The Bernd A. Mertz Lenormand

Astraea

Hello, Alexander, so nice to meet you! I ordered your book-and-deck set from the Book Depository at the end of last month and am very eager to receive it. Knowing the background of this lovely deck makes it all the more appealing. Lenormand decks with crisp, simple imagery are particularly enchanting to me. Welcome to Aeclectic!
 

Le Fanu

Dear Alexander, how wonderful of you to drop by! And great to hear all about your work. One thing I wasn't sure about, was the "Lenormand re-edition" deck you mentioned the Bernd A. Mertz of the title or the one mentioned in post 17? The limited edition one in the blue box with yellow ship on the front?
 

Alexander Glueck

Decks

Hello,

as I am very sure that my name is not Bernd A. Mertz but Alexander Glück, the deck mentioned in my post is the blue set :)

I got the other one, too, and it is a great deal as well. But mine has got some other kind of charme as it is better in colours, is something smaller and has got real corners and not round ones. If you get the chance to get both, take both.

The publisher is in contact with an agent for the overseas market and thinks about an english edition. If you can name any publisher that could be interested in this, please be so kind and let me know.

Here is just another thing: I got the opportunity to publish all of the cards as large prints on heavy paper or on canvas! You can find them here:

http://www.topposter.de/index.php?type=search&search[text]=lenormand

Please do not worry, partly they are expensive, but not caused by me. The production is very ambitious.

Please take a look on the hand-coloured Lenormand deck on Ebay as mentioned above.

If I can be helpful with any information, please let me know.

Best whishes

Alexander
 

mamawhodun

The Bernd A. Mertz lenormand deck

I got my Mertz deck a few days ago from the Book Depository, UK. It was in a large envelope and it threw me for a second until I opened it and remembered that it was a book and deck set.

The cards were set in the presentation in clear cellophane, upon opening them I found them to be sorted in a random fashion. The size of the card is compact as a true lenormand deck should be. The card stock is of good quality and laminated front and back. The backs are plain. There is a creamy gloss to the card stock a slight yellowish tint which hints of the fading quality of the sun on white paper. The color is subtle on the symbols and takes you by surprise as to where it is found and where it is absent. The pips are not red and black just black as is the royal court in the inserts.

I tried them for size in my card case and they fit perfectly, so they were immediately put into the daily round for a trial period. Today is my third day and thus far I have found this deck to be extremely accurate in hand.

As an example, I happened to have my Facebook page open when I did the daily this morning and glanced up at an entry from a friend before shuffling which had a photo. The cards of the pull described my friend's "situation" to a T!

All in all this deck meets my main criteria for a lenormand: simplicity and compact size. It goes beyond the basics with it's sensitivity and penetrating watery energy. A very good choice for a reading deck!
 

Rose Lalonde

Mertz Lenormand

I'm enjoying this deck, and feel like it was a steal for the cheap price at Book Depository. I love the small size (5.5 cm x 8.5 cm), the smooth, almost waxy (but not sticky!) feel of them, and the way it shuffles. I even like that the symbols are in color while the insets are not, so that it's the quirky mages that jump out the most. Like Le Fanu, I like the heart with the little arteries. I love the plain-as-it-gets key which could be a copy of the one that was in my great grandmother's corner cupboard door. The more elaborate Tower is lovely too. The Mertz seems handsome, which surprised me, because its symbols are bare bones. But it's just so well suited to its purpose, with lots of cream background to keep the spread looking open and uncluttered.
 

Tag_jorrit

The deck that Bernd Mertz reproduced was based on a deck that the Lenormand Museum dates at 1850. The originals were b/w. Then in 1882 the McLoughlin Co. in New York published it again, naming it Madame LeNormand's Mystic Cards of Fortune. This past December I reproduced the McLoughlin deck here. I didn't color of the images but all the inserts were black so I changed the hearts & diamonds to red. A couple of the cards that were altered by McLoughlin were the ship which flies an American flag and the clouds are fluffier and have a more obvious light and dark sides.
 

Rose Lalonde

Mertz Lenormand

I forgot to say that I got the Mertz deck at Book Depository here. Wherever you get it, you want the one that says "Set: Mit 36 Lenormandkarten" (Set: With 36 Lenormand cards). -- The title of the book is "Wahrsagen mit Karten der Madame Lenormand," so if you only see that, you may just be getting the book, which does sell alone in places.