2. Its origins

"What's Who? - A dictionary of things named after people"

Limited information has been found to confirm the true origins of Pelmanism and The Pelman Institute and some of the available evidence is conflicting.  In his foreword to W J Ennever's book "Your Mind and How to Use it" his long-standing friend and colleague T Sharper Knowlson writes that "then came a request from Professor Loisette, who was undertaking a popular course in memory training, to undertake its management" while the Oxford English Dictionary states that the Institute was founded by Christopher Louis Pelman, a British psychologist, in 1899 and this is supported by "What's Who? - A dictionary of things named after people".

As John Karp writes in his excellent biography, Ennever hints at these origins, although never mentioning Loisette or Pelman by name: "I realised, however, that the training of the mind was a practical possibility; and, in conjunction with some of the ablest psychologists of the time, I brought out the first modest system of mind and memory training".    John also writes that "Unfortunately there are no reliable sources on Christopher Louis Pelman himself, and his fate remains unknown".

Since John's biography was written we have discovered some new evidence that Christopher Louis Pelman was indeed the person responsible for the first version of the course with the exciting find of a set of booklets of "Memory Training.  It's Laws and their Application to Practical Life" (see images below).  The booklets are undated but are believed to date from the 1880s/1890s.

Left: WJ Ennever's course Right: Christopher Louis Pelman's course

There is no doubting the connection between Christopher Louis Pelman and W J Ennever as the address on Pelman's booklets, "The School of Memory Training", 70 Berners Street, London is the very address where Ennever's wife, Mary Margaret, was living in 1901.  There is another very striking similarity between the two courses in that they both contain the "Knight puzzle".  It is certain that these booklets are indeed earlier instruction courses that helped to formulate Pelmanism.  This, however, throws into some doubt the claims by Sharper Knowlson that Professor Loisette, an American, was the instigator of Pelmanism.

It is clear that Pelman was an American as, despite exhaustive searches, no record other than the address on his booklets has been found for him in England while references do exist to a Christopher Louis Pelman an American "Memory teacher" and to a Pelman School of Chicago.  These can be found in the US Library of Congress Online Catalog where he is credited with writing "Memory Training", presumably the same work as shown below, and "The natural way of learning a language" c1903, a subject he included in those early memory training booklets.

Professor Loisette, while having been very successful in his day, is now largely believed to have plagiarised much of his material and his name Loisette, was itself an alias.  He was born Marcus Dwight Larrowe in the USA and is also known as Silas Holmes.  Further analysis of the Pelman booklets and the work of Loisette supports the view that one was plagiarising the work of the other.   Both men's work originates in memory training and both claim to have developed systems to help to improve memory.  Pelman's earliest known work is the set of 5 booklets while at a similar time, Loisette published his principal work "Assimilitative Memory" in New York in 1896. 

Christopher Louis Pelman's "Figure Alphabet"

Prof. A Loisette's "Figure Alphabet"

Both works contain "Figure Alphabets" as a means of memorising dates or numbers by converting them to words or phrases using consonants.  As a simple example, "Enemies" would represent 230.

While I understand that "Figure Alphabets" had been in existence for several centuries a cursory glance is all that is required to see that both the figure alphabets and their supporting text are virtually identical. In support of his choice of the letter "S" to represent "0" Pelman wrote "A small written s has some similarity with the figure 0; also if the capital letter S were cut into two parts and the bottom half attached to the top half it would make a nought (0)." Loisette argued "If the capital letter S were cut into two parts, and the bottom half attached to the top half, it would make a nought (0).  So it is easy to remember that S represents 0." 

It is believed that Alphonse Loisette was in London between 1885 and 1888 as an A. Loisette is recorded as living and working at 37 New Oxford Street, London and we also know that Pelman was in London, in the 1890s less than half a mile away in Berners Street.  The 37 New Oxford Street address is only a few yards away from 4 Bloomsbury Street, the headquarters of The Pelman School and later The Pelman Institute.  It is of course inconceivable that the two men, living and working within a few hundred yards of each other, would have created virtually identical "Figure alphabets" and their supporting text in isolation.  A natural assumption to make, therefore, is that the two had known each other, and Ennever, and worked together and although there are no known references to Pelman in the UK before 1891, he would have been there before 1888, the last known year that Loisette was living in London.

The fact that Loisette returned to the USA in the late 1880s/early 1890s and published his work with no reference to Pelman suggests that he may have plagiarised some of Pelman's work.  He may have further developed it, or had access to material that Pelman was working on but had not yet published, which enabled him to complete his own book prior to its publication in 1896.  

There are no verifiable references to Ennever & Pelman working together in the USA so it is unclear whether Pelman was working on his own account when he returned to the USA or was in some form of partnership with Ennever.   The earliest known advertisement for the Chicago-based "Pelman School of Memory Training" was in 1903 (see section 5 below) and although Ennever is thought to have previously travelled to the USA we know he travelled there in October 1903 when he gave his final destination as Chicago, clearly suggesting he would be meeting Pelman to further develop their business interests.  

William Joseph Ennever himself had little to say about the Institute's origins, except when interviewed for The Times in 1922.  This is what Ennever had to say in the article "The Biography of an Idea" (see image in section 5) : 

"Pelmanism is not the result of a sudden inspiration, but rather the fruit of gradual evolution.  Nearly twenty-five years of slow and careful experimental work has gone into the upbuilding of the Pelman System. 

The idea, as it existed in my mind at the first, was in a more or less nebulous form.  When I started the Pelman 'School' (as it was originally called) somewhere in the early nineties, I cannot say that I had definitely formulated the idea of Pelmanism as it exists today.  It would be manifestly absurd to do so, because the Pelman system represents the response to a demand of the nature and extent of which I only vaguely guessed the existence twenty-five years ago."

"The Secret of Certainty in Recollection"
The Pelman-Foster System

It's only a short comment, but it's one of the most revealing glimpses Ennever ever gave about the origins of the Institute, then a memory training school, and confirmed for us that Pelmanism was born out of this memory training course.  He was presumably working with Christopher Louis Pelman and maybe others at this time on memory training techniques.

The Pelman School of Memory, as confirmed in the above newspaper interview, was the fore-runner of The Pelmanism Institute and the origin of at least one of its innovations. While correspondence courses were apparently known in the USA the Pelman School was among the first to use the technique in the UK.  Their course for memory training is recorded in the form of "The Secret of Certainty in Recollection. The Pelman-Foster System", a book of five correspondence lessons dating from c1905.  Each lesson was accompanied by an "Examination Sheet" for completion and return to the school but no examples of these sheets have yet been found.  These five lessons are a later version of the "Memory Training" booklets pictured above.

The school was well-established at the time, recording offices in South Africa, America, Australia, Germany, France and India as well as the UK office at 4 Bloomsbury Street, London where it was to remain until the 1930s.  In a later publication, "Your Mind and How to Use It" (1958) Thomas Sharper Knowlson's writes that in 1900 he was asked to become the Director of Instruction and Editor-in-Chief of Ennever's Pelman Course.  In the 1901 census he can be found living in Streatham with his wife, Lily, and young son and his occupation is listed as "Secretary of College (&) Journalist". 

It is unclear whether Pelman was still involved or had lent his name to the system and who "Foster" of the "Pelman-Foster System " was.  However, Pelman's endorsement of Ennever's work is supported by a dedication from Pelman in a 1930s copy of "Brain Building for Success" in which Pelman, then deceased, is quoted as saying "This book is dedicated to the memory of my friend and partner of early days".  Christopher Louis Pelman's fate prior to this time is largely still unknown.

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3. What was Pelmanism?

From an advertisement in "The Pools of Silence" by H de Vere Stacpoole published in 1919.

Pelmanism was advertised as a system of scientific mental training which strengthened and developed your mind just as physical training strengthened your body.  It was developed to expand "Mental Powers in every direction" and "remove those tendencies to indolence and inefficiency".

Amongst the defects and weaknesses claimed to be "rapidly and permanently banished by Pelmanism" were:

And besides banishing these failings, Pelmanism "makes and keeps your brain keen, fresh, vigilant and self-reliant, and develops such valuable positive qualities" as:

Or, as the advertising booklets "The Efficient Mind" (left) and "The Science of Success" (right) put it:

In reality, Pelmanism was more a mixture of perceived common sense and some early practical psychology which found a willing mass audience of people looking for something beyond memory techniques.

4. What Pelmanism taught

• The ability to learn and remember
• The ability to apply the knowledge thus gained
• The ability to reflect, to perceive, to compare, to judge and to decide
• The elimination of harmful habits
• The cure of mental weakness
• The development of latent powers
• The exercise of will-power
• The formation and development of character
• The full development and intelligent direction of your personality

In a sentence, it was claimed that the Pelman Course gives you "a balanced, practical, highly trained and efficient mind".

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5. The Pelman memory training and Pelmanism courses

The memory training courses became popular in the early 1900s, developing into the better-known Pelmanism courses, continuing through the First World War and remaining so until the Second World War and was advertised extensively during this period in newspapers, periodicals and books.   Willam Joseph was declared bankrupt in 1940 and died in 1947 and the course remained in use long after his death. The Times carried an advert for "Super-Pelmanism" on 22nd October 1943, a version of the course it is thought he personally developed to try to regain some of his former glory and wealth.  This was followed by other adverts in The Times in 1945 and the evolution of his training course into his book "Your Mind and How to Use it" published shortly before the Second World War. 

In the promotional booklet published in the USA in 1927 (see below), entitled "Scientific Mind Training", illustrations of Pelman Institute offices from several locations around the world were shown as well as interiors from the London office.  The Royal Academy portrait of William Joseph Ennever, which is also featured in the table of contents, can just be seen hanging above the fireplace in the "Chief Consultant's Offices" in the London Headquarters.

In a similar promotional booklet "The Efficient Mind", probably published in the 1930s, many well-known people of the time extol the virtues of Pelmanism.  These included Sir Max Pemberton, who wrote the forward, Baroness Orczy, author of "The Scarlet Pimpernel", Sir John Foster Fraser, Jerome K. Jerome, Lieut-Gen. Lord Baden-Powell, the brother of the King of Sweden and others.  Even the earliest known advertisement (see below) claims that Ennever had "Crowned heads, Princes, prelates, members of Parliament, merchants, bankers..." among his pupils and offices in Melbourn, Munich and Paris.  It is not yet known when the word "Pelmanism" was coined nor when the course evolved from memory training to a "mind training" course but the earliest known reference to "Pelmanism" is not until 1917.  Its popularity had increased dramatically by the end of the first World War driven by the notion that Britain could regain its position of predominance  in the world.  The regular advertising in The Times would have given Pelmanism "establishment approval" and a number of eminent people of the time had all added their well-publicised support.

Pelman Institute, Application Form. India.

The Pelman Institute was still in Bloomsbury Street, London W.C.1. in the 1930s with offices also in Melbourne (396 Flinders Lane), Durban (Natal Bank Chambers), New York (71 West 45th Street and also at 271 North Avenue, New Rochelle), Delhi (10 Alipore Lane) and Paris (35 Rue Boissy d'Anglais).  There are also records of offices in Calcutta (102 Clive Street) and Java (Kromhoutweg 8, Bandoeng).  Enrolment in the course cost £6.6.0 and it was claimed to have been adopted by over 500,000 men and women.  The education was delivered using a correspondence system that it is thought he modelled on the American system.  It is also claimed that Pelmanism was practised in the Great War in "well-nigh every battalion in the Army and on practically every warship in the Fleet, and its votaries included many Admirals and Generals...".

William Joseph Ennever's book "Your Mind and How to Use It" published in about 1940 claims that over 100,000 members of His Majesty's Forces had enrolled during the Great War for a course that was specially designed for them.  Enrolment in the war-time course called "The Ennever Foundation Course" cost £1.10.0d.  The offices were now located at Vernon House, Sicilian Avenue, London W.C.1.

Like its predecessor, the Christopher Louis Pelman memory training course, Pelmanism has its roots in memory training as can be seem from the following earliest-known advertisements in The Times in February 1903 and from the USA and Canada c1903-5.

Pelman's System of Memory Training. The Times 21/2/1903 (part 1).	Pelman's System of Memory Training. The Times 21/2/1903 (part 2).
The above advertisement was a full newspaper column in length.
Pelman School of Memory. Chicago c1903.	Pelman School of Memory. USA c1905.	Pelman School of Memory. Oswego Daily Palladium New York 10/1/1905.

A small selection of the many later advertisements and testimonials for Pelmanism are shown below:

Pelmanism advertisement: The Times 19/2/1916	Pelmanism advertisement: The Times 19/2/1916	Pelmanism advertisement: The Times 19/2/1916
Pelmanism advertisement (part): The Times 18/7/1918	Pelmanism advertisement (part): The Times 18/7/1918	Pelmanism sweeps the country. The Times 4/2/1919.
Scientific Mind Training booklet. Published in the USA 1927	Scientific Mind Training booklet. Showing images of Pelman Institute offices around the world, including interiors of the London headquarters.	Scientific Mind Training booklet. Table of contents of the booklet, showing the portrait.
Pelmanism advertisement: The Times 20/2/1919	Pelmanism advertisement: The Times 20/2/1919	Pelmanism advertisement: The Times 2/1/1922
Pelmanism advertisement: The Times 28/1/1928 By Edward Anton	Advertisement for the Pelmanism course on back cover of "World Digest" June 1942	Pelmanism advertising brochure containing various testimonies from India. Printed in Delhi
Source: The Times 22nd October 1943.	Source: The Times 22nd March 1945 & 16th May 1945.	Source: The Times 5th December 1945, 6th February 1946, 1st May 1946 and 6th November 1946.

Pelmanism advertisement: "The Times" 5th September 1967

Pelmanism advertisement: "Geographical" 1st November 1967

The Institute was still advertising in The Times, the literary magazine "The Argosy" and other publications until about 1967 but the date of its final demise is not known.  W J Ennever would have been forced to resign from the board on his bankruptcy, however.  The last known advert for Pelmanism is from "Geographical" magazine in November 1967 when the Institute's address was Tudor House, Carter Lane, London EC4 with overseas offices advertised as being in Delhi, Durban & Paris.  In the 1950s it had been located at 28-30 Wigmore Street, London W1 and advertisements for the language courses also appeared at about this time in "The Times".

It is claimed that the course was adopted by more than 500,000 people and another 100,000 of His Majesty's Forces enrolled for a course, specially designed for them, during World War II. Back in 1918 The Daily News had dedicated three columns of its September 28th edition to reviewing Pelmanism.  It is hard to believe that this was an independent review, although it claims to be such, as it reaches the following glowing conclusions:

The early memory training course developed by The Pelman School was a course of five lessons which included Laws of Mental Connection, proper use and training of the senses, the "Figure Alphabet" system of recalling important numbers, learning languages and lists of events, people etc.  These are known in two forms of five lessons each.

Set of 5 booklets by Christopher Louis Pelman (undated)

Later set of 5 booklets by Pelman School of Memory published as a hard cover book "The Secret of Certainty in Recollection"c1905)

A later version of "The Pelman System of Mind & Memory Training" course, thought to date from 1916, had been extended to become twelve lessons, the same format as the earliest known Pelmanism courses.  These lessons contain the first examples of health exercises designed to supplement the improvement of the mind training courses, partly by improvements in breathing techniques and simple physical exercises.   These exercises were created by Eustace Miles M. A.

This 1916 course had developed beyond memory training as can be seen from the title and while no mention is made of "Pelmanism" it was to be only a short period before the full transition had been made to the well-known course title.  Several elements of the Pelmanism pyschology and language training techniques can be found in this version.

The "Little Grey Books", which together with the Exercises and Examination Papers constituted the later Pelmanism Course underwent continual improvement and can be found in twelve or fifteen lesson versions as well as the simplified "Super-Pelmanism" version referred to above (no example of this course has yet been found, however).  The style of the booklets suggests that the fifteen lesson version is a later course.  The twelve lesson version was the course in use just after the 1st World War, the start of Pelmanism's success.  See above for T. Sharper Knowlson's summary of the course as published in The Times in February 1920.

The Course was given entirely by correspondence so that there were no classes or lectures to attend. You could "follow it in your own time and at the most convenient moments".

The fifteen lessons were as follows and in addition "General Supplements" and a second world war "War-time" supplement are also known:

The Soul of Pelmanism	Driving out the inferiority complex	Your purpose in life: How to achieve it	The will to conquer
Concentration and mental control	The Science & Art of Self-realization	The Money Brain: an enquiry into its qualities	The world of people and things to know about them
Self-expression and personality	Good judgement in business & affairs	The scientific method: or how to handle your facts	Your subconscious life
Creating new ideas: Studies in imagination and originality	The use and abuse of reading: How to organize your mental life	Pelmanism in action	For War-time members of his Majesty's forces

Pelman Institute Certificate (1954)

Each booklet came with its own worksheet which the student completed and returned to the Institute.  On satisfactory completion of the course students were awarded a certificate of "Membership of the Pelman Institute".  The "marking" process consisted of an examiner making comments and criticisms which were annotated on to the worksheet and returned to the student.  No scoring of the worksheet was undertaken.

The course also came as a boxed set and the twelve lesson version has also been found as a bound hard cover book (see images at top).  It is likely that the bound volumes were printed either by the student themselves or as an offering by the Pelman School or Institute on completion of the course.  The worksheets were only sent out on completion of a previous one and in the examples of the books I have seen the right edge is not clean cut and there are no standard preface pages.

The nine dots puzzle from Pelmanism Worksheet 8 (1932)

The nine dots puzzle from Sam Loyd's book (1914)

Worksheet 8 of a 1930s course contained a puzzle that will be recognised today as one that appears regularly in logical and creative thinking questions and which appears to be first recorded in Sam Loyd's, Cyclopedia of Puzzles. (The Lamb Publishing Company, 1914).  It seems that the Institute had modified the puzzle for its own use when creating its exercises.

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Brain Building for Success by W J Ennever. The Ennever Foundation Ltd (c1937)

6. "Brain Building for Success" and "Your Mind and How to Use It"

Your Mind and How to Use It by W J Ennever. Doubleday & Doran Co, New York(1938)

Following on from the success of the "Little Grey Books" and maybe in response to declining sales of the correspondence course W J Ennever published his mental training techniques as hardcover books and while they contained many of the exercises from the grey books it was no longer a correspondence course requiring the reader to complete and return "answer sheets".  These hardcover books are first known in the 1930s, the first being "Brain Building for Success" published by The Ennever Foundation Ltd.  It contained the following sections:

• Your Place in the World
• Why not a Better Memory
• Educate your Desires - as well as your Intellect
• The Will to do Well
• Concentration: The Mark of Mental Mastery
• Mental and Physical Rhythm
• A Common-Sense Talk about Personality and Self-Expression

An example of the book published in New York in 1938 included a similar set of chapters.

Your Mind and How to Use It. Special Forces Edition by W J Ennever. Thorsons Publishers Ltd (c1945)

Later versions then appear also entitled "Your Mind and How To Use It" and are simplified and smaller in size and content compared to the above versions in a presumed attempt to regain a mass market and also specifically marketed to members of the armed forces.

Your Mind and How to Use It. Brain Building for Success by W J Ennever. Thorsons Publishers Ltd (reprinted 1958)

In a foreword by Ennever and T. Sharper Knowlson these later editions are sold as "... not a book on psychology, but an entirely new course of mental training developed out of the experience of forty years.  A book on psychology is about everybody's mind.  This book is about your mind."

It is probable that examples of both these books will be found in each of the countries in which The Pelman Institute had offices and covering a period from the mid-1930s until some years after the end of second World War.  The special war time edition produced for HM Forces was an abridged version of "Brain Building for Success" and attempted to build on the success the correspondence course achieved during the Great War. 

Over 100,000 members of the forces had enrolled for the special Great war course that was developed for them although the Institute believed that a lower cost would have substantially increased the take-up.  The second World war edition, being a self-instruction course, was their response.  The 1958 edition for general consumption was virtually identical to its war-time predecessor probably because both Ennever and Knowlson had both died in 1947.

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7. Pelmanalysis (Pelman Institute Vocational Guidance Bureau)

In the 1920s the Institute introduced "Pelmanalysis", a "scientific enquiry into the abilities of men and women" which pointed to "their eligibility to fill specific positions".  The analysis was based on a large chart containing 82 questions of a personal nature and then based upon this information the Institute sent the client a set of psychometric tests which, in turn, were returned to the bureau and analysed.

The lack of available source material suggests that this analysis did not have a great deal of success and no examples of the questionnaire, the tests nor the resulting advice have yet been found. 

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8. Pelman Language Institute courses

Although they are not seen advertised in anything like the frequency of the mind training courses the Pelman Languages Institute also offered language courses in French, German, Spanish, Italian and also Afrikaans and Urdu and possibly Hindustani.  In the booklet "Science of Success" printed in India from the early to mid-1940s it claims that these courses had been in use for over 20 years although there is little evidence of them from this early date.  This later venture probably commenced after William Joseph Ennever had left the Pelman Institute.

The earliest versions of memory training booklets by Christopher Louis Pelman and of Pelmanism all contain hints for learning languages and the last known advertisements for Pelman courses appeared in "The Times" and "Geographical" magazine in 1967 when the Institute's address was Tudor House, Carter Lane, London EC4 with overseas offices advertised as being in Delhi, Durban & Paris.

The booklets were published by The Pelman Institute or the The Pelman Languages Institute but all are undated.

The Gift of Tongues c1940s

The "Science of Success" c1940s The Times 5th Sept 1967.  One of the last known advertisements for the Pelman Institute.

Pelmanism and Health Culture (incl "Stalag IV A" POW stamp)

9. Pelmanism and Health Culture

The pre-WW1 mind and memory course and many of the "little grey books" contain physical exercises as an integral part of a Pelman fit body and mind program and a course of these exercises was published separately around the time of the second world war.  They may have been popular with members of the armed forces as an example is known to have been used in the Stalag IV A prisoner of war camp by a Private A L Covill from Cambridgeshire.  It contains the "Stalag IV A" POW stamp on its inside cover (see over).  

10. The Pelman Institute

A number of advertising leaflets have been found that give us some idea of the grandeur of the Pelman Institute building as it was in the mid-1920s. 

A sample of Pelman Institute letterheads from 1932 and from the Indian office in 1943. By the 1950s, after the death of W J Ennever, the Institute is located at 28-30 Wigmore Street, London W. 1.   Back to top

11. Pelmanism today

It seems that the system still has its followers today, albeit many seeing the material as a commercial opportunity, as can be seen from the following web sites:

Web sites	Details
http://www.pelman.nl/	A Dutch company are apparently claiming to be "The Pelman Institute".
http://www.pelmaninstitute.com	Looks just like how a web site of the original Pelman Institute might have been.  It even uses endorsements and text from some of the original Pelman Institute publications!
http://www.sector51.com	Has created pdf versions of the 12 booklet course with full text.
http://www.memory-improvement-techniques.com/	A website offering to sell you some very dated memory training systems (incl Prof. Loisette's "Assimilitative Memory" first published in 1896 and with references to the "Pelman Method of Mind and Memory Training" (in 4 volumes).
http://pelmanit.blogspot.com/	A website that has plagiarised my material and claimed it for their own!
http://www.pelmanismonline.com	The Lost Art of Pelmanism (for a fee).  But see other links here offering the booklets for free!!
http://www.pelmanism.co.za	"The mysterious Power of Pelmanism Disclosed"!  Download a pdf file containing a scanned copy of the 12 lessons.
http://pelmanism.thoughtpower.info	Download a pdf file containing a scanned copy of the 12 lessons.
http://www.powersofthemindcourse.com	Another site extoling the virtues of the "Lost Art" (for a fee) and using some original Pelman Institute material. But see other links here offering the booklets for free!!
Not known	The unknown "Pelman Institute of America" appear to have published "Pelmanism, A Whole New Mind: Change Your Brain, Change Your Life" in 2008. See image right.

Please note: Neither I nor any of the family, as far as I am aware, have any connection with any of these sites and I have provided them for information only. I must add though that even the closest descendants of William Joseph Ennever, while recognising the phenomenal success the course had in the first three decades of the 20th century, would certainly question the validity of many of the claims made for it by the above concerns. 
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12. Pelmanism, the card game

There are also countless websites about "Pelmanism", the memory card game, which is believed to have its origins in the Pelman course although there is no strong evidence to support this.  There is no specific reference to the card game in "the little grey books" although even the first lesson includes an exercise in which the student is encouraged to deal out four playing cards face down, turn each over insequence and then after two minutes remember the four cards in order.  Once mastered the student is encouraged to move on to five cards and gradually increase the number.  Other card memory games appear as student exercises but none which could be descibed as "Pelmanism".

John Waddington Ltd, the famous playing card manufacturers, also sold a card game based on the Pelmanism mind training course which was designed to find the emotional age of the player or players.  This has nothing to do with memory training, however.

The rules of Pelmanism, the card game (also known as Concentration):

Any deck of playing cards may be used. The rules given here are for a standard deck of 52 cards, which are normally laid face down in 4 rows of 13 cards each. The two jokers may be included for 6 rows of 9 cards each.   In turn each player chooses two cards and turns them face up. If they are of the same rank and colour (e.g. 6♥ and 6♦, Q♣ and Q♠ or both jokers if used) then that player wins the pair and plays again. If they are not of the same rank and colour, they are turned face down again and play passes to the player on the left. The game ends when the last pair has been picked up. The winner is the person with the most pairs and there may be a tie for first place.

Sources:

• Christopher Louis Pelman's booklets "Memory Training.  Its Laws and their Application to Practical Life"
• "The Secret of Certainty in Recollection" The Pelman-Foster System c1905
• Various Pelman Institute books, publications and documents
• The Times newspaper and other archives
• "Assimilitive Memory" by Prof A Loisette c1924 reprint.
• Immigration and emigration records (www.ancestry.com)
• UK Trade & Telephone directories (www.ancestry.com)
• Library of Congress Online Catalog

I would like to thank Ann Miller, W J Ennever's granddaughter, and John Karp for their help in improving this history of The Pelman Institute & Pelmanism.

If anyone has any further documents or information on the Pelman School of Memory, Pelmanism, the elusive Christopher Louis Pelman, The Pelman Institute or the life and career of William Joseph Ennever I would be delighted to hear from you. 

Author:  Barry Ennever