Sylabex, The Super Spelling Card Game, Pepys Series
1st Edition: circa 1948, Pepys Series Castell Brothers Ltd., London & Glasgow
2nd Edition: circa 1950, Pepys Series
Illustrator or Designer: Ern Shaw
Contents: 72 Cards + Rules Booklet
There are 72 cards, 68 bear a three letter syllable (some of which are duplicated) and there are 4 S cards:
AGE | ANT | BAL | BAR | BAT | BIT |
CAN | CAR | CAS | CON | COM | CUR |
DAM | DEN | DER | DER | DOT | ERS |
FAT | FEL | FIL | GER | HAL | HER |
INE | ING | ING | KER | KET | LAD |
LED | LER | LES | LET | LOO | LOW |
MAN | MAR | MED | MIS | MIT | NED |
NET | PAC | PAR | PEL | PER | POS |
RED | ROT | SAL | SEN | SER | SES |
SIL | SON | TAL | TED | TED | TEN |
TEN | TER | TLE | TON | VER | VES |
WAN | WAR | S | S | S | S |
The 1st and 2nd Edition boxes are very similar, only the Pepys device or logo changes. In the 1st edition the first S of Series is joined to the E of Pepys above and the S of Pepys is not struck through in the lower half. The earlier logo is standard in the early Pepys games but gives way to the second design from the late 1940s and early 1950s. The device used in rule books, often in the same game, sometimes lags behind. There are many versions of the Pepys logo that changed as the "brand" developed. A future article on Collecting Pepys will look at all the logos and when they were in use in more detail.
The card fronts are obviously very different. The 1st Edition uses blocked capitals while the 2nd has stand alone letters. The card backs are identical though, as are the sides of the boxes.
In the earliest set I have Ern Shaw isn't credited in the rules but he was in later printings of the 1st Edition and in all the copies I have seen of the 2nd Edition, example of all these below. Ern Shaw's name is removed from the later editions.
In the 1st Edition the only company details are Castell Brothers Ltd., London & Glasgow. In the 2nd Edition there is the "Pepys Series" device on the box but there is no mention of Castell Brothers and no address given in the rules.
Game & Version Details
 | Sylabex Box & Contents 1st Ed |
 | Sylabex Box & Contents 2nd Ed |
 | Sylabex 1st Ed - Card Back |
 | Sylabex 1st Edition - Rules Front 1 |
 | Sylabex 1st Edition - Rules Back 1 |
 | Sylabex 1st Edition - Rules Front 2 |
 | Sylabex 1st Edition - Rules Back 2 |
 | Sylabex 1st Edition - Box Top Side |
 | Sylabex 1st Edition - Box Side Left |
 | Sylabex 1st Edition - Box Bottom Side |
 | Sylabex 1st Edition - Box Side Right |
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 | Sylabex 2nd Edition - Rules Front |
 | Sylabex 2nd Edition - Rules Back Games Advertised: Horse Racing Tonight Home Cricket Horsie-Horsie Dingbat Dominoes I Spy Speed Wu Pee Peter and the Wolf |