George Ernest Arrowsmith

The deck is shuffled by a member of the audience. The cards are inserted in a trouser pocket. One at a time the Kings are produced. The spectator shuffles again the pack of cards. The performer puts it behind his back and produces the four Jacks. Again, the cards are genuinely shuffled by the spectator. After making the spectator check that his pocket is empty, the performer inserts the cards into it. Despite all...

Two surprising card tricks based on a little known principle.

My Lady's Jewels

The performer starts with: "The story goes that a certain queen had some very valuable diamonds, and one day when she opened her jewel casket lo and behold some of them were missing. Summoning the court detective, she commanded him to trace the stolen gems and return them to her, and, being a very able sleuth his quest was soon accomplished. If you will take your own pack of cards and follow my directions, I will show you how he did it."

The cards having been produced (and emphasis is laid upon the fact...

A seemingly "impossible" book test.

George Arrowsmith wrote:

A worthwhile exercise for a Mentalist is to set himself a problem that seems unsolvable and to wrestle with it, and to go on wrestling until a possible (and practical) solution is found. "All things are possible to him who keeps on trying" …

Here, then, is such a problem that occurred to the author. A word had to be chosen from a book, one of several, and all of them had to be genuine and unfaked in any way. The word was to be freely selected from any line on any page of the book. This word had to be encircled by the pencil...

• Introduction
• Psychic Magic
  • Psychometrical Divination
  • The Word That Spells Itself
  • The Library Problem
  • Psychic Photography
  • A Novel Novelty
  • A Word Of Three Letters
  • Psychic Sight
  • A Silent Mental Act
  • The Key Of Knowledge
• Miscellaneous Tricks
  • Watch The Milk!
  • The Magnetic Wand
  • A Miniature Derby
  • Wringing A Stocking
  • Baby Austin
  • The Penetrative Woman
  • Kill The Brute!
  • The Uncontrollable Doll
  • The Witch At The Stake
  • The Arrowsmith Glass Penetration
  • The Body In The Bath Illusion

• Foreword
• Preface
• A Letter Embodying Two Magical Ideas ...