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Märchen-Quartett

Published August 26, 2020 Updated June 21, 2022

Märchen-Quartett (Fairy Tales) illustrated by J. P. Werth and published by J. W. Spear & Söhne, c.1915.

1915 Germany Spears Games J P Werth Folklore Card Games Quartet
detail from Märchen-Quartett

Märchen-Quartett (Fairy Tales) illustrated by J. P. Werth, whose name appears on one card, was published by J. W. Spear & Söhne in c.1915. I think that this game is a real work of art. The fabulous litho printing and the quality of design make it stand out even above the other wonderful German card games. The theme is once again Fairy Stories based on The Brothers Grimm’s stories and the French tales by Charles Perrault amongst others.

Märchen-Quartett (Fairy Tales) published by J. W. Spear & Söhne, c.1915 Märchen-Quartett (Fairy Tales) published by J. W. Spear & Söhne, c.1915 Märchen-Quartett (Fairy Tales) published by J. W. Spear & Söhne, c.1915 Märchen-Quartett (Fairy Tales) published by J. W. Spear & Söhne, c.1915 Märchen-Quartett (Fairy Tales) published by J. W. Spear & Söhne, c.1915

Above: cards from Märchen-Quartett (Fairy Tales) published by J. W. Spear & Söhne, c.1915. This is an early edition of the game with 48 cards. A later edition was sold with only 32 cards in 1932.

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

Member since January 30, 2009

Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.

His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.

Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.

Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.

His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.

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