Bob Gill has succeeded in producing a practical guide to the literature of magic for performers, students and librarians. This was, and still is, the only bibliography of performing magic in the English language to contain fully annotated entries evaluating the literature. It includes many rare and difficult to find publications, excluding material only of doubtful merit. It lists and describes over 1000 books and pamphlets on conjuring published up to 1975. Each book listed contains a description of contents and an assessment of value to performers, as well as bibliographical details.
The contents of this book include a foreword by Bayard Grimshaw; an extensive preface by the author; notes on how to use the bibliography; guidance on sourcing magical literature; and three invaluable indexes:
- the Subject Index analyses in depth the subjects discussed in the books listed;
- the Name Index gives the names of all persons, societies and organizations appearing in the bibliography;
- and the Title Index provides an alphabetical listing of all books and pamphlets contained in the book.
From Bayard Grimshaw’s foreword: “Bob has produced a valuable work which is of greater practical value, I think, than any previous magical bibliographies. I admire his concise assessments and summaries; he tells potential readers of the books listed exactly what they need to know, no more, no less. Future generations of students of magic and its literature will be vastly indebted to him; he will save them wasted hours and money.”
1st edition 1976; PDF has 285 pages.
word count: 68380 which is equivalent to 273 standard pages of text
