August Roterberg

From the introduction:

The splendid array of tricks offered in the following pages is the result of a most careful selection from several hundred new ideas. Of these new tricks, I have embodied in this catalogue only those which I consider to be the very best, this being practically the first time that the majority of these tricks have been offered for sale. All descriptive matter is original with me and the illustrations have been made from my own ideas, under my personal supervision, great care having been taken to neither exaggerate nor misrepresent the effects in either the reading matter...

A huge jump in size from catalog 7 to this catalog 8. Includes a separate section on books where he writes about Expert at the Card Table:

Without doubt the very best and most up-to-date treatise on the numerous sleights used by gamblers, concluding with a thoroughly interesting chapter on Card Sleights and Tricks with Cards. Among the various new gambler’s sleights will be found many which will prove of excellent service to the progressive conjurer. 205 pages; 101 illustrations.

The last section is for: Practical Jokes, Puzzles and Novelties.

1st edition 1904 (date stamped on front 15th July 1904), 170...

Beautifully illustrated catalog (prior catalogs had no illustrations) with a one page list of books at the back.

1st edition 1904 (date stamped on front 18th March 1904), 45 pages.

The title page reads: "Superior, New and Standard Conjuring Tricks, Spiritualistic Manifestations and Books on Conjuring."

Particularly noteworthy are the pages in the back where he reprints quotes and praises from customers who have read his books including John Northern Hilliard and Harry Kellar.

1st edition ca. 1898, 76 pages.

This is the first catalog Roterberg issued, titled: "Descriptive Catalogue of the Latest European Novelties in Magic, Second Sight, Anti-Spiritualism".

Noteworthy here is that Roterberg states that he corresponds not only in English but also German, French and Volapük - a universal language created by the German catholic priest Johann Martin Schleyer in 1880.

1st edition ca. 1894, 20 pages.

New Era Card Tricks is the masterpiece of Roterberg's publishing efforts. Scholars are pretty sure that the elusive Erdnase must have known and read this book. It is still today an extremely good and important work on cards. It is a book any serious card man should read. This is to a large part the foundation on which a lot of the later card work has been built. A good part of this book is essentially a translation of the German work Der Moderne Kartenkünstler by Friedrich W. Conradi. Richard Hatch wrote a wonderful introduction that by itself is worth reading. He starts:

August Roterberg is chiefly remembered today as a pioneering early twentieth century...

August Roterberg was a very successfull magic dealer working from Chicago in the 19th century. His catalogs and books are collector items. One of his catalogs, number 15, is reproduced in this ebook. Catalogs help collectors identify and date pieces in their collection. Reading through catalogs is for me an exercise in creativity. When I read an effect description I try to think of a method to achieve it, not knowing the secret behind the trick sold. I am sure you will enjoy browsing through this beautiful catalog with lots of illustrations.

1st edition 1913, 216 pages.

This book is the continuation of The Modern Wizard; same format almost same number of pages and same style. For example the 'handkerchief productions' are continued with methods twelve, thirteen fourteen, fifteen and sixteen. You will find many interesting plots with eggs, glasses, coins, silks, tubes, plates, flowers, nest of boxes, ...

1st edition, 1896; 112 pages.

5. Robinson's Flying Handkerchiefs
9. The Improved Soup Plate and Handkerchief Trick
10. First Method
10. Second Method
11. Third Method
12. Fourth Method
13. The Four Soup Plates and Handkerchiefs
15. The Handkerchief Coloring Trick
16. Handkerchief Productions,...

Roterberg was a dealer, but he also wrote excellent magic books - four altogether. The Card Tricks and how to do them is an excerpt from New Era Card Tricks. So actually he wrote only three books. The Modern Wizard was his first one. It explains tricks with silks, eggs, glasses, billiard balls, coins, candles, pill boxes and more. Roterberg has a very efficient style of describing a trick. He supplies no patter or other fluff, but still manages to explain a trick thoroughly. He packs 68 tricks or methods into merely 120 pages. He closes his book with the chapter "The Art of Magic" where Roterberg gives a crash course in how to be a good magician....

Here is a historical ad from the Charles T. Powner Co. in Chicago: "This book gives, with careful and easy instructions, the newest card tricks and sleight-of-hand yet offered to professionals and amateurs. Not only does this book contain all of the new tricks, but nearly every one known is fully explained and exposed by explicit directions and carefully prepared illustrations. 160 pages, 80 fine illustrations. Price Postpaid $0.50"

I cannot offer this book at $0.50 as originally sold in 1902, but our prices are almost as good as 100 years ago prices. This book is the small version of Roterberg's famous...