McGregor (?) and Wirth all published within a year of each other? I'm not certain. I do think from what I saw in the Papus book, that Papus cited and included some of Wirth's information.
Anyway, for someone who enjoys finding out 'where things come from,' I think I'm getting close to the sources of some 20th century thinking on tarot in a friendly way...
I've heard some interesting things about Wirth here that made me want to read him. If anyone else has opinions, that would be fun to hear.
Thanks.
Mari H.

Mari ... I had bought the dustier 1966 French version (sans cards) for around $7 U.S., so you got the better deal.

amazon.ca now has the 2001 French language reprint of the Wirth book with Major Arcana cards.

Wirth may have been off by one

Tarot of the Magicians has a cyclical arrangement of the majors in which the Fool is paired with the magician, the HP is paired with Judgment Day, etc., but I see a clear pattern of "descent into the physical world" paired with "the soul's ascent" by simply pairing cards so that x+y=21.
So: 10 Wheel + 11 Strength Worldly wisdom, luck and skill
9 Hermit + 12 Hanged Man Retreat from the world--new viewpoint
8 Justice + 13 Death Karma and more karma
7 Chariot + 14 Temperance Victory in the world and victory over oneself
etc., finally rising to 0 Fool + 21 World Fundamental yin + yang.

Of course, what patterns you see says most about how your mind works.
Not everyone will be looking so hard for patterns, of course.

Regards,
"Numbers"