talkmagic.co.uk

Hi Talkmagic.

Just dropping by for some advice.

It's my friend's birthday soon, and he's been getting pretty serious about magic lately. I'd like to buy him a 1st edition of one of the 'bibles' of the craft. What are the undisputed classics that can be found on every magician's shelf? I've read that Tarbell's book, & Henry Hay's are both considered among the greats. What else is there?

He's a PhD student so archaic or difficult language isn't any trouble for him. In fact, the older & more stylised the better!

There are a ton of recommendations that can be made. Knowing what area of magic is he most interested in would greatly help to narrow it down.

BTW, in some cases the 'bibles' aren't particularly old.

13 Steps to Mentalism

Practical Mental Magic (also known as Practical Mental Miracles)


Thats all I know :p

.robb. wrote:There are a ton of recommendations that can be made. Knowing what area of magic is he most interested in would greatly help to narrow it down.

BTW, in some cases the 'bibles' aren't particularly old.

He definitely favours impromptu, close magic that use as few props as possible (street-style, almost) over prop-intensive stage magic. I know he enjoys designing tricks, and thinking about the craft as much as he does performing, so maybe some broad guides to universal techniques would be apt? I've just been reading about erdnase, & though it's bit card-heavy, seems to have the right kind of feel.

I would expect some of the 'bibles' to be current, but if there are any late 18th Century gems out there, it'd be perfect I think- old books always make great presents.


Eshly- thanks for the mentalism reccs. Anyone got any others?

If you're going to get Erdnase, I suggest Darwin Ortiz's "Annotated Erdnase". Quite a bit pricier, but the overall quality more than justifies it.

The Tarbell Course, as you may have read in your research, is excellent. Really, I think that would fit what he wants.

Depending on how long he's been into magic, he may like Ortiz's "Designing Miracles". It describes techniques used when designing magic methods.

If you can afford it, Miraclefactory.net has many high quality facsimiles of old classic magic books. "House of Mystery" is one of my favorites.

Modern Magic Manual, by Jean Hugard

Used to be the standard textbook on sleight of hand magic with just about any object you can think of, plus chapters on cards and mentalism. It was my magic bible for many years.

Barry

The start books that really helped me (after many recommendations in this forum):

General Magic: Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic
Card Magic: The Royal Road to Card Magic by Jean Hugard & Fred Braue (also on DVD, there are 2 versions, prefer the 5 DVD one by Paul Wilson)
Coin Magic: Modern Coin Magic by J.B. Bobo
Mentalism : Corinda's 13 steps (recently on DVD too by Osterlind)

The Tarbell books, ( there are 8 volumes in total) will cover just about everything you could possibly want, so offer the best value if your friend enjoys all areas of magic.
Mark Wilson, offers a more condensed overview, but is probably the best book for beginners, and the more experienced performer.
the Card Colledge books, gives a complete reference source for card magic, and slieghts
Modern Coin Magic, by J.B.Bobo.. is the coin magic bible

Rice encyclopedia of silk magic, is a very usefull refference source if your friend is into aparatus magic, because many of the ideas can be adapted for other uses. though mainly for stage, and caberet.

If your friend likes esoteric languages, then Hoffmans modern magic, and more magic, is a must. At first glance these books might not seem to offer much for todays magician, but all the classics are in there, and often, you can find an old presentation that could stand renewing.

A nice gift , is an old edition of hoffman.. they are always well thumbed, and sometimes contain facinating pencil marks in the margins, offering thoughts from a bygone age.

It does depend to an extent which area your friend is interested in.

I recently spotted an original Hoffman, and an original Maskelyne, in a secondhand book shop. Unfortunately, they were well outside the budget. Managed to thumb through them and drool a little, though.

I was bidding on a first edition Hoffman on eBay last year, I decided to go for broke and made a bid of just under £100.00 with 20 minutes to go. I made some tea, checked eBay again 10 minutes later and the price had shot up to over £400 - so I gave up!

ive got 2 early copies. One, was leather bound, and numbered at some point in it's life. The other one is falling to bits. i read the one thats a bit tatty.
I may sell the bound one one day.

just looked on ebay. There are two copies available. both in the States.
one, is particually fine, because it's still got the dust jacket.
Its not a particually early edition though.
( and is a bit pricy! )

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ANTIQUE-BOOK-MODE ... 518a9b1e1b

thinking about it, you might be able to get the dover reprint of it.
Much better prices.

The Scarne books are worth thinking about too.

Some classics,

Royal Road to Card Magic, Expert at the Card Table, Bobos Modern Coin Magic, Sachs Sleight of Hand, Expert Card Technique, Mark Wilsons Complete Course in Magic, Enclyclopedia of Card Tricks, Tarbell Course, and anything by Dai Vernon

jim

If you'd like to make a gift of an 'older' book, the I would recommend Hilliard's Greater Magic which is wonderful.