The Wonderland and Looking-Glass Playing Card Set by Stephen W. Brandt

LIMITED EDITION: Only 500 printed! Will NOT be reprinted.

A pair of playing card decks based upon John Tenniel's illustrations for "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass."

Hello again, lovers of playing cards!

I have always loved the original artwork that accompanied the classic books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, created by Sir John Tenniel. As a child and a teenager, I would copy these drawings and eventually I developed my own illustration styles in the process.

I had intended to launch another deck of my own drawings at this time, but my schedule has been quite full -- so I had the idea to instead create these two decks knowing the illustrations are now in public domain. I also had the idea of adding color to these drawings. But after doing such to a few, I realized adding color takes away from Tenniel's original artistry, causing them to look "muddy." The artistic challenge was to make the images symmetrical, using digital photo-editing techniques.

These decks will both include two Jokers and will be printed on 300gsm (smooth stock) in tuck-style boxes. They will be printed by MPC; I truly believe my cards should be collected for their design and artistry, not for the perceived stature of their printers. As Socrates once said, "If you love something, don't shuffle it." Also included is a "secret message" for true fans of the Alice books. These decks are limited to 500 of each deck.

Of course, the content of the original stories by Lewis Carroll begs for complementing playing card decks to be made, and other decks are out there containing these illustrations as well. My goal was to maintain the "feel" of Tenniel's original art without making it "cuter" or twee, maintaining the richness of line quality and overall starkness. With some images I was able to create interesting "interweaving" patterns in making the subjects symmetrical, and I sought to emphasize the surreal and dreamlike qualities of the content.