Biographies & History in Magic & Conjuring: page 4

Evans raises the possibility that Cagliostro's real name might not have been Giuseppe Balsamo, as well as describes his Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry.

• Introduction
• PART I.—A Master Of Magic
• PART II.—The Egyptian Rite
• PART III.—A Visit To The House Of Cagliostro
• PART IV.—Reception Of An Apprentice In An Egyptian Lodge

(We are carrying this ebook primarily because of the author, Henry Ridgeley Evans, who published several interesting books on conjuring.)

On its face the book is about the myth that Napoleon never existed. It was at one time a popular myth, hoax, or fake news as it would be called today. It also provides interesting lessons and insights on how myths can develop. Since there are a number of myths in the world of conjuring, this work can help one understand why and how some of the myths in magic may have developed.

• Introduction
• Grand Erratum. The Non-Existence of Napoleon Proved
• The Mythical...

An informal history of gambling in America from the colonies to Canfield.

Inside flap:

This is an excellent series of articles on the history of gambling in America. Excerpt from the introduction:

• Preying Upon the Wage Earners
• How They Prey Upon One Another
  • Where Every Boy Had to Learn Poker
  • Gambling "Commercialized" and Organized
  • "Square" Gamblers all "Broke"
  • The Story of Hot Springs
  • Politics and "Business" Worked for "the Game"
  • The "Open" Season of 1912-13
  • Something Bound to Happen
  • As the "Straight" Gamblers Saw It
  • Why...

"Frankly, I find your approach the most careful and cautious of all that have been published." - Bart Whaley

"Hurt's book is very good writing on a subject I care about. I enjoyed it tremendously and learned a great deal in the process. I think you will, too." - Richard Hatch

In 1902 under the pseudonym S.W. Erdnase and the title Artifice, Ruse and Subterfuge at the Card Table a book on sleight-of-hand with cards was published. This book became the bible for card magicians. To this date it remains arguably the single most important book on sleight-of-hand card magic. Some of the most respected masters of card magic,...

Showing at a glance the tricks performed by all the leading conjurors, extending over a period of forty-two years, from 1864 to 1906.

• Robert Heller
• Warren Wright
• Prof. Duval
• Signor Bosco
• Prof. Fuller
• Mons. Kellar
• Verbeck
• Prof. and Maude Anderson
• Prof. Anderson
• Herr Frikell
• Dr. Holden
• Prof. Hoffmann
• Bautier de Kolta
• Prof. Devono
• Herr Döbler
• Hartz
• Prof. Duprez
• Dr. Lynn
• Servais Le Roy
• Hercat
• J. N. Maskelyne
• Harry Kellar
• Imro Fox
• Prof. Hulbert
• David Devant
• Prof. Weber
• Prof. Geo. Davison
• Charles Bertram
• Dr. Nix
• Prof. St. Clair
• Chevalier Thorn
• Fred Harcourt
• Charles Karnak
• De Biere the Mysterious
• Paul Valadon
• Charles Morritt
• Melot Herman
• Carl Hertz
• Martin...

For a lifetime, Kodell traveled the world with his unique creativity, and a flight of birds. Headlining long running shows around the world in five-star venues from the Moulin Rouge and the Lido in Paris, the London Hippodrome, The Savoy Hotel, and the London Palladium in the United Kingdom, and the Ed Sullivan Show, New York’s Copacabana, and The Latin Quarter in the United States. He also accomplished a number of firsts in his career including being the first magician to perform in Las Vegas. Kodell always strived to be different with his magic and his life, from flying an airplane at the...

Own a piece of magic history!

In July 2005, Jay Fortune and radio presenter Layman Steve hit the airwaves live from London with Radio Magic; a lively hour-long radio show dedicated to magic and...

This is a great book written by one of the greatest magicians of all time, Robert-Houdin. He describes in his own words his development from a little boy to a star performer. How he started as a watchmaker, performed in the St. James Theater, and ended up helping France with a conflict with the Marabouts. Read it. Highly recommended.

Paul Fleming wrote:

Houdini wrote a very nasty book about Robert-Houdin claiming that Robert-Houdin stole many tricks and was in reality not as great a magician as he usually is portraid. Jean Hugard sets with this book the record straight and reveals Houdini's fabricated arguments. Houdini's unmasking of Robert-Houdin was just a revenge on Robert-Houdin's family and had little to do with reality. But you can find out for yourself and read The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin. Houdini's Unmasking originally appeared serialized in Jean Hugards magazine Hugard's Magic Monthly.

Published as part of "Hugard's Magic Monthly" beginning with volume 15, number 1, June 1957; 78 pages; PDF 48 pages....

A Sampling of categorized magical collectibles. Jim Kleefeld is a magic collector and writes for the M.U.M., the official organ of the S.A.M.

The Eclectic Collector will present to you a set of chapters that each delineate collectible artifacts in a category. The categories are a broad mix and the artifacts will vary in number. In some categories there are so many good examples, ten did not seem sufficient. In other categories, there are so few examples, that finding ten is extremely difficult.

Each chapter includes several photos of objects from Jim's collection within the category. These...

Here is one of magic's most fascinating personalities giving the secrets of how he achieved everything that every young magician would wish to achieve. How magic earned him a luxury cruise ship, a luxury private airplane and stardom on TV, the theater and many movies.

John takes us back to his early days and tells how his career actually started when he produced an egg from the pocket of a young friend whilst at Sunday School. You'll hear how a little bit of magical-style misdirection got him his first big break teaching Clark Gable card moves for a film; Clarke fluffed it all and Calvert...

This is the second volume of John Calvert's Story. Sit back, relax, and listen to a life full of magic. Learn from one of the greatest and most successful magicians of all time.

(See here for Volume 1.)

This is a licensed reproduction of the famous Magicassette and MagiCD series created by Martin Breese - now owned by Lybrary.com.

John Henry Pepper took a projection invention of Henry Dircks, called The Ghost, with his permission, and made it practical so that it could more easily be performed. He earned a lot of money staging it. Even though Dircks did not want any payments from Pepper, there was a falling out between the two because the invention became known as Pepper's Ghost. Dircks wanted to have his name associated with it. This prompted Dircks to write The Ghost. Pepper's answer to that publication and dispute came almost 30 years later in this work The True History of the Ghost.

He also includes the history and working of Metempsychosis...

This work explores the history, meaning, and uses of playing cards.

From the foreword:

This is a wonderfully readable and fascinating description of magic and its history. Written by one of the scholars of magic - John Mulholland. Ben Robinson, the expert on John Mulholland whom he researched for more than 30 years, writes in his introduction to this ebook:

If he'd had a touch of larceny in him, he could have been the number one card sharp of all time. Instead, the author of these fabulous memoirs, born to a mother who considered gambling the "devil's tool," puts his extraordinary gifts to far different purpose.

He has used his incredible gambling sense, his miraculously dexterous fingers, his brilliant mathematical mind, his fascination with carnival and gambling life, to become America's number one authority on gambling and odds.

He was the greatest practitioner and analyst of card and dice sleight of hand. His artistry impressed FDR as...

The Amazing World of John Scarne holds revelations and experiences in gambling, magic, carnival and show business; together with startling disclosures about hypnotism, extra-sensory perception and other mental effects.

The once world's number one expert on gambling tells in this no-punches-pulled, startlingly frank book the whole inside story of gambling, and reveals all the dodges, gimmicks and tricks used by cheaters at dice, cards, roulette and other games of chance. His sensational revelations extend also to magic and escape tricks, to the chicaneries of carnivals and even to the blasting...

Once again Goodliffe provides a stimulating introduction to another archive series recording. This time the subject is Kalanag - Master Illusionist.

The live recordings from Sim Sala Bim have been drawn from various sources. Without the marvelous introduction by Goodliffe this recording would simply be a record of the past but now, Kalanag lives again. Goodliffe was the first British magician who was allowed to see Kalanag's show from backstage.

Goodliffe starts with a short introduction on Helmut Schreiber, aka Kalanag, including some of his Nazi background, accusations, and counterpoints....

Life, Magic and The Forks Hotel. For nearly 40 years Karl worked his magic behind the bar of the famed Forks Hotel in Buffalo, NY. Magicians from all over the world would flock to the bar to see Karl and Eddie Fechter work. Many magicians got their start at the Forks. In this 45 minute interview Karl talks about how he got his start in magic, how he met Eddie Fechter, The Forks hotel, how the FFFF convention got started and more, all while telling some great stories. This is a great tale of magic history.

Ken Brooke was known throughout the world of magic. He was a magic dealer who achieved such a reputation for reliability and quality that there are thousands of magicians throughout the world, amateur, and professional who bought almost every trick he produced. Visitors from every country in the world made a beeline for his studio within minutes of arriving in London because just to visit Ken Brooke was an experience not to be missed. In partnership with Frank Farrow, he built the Ken Brooke Magic Place into a magical institution second to none. Considered by many to be the greatest magical...

During the settlement of the Wild West, entertainers followed along the trails to provide the very much needed distraction from the grueling voyage. This ebook describes their circumstances and stories.

Originally this work was published as miniature book.

1st edition 1999; digital version 22 pages

Leo Behnke worked for many years for Paulson, a playing card manufacturer. He describes in this ebook the history of playing card production up to the process that is used for todays cards. He also describes in detail the 9 editions of the Magic Castle cards and how one can identify them.

Beyond the interesting historical and technical descriptions Leo is offering, this information can also be quite helpful in creating a script or interesting line of presentation for a trick or routine.

The contents of this ebook was presented at a Magic Collectors meeting in Las Vegas, April 8 2005. ...

"In all the world of magic, I don't think you could find a fairer, squarer person than Lewis" - Dai Vernon, Genii December 1974.

"As I look at the literary scene of magic today, the name of one man stands out above all the rest and the owner of that name is my old friend Lew Ganson." - Peter Warlock, Genii, December 1974.

Martin Breese writes in the original description of these tapes: