The Pro Shop Edition of Robert Nelson's "Mental Cardology" is the fourth in a series of reissues of hard-to-find Nelson publications from the Golden Age of Mentalism. For the full background on the Pro Shop Nelson Series, please go HERE.

Originally published by Nelson Enterprises as a standalone item, "Mental Cardology" was later offered as part of "THE MINDREADER'S PACKET", which was described as "a collection of twenty (Yes, 20) Choice Mental and Psychic Mysteries, the most of which may be performed impromptu with little or no preparation."

Here's how Nelson described "Mental Cardology"...

"A divination effect with a deck of borrowed cards, the cards are thoroughly shuffled by any spectator, and any one card is withdrawn and this card is placed in performer's hand behind his (the performer's) back.

The performer then asserts that he will tell the card which is held in his hands behind his back.

After a moment's concentration, the performer names the selected card and same is returned to the spectator."

If you're not a fan of the use of playing cards in your mentalism performances, fear not -- the commentary section of the Pro Shop Edition of "Mental Cardology" describes how to transform a pretty blah card trick into a full billet peek.

In fact, I'm surprised someone hasn't taken this idea and turned it into a "Revolutionary New Billet Peek", given it a mysterious name, and charged a couple hundred bucks for it. The fact that I'm not doing that is probably why I'm not vacationing on the Riviera this year, but at least I'm able to sleep at night.

Originally a one-page mimeographed publication, the Pro Shop Reissue of "Mental Cardology" is 23 pages long and contains much more than the original Nelson publication, including the original ad Nelson used in his catalogs, a brief Nelson biography, and my own commentary that covers how Nelson's clever methodology might be used today.

The 3 Top Reasons Why You Need Some Nelson In Your Life

Reason #1: In my own humble opinion, I believe you need this -- and many other Golden Age titles -- in your library for the simple reason that it is important that you have a sound understanding of the history of our art. A close examination of how Nelson and other entertainers of his time marketed themselves is sure to give you a better understanding of what it was like to be a psychic entertainer during the Golden Age.

Reason #2: In addition to the need for historical perspective, there is also the fact that material like "Mental Cardology" is a great jumping-off point for crafting your own presentations.

Reason #3: At the time I'm writing this, no one else is offering this as a digital download. So, while there is nothing rare about a PDF file download, the Pro Shop Edition of "Mental Cardology" is unique, and I firmly believe that it belongs in every working psychic entertainer's library.