talkmagic.co.uk

On TM we usually suggest newcomers wishing to learn stuff buy some basic books or, if they don't have the cash, try their local library. Today I called in to our local library and checked what vast array of Magic tomes they had on the shelves - I was both disappointed and surprised!

Today they had just three books:

Making Magic by Edwin A Dawes and Arthur Settington
Mark Wilson's Encyclopaedia
Teach Yourself magic by a certain Mr Anthony Galvin (!)

I was disappointed that in the whole of the building there were just those three which were stashed in the middle of hundreds of quiz books, games books, autobiographies of entertainers etc but surprised that the there they had were top quality stuff. In previous visits there's been a Derren Brown or two and I believe the children's section has a Nic Einhorn book. I can't check as they tend to be very suspicious of any lone adult browsing in the section for children's books.

As a sort of casual project, can you folks nip into your local library - if you have one - and let us know which Magic books they have - assuming there are any?

Well I can tell you for now mine have none whatsoever!!

When I first started out I tried my library and they recommended water stones!!

Much love

Aza

We have a mobile library vist every week but I'd be suiprised if I find anything in there. I'll try one of the town librarys next time I'm in town and let you know...

You can (or at least you could, years ago, when I last tried it) ask the library to get hold of a particular book. I once did that with Bobo.

Barry

We can ask libraries to acquire books from any other library in the city and, when it's working, the on-line system shows current stock of your selected titles. At one time we could ask them to buy a particular book but budget cuts make that most unlikely these days. One other book which Mrs.M saw recently was Dynamo's autobiography - worth reading if only to get some proper background on his thinking and approach to magic, life etc.

I'm quite happy for magic books not to be so readily available!

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather not have (for example) all three volumes of Art of Astonishment and Mind, Myth and Magik, sat next to Dear Mr Fantasy and The Alchemical Tools on the library shelf for all to read. There's enough magic badly exposed on you tube already!

Sure, have some beginners books there... but isn't Mark Wilsons book more than enough?

I like it that we have secrecy about what we do

My thoughts exactly! Provide enough just to satisfy the initial interest and if the newcomers want to study further they can search out and buy the other books from magicians, magic dealers etc.


Although Mark Wilson contains enough for several careers in magic.....

I started magic by getting books out of the library. I am all for it. Far preferable than all this awful avalanche of information on the internet which only breeds bad magicians. I still treasure the library category number 793.8. And it has been that number all over the world for decades.

Damn you Dewey Decimal System! Damn you to hell!!

I agree with Mark. I learnt precious little from the expensive/sh*te gadgets I bought from the local magic/joke shop. But the few books I read from the library were in a different world. The last proper magic book I bought was Henry Hay's The Amateur Magician's Handbook. It was second-hand and worth every penny. Plus, it was an ex-library book! (I showed it to Paul Brook and, on spotting the old stamp inside the cover, he accused me of thieving from a Northern council library!)

It was a d***-sight cheaper than those going on Amazon today. One advantage of being of a certain age...

T.

Yes, when I was nearly thirteen years old I wandered into a library and just by chance saw a book called "Magic as a Hobby" by Bruce Elliott. I often wonder what would have happened if I had passed it by and not seen it. My life would have taken an entirely different course. I got the book out and that started the calysmic event of unleashing me on the world of magic. The odd thing was that I couldn't do a damn thing in the book because either the trick was too difficult or the prop required was so unobtainable as to be impractical. But I got other books out such as a book by Peter Warlock which I found equally useless for various reasons I no longer remember. I also got my first exposure to Lewis Ganson's writings with his first book "Expert Manipulation of Playing Cards" which although it was far too advanced for me did help me to learn a few things. My main progress was with "Scarne's Magic Tricks" because there were many, many tricks in there which used normal everyday objects and weren't too technically tasking. And things really started to hum when I got a book on card tricks out written by Wilfrid Jonson.

Nope. I am all for books in libraries. I owe a lot to 793.8

I agree with Mark, I think magic books are a good thing and very different to the internet exposure. If someone wants to take the effort to go to the library, find a magic book and study it then I say good luck to them.

Just checked out the West Sussex Library site, books by Karl Fulves,Nic Einhorn,Bobo, Paul Gordon, Paul Zenon, Mark Wilson and John Tremaine to name but a few. Plenty of '101 Easy Magic tricks to perform' type of beginers books as well.

I searched the Brighton library catalogue with the dewey code above (793. and found:

The amazing book of magic : a step-by-step illustrated guide to a host of simple yet spectacular tricks / Jon Tremaine.
Amazing magic tricks / Ben Denne
The art of conjuring / Douglas and Kari Hunt.
The book of magic / Charles Frederick.
The book of magic : classic tricks of the great professionals / Bruce Smith.
Card and magic tricks : over 30 easy-to-perform stunts to amaze and confound / Eve Devereux and Peter Eldin.
Close-up magic / Nicholas Einhorn
Coin and rope tricks / Joe Fullman.
Dominic Wood's spooky magic
Easy magic tricks / Anthony Galvin.
The great Houdinis : a vaudeville / Shavelson, Melville
Hiding the elephant : how magicians invented the impossible / Jim Steinmeyer
Hocus pocus : a tale of magnificent magicians and their amazing feats / Paul Kieve
Houdini on magic / Harry Houdini
How to do magic tricks : over 120 close-up magic tricks revealed with more than 1100 step-by-step photographs / Nicholas Einhorn
Illusionology : the secret science of magic / by Albert D. Schafer
The illustrated compendium of magic tricks : the complete step-by-step guide to magic, with more than 320 fun and simple-to-learn tricks / Nicholas Einhorn
Incredible illusions / Stephanie Turnbull
Magic / Ursula Szwast.
Magic / Anthony Galvin.
Magic book / Dominic Wood
The magic book : master the mysteries of over 150 magic tricks / edited by Lydia Darbyshire.
Magic tricks / Fay Presto.
Magic with cards / Peter Eldin.
Magic with numbers / Jon Tremaine.
Magical illusions / Jon Tremaine.
Marvellous magic / by Clare Oliver.
Mind magic & mentalism for dummies / by James L. Clark.
Mind tricks / Peter Eldin.
Mysterious stranger : a book of magic / David Blaine.
Mystical magic / Ivor Baddiel, Jonny Zucker.
Outrageously magic tricks & puzzles : magic and more to astound your friends!
Pantsacadabra! : a conjuror's compendium of underpants tricks to delight all ages (and sizes) / as exposed by Kjartan Poskitt
Paper tricks / Jon Tremaine.
Pocket tricks / Jon Tremaine.
Science magic / Peter Eldin
Simple conjuring tricks for everyone / Julia Thorley
Simple magic / Peter Eldin.
Simply magic / Wood, Dominic
Sleight of hand / Joe Fullman.
That's magic! / Richard Jones.
The practical encyclopedia of magic / by Nicholas Einhorn
Tricks of the mind / Derren Brown
Victorian magic / Geoffrey Lamb
Sleights of mind : what the neuroscience of magic reveals about our brains / Stephen L. Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde with Sandra Blakeslee
Comment on devient sorcier : les secrets de la prestidigation et de la magie / Par Robert Houdin
The Magic Circle : performing magic through the ages / Michael Bailey
The war magician : the man who conjured victory in the desert / David Fisher


I was very surprised by some of them... I might be going to check out "Victorian Magic", and "The War Magician" (who i've read a little bit about before and definitely had my interest piqued) and to look at the Robert Houdin book in the rare books section (if i can)

Sure most of them are aimed at children, but i would say it is a pretty good resource, particularly to direct beginners.

Were any of those on the shelf at the time?