Date: 09/05/2017

Jason England's 17 Card Books to Study

In September 2010 Theory 11 released a short video clip where Jason England introduced 17 books on card magic any serious card magician should read. It was titled "An instructional download on the things you can't download" (my emphasis). Well, I respect the talented guys at Theory 11, but they are a bit behind the curve when it comes to downloads, because 10 of the 17 books are available as download ebooks from Lybrary.com - and most of them for many years. One book is available as ebook from Harry Lorayne. And the rest of them will soon be available as ebooks. On top of it many of these ebooks are cheaper than the already cheap Dover reprints and certainly cheaper than a second hand edition. So if you are low on cash but want to study these great books buy them as ebooks.

I can second Jason England's selection. These are all great books worth your time. However, I do think that Roberto Giobbi's Card College series needs to be part of any 'best of' list on card books. I also think that Mr. England could have mentioned one or two of the hidden gems which are typically not mentioned in any such lists but which are absolute gold and by the account of other experts much better than some of the books in Jason's list. I will mention here just two:

Ok, let's get to Jason's list and links to where you can get the ebooks:

The Royal Road to Card Magic by Jean Hugard and Fred Braue
Encyclopedia of Card Tricks by Jean Hugard
Scarne on Card Tricks by John Scarne
Expert Card Technique by Jean Hugard and Fred Braue
Card Control by Arthur Buckley
Card Magic of Paul LePaul by Paul LePaul
Close Up Card Magic by Harry Lorayne
Stars of Magic
Complete Walton I & II by Roy Walton
Dai Vernon's Inner Secrets of Card Magic by Lewis Ganson
Dai Vernon's More Inner Secrets of Card Magic by Lewis Ganson
Dai Vernon's Further Inner Secrets of Card Magic by Lewis Ganson
Ultimate Secrets of Card Magic by Lewis Ganson
Revolutionary Card Techniques by Ed Marlo (While we do not yet have a full compilation several of the individual parts in the series are available: No 1: Miracle Card Changes, No 3: Fingertip Control, No 7: Faro Notes, No 12: Card Switches, No 13: Estimation)
The Fine Art of Magic by George Kaplan
The Expert at the Card Table by S. W. Erdnase

Replies

Chet Cox (08/11/2011)
And when will this one "soon be available as (an) ebook"?

Christoph Wasshuber (08/11/2011)
My 'soon be available' statement expressed my general believe that most of these books will be offered as ebooks one or another way in the not too distant future. I actually have inquired with the copyright owners of "Fine Art of Magic", but since a new edition of this work is planned they did not want to release a digital edition at this time.

matteo filippini (09/11/2015)
Chris Any news about the chance to get the Kaplan book in a digital edition?

Christoph Wasshuber (10/02/2015)
Sorry, I have no additional information about it.

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