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Published 1800-1899 in Magic & Conjuring

The magic textbook that was primarily written for the adult magician started in the US with August Roterberg in the late 19th century. Before that magic books were either written primarily for a juvenile audience or were of expository nature where the intent was mainly to reveal rather than to teach.

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unknown
Conjuring Contretemps by unknown

This is a fun and informative article by an anonymous amateur magician detailing various mishaps of magic performances. Along the way we learn the modus operandi of all kinds of illusions, from Buatier de Kolta's vanishing cage all the way to the bullet catch.

This article was originally published in Chamber's Journal of December 16th, 1882.

1st edition 1882, 5 pages; digital edition 8 pages.

★★★★★ $2
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Popular Mechanics
Two Pounds Less Than An Elephant by Popular Mechanics

A nicely illustrated article explaining some of the popular pseudo-strength demonstrations made popular for example by Lulu Hurst and others.

200 years ago demonstrations of this kind created a sensation. Nobody could explain them. Many believed these were manifestations of some yet unexplained force. Today they are relegated to party stunts. Nevertheless, some are quite surprising demonstrations you can try out in your living room.

1st edition 1928, PDF 6 pages.

★★★★★ $4
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Edward Barton-Wright
How to Pose as a Strong Man by Edward Barton-Wright

Barton-Wright, one of the first Europeans to study Japanese martial arts, explains eleven pseudo-strength tricks in words and photos. Forty years before this publication Lulu Hurst created a sensation demonstrating similar stunts as manifestations of 'unexplainable forces'.

The tricks explained in this article are:

  1. How to Master a Man with Two Fingers
  2. How to Hold a Chair in the Palms of your Hands, and to Defy Anyone to Pull it through your Hands
  3. How to Lift from the Ground a Chair in which a Person is Seated
  4. How to Lift a Chair with Four Men Packed upon it
  5. How to Defy Anyone Standing in Front...
$4
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unknown
The Champion Pig of England by unknown

This is a lovely old-school children's story about a pig named Grunter Growler, his life on a farm, his animal as well as human friends, and his success winning 1st prize as the most beautiful pig in the country.

The interesting part for conjurers is that Grunter meets Toby the Learned Pig which includes a description of a typical performance of Toby. Those who study and research learned pigs might find it interesting. All learned pigs in England were named Toby. It is therefore not clear which Toby was the model for this description.

  • Preface
  • Chapter I. Introductory
  • Chapter II. Our...
$4
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Edwin Sachs
Sleight of Hand by Edwin Sachs

This is an all time classic with 57 beautiful illustrations. It is one of the most complete books written on magic, because it teaches both stage and close-up magic (cards, coins, silks, cups and balls, etc.), technique, presentation, and all the peripheral skills necessary for great conjuring.

"I beg to say that it is far and away the very best work of its kind ever published" - Harry Kellar

"My den contains a large collection of books on magic, but none has a cover so worn as 'Sleight of Hand' by Edwin Sachs." - David Devant

The official byline read: The standard texbook on how to become a magician. Sleight-of-hand...
★★★★ $5
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George H. Little
Mahatma Volume 1 (Mar 1895 - Jun 1898) by George H. Little

On the covers you will find:

  • Robert Houdin - father of modern magic
  • Herrmann - prince of conjurers
  • Jewett - the greatest coming 20th century magician
  • Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Robinson
  • W. D. Leroy
  • Davenport Brothers
  • Frederick Eugene Powell
  • David Devant and his spirit wife
  • Frencesca Redding and Hugh Stanton
  • A. J. Martyne
  • Bernice Nata
  • Imro Fox
  • Harry Kellar
  • Clivette
  • Prof. Ziska
  • Prof. Elliott
184 pages

Mahatma, Volume 1, George H. Little, editor

[Note: Page numbers refer to those in the PDF files when the collection was assembled. Originally each issue began with page 1. However, the original page numbers were retained for issues of The Vaudeville and Artist Era.]

184 pages

  1. Mahatma - Volume I, Number I - March 1895 - 8 pages
  2. Robert Houdin: Father of Modern Magic - biography
  3. To Our Readers...
★★★★★ $5
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George H. Little
Mahatma Volume 2 (Jul 1898 - Jun 1899) by George H. Little

On the covers you will find:

  • Sargent
  • Soto Sunetario
  • Stevenson
  • Robert Ankele
  • Leon Herrmann
  • J. Burlingame of Chicago
  • Adrian Plate
  • Albert E. Smith - the popular Lyceum prestidigitateur
  • Prof. Samri S. Baldwin
  • Francis J. Werner
  • T. Nelson Downs
  • Marshall the Mystic 136 pages
    1. Mahatma - Volume II, Number I - July 1898 - 8 pages
    2. Sargent - biography
    3. Manchester Notes - news
    4. Boston News
    5. Is Magic Dead - Sargent, The Merry Wizard
    6. Spiritualism - F.D. Hewes
    7. News of the Day
    8. My First Performance as a Star - tory by J.W.
    9. Postal Card Trick
    10. Wine and Water Trick
    11. New Vanishing Performer...
★★★★★ $5
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George H. Little
Mahatma Volume 3 (Jul 1899 - Jun 1900) by George H. Little

On the covers are:

  • F. Robert Lanskail
  • John Hamley
  • John Henricks
  • Hal Merton
  • C. Milton Chase
  • John Whalen
  • Zanzic
  • Walter G. Peterkin
  • Ellis Stanyon
  • The White Yogi
  • J. Witt Dougherty
126 pages

Note: Page numbers refer to those in the PDF files when the collection was assembled. Originally each issue began with page 1.

  1. Mahatma - Volume III, Number I - July 1899 - 12 pages
  2. F. Robert Lanskail - photo & cover story
  3. New Card Tricks - Elliott
    • New Card Reading
    • Mystic Flight of Card
  4. The Modern William Tell - Chas. L. Burlingame - continued
  5. Juggling Tricks - Wm. E. Robinson ...
★★★★★ $5
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C. H. Wilson
The 52 Wonders: Cards Manipulated by Science by C. H. Wilson

This is quite an interesting relatively early book on card moves, tricks and cons. It was published in 1877. Some believe that the author C. H. Wilson could be the elusive Erdnase, the author of The Expert at the Card Table, because the S.W.E. Shift is explained in The 52 Wonders.

Chapters are:

  • Chapter I: The Double and Single Passes
    • The Long Pass
    • The Short Pass
    • The Magic Pass
    • The Rolling Pass
    • The Grand Pass
    • The Invisible Pass
    • The Vizard Pass and Change
    • The Circle Pass
    • The Dovetail Pass
    • The Single Short Pass
  • Chapter II: Miscellaneous Passes
    • The Elbow Pass
    • The Side Pass
    • The Monte Pass
    • The Table Pass ...
$5
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Harry P. Dodge
The Autobiography of an Old Sport: Fifty years at the Card Table by Harry P. Dodge

The record of a career famous for adventure and vicissitude, and in which the jester won more tricks than the gamester.

  • Preface
  • Chapter I: Birth And Early Peregrinations
  • Chapter II: Becoming A Patron Of The Pasteboards
  • Chapter III: Early Times On The Mississippi
  • Chapter IV: Getting A Sobriquet And Meeting Great Men
  • Chapter V: The Turnpikes, The Packets And The Inns
  • Chapter VI: Initiated In The Sons Of Malta
  • Chapter VII: From The Green Mountains To Pike's Peak
  • Chapter VIII: With The Bold Soldier Boys
  • Chapter IX: The Fraternity Of Gamesters
  • Chapter X: To Point A Moral And Adorn A...
$5
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unknown
The Black Art or Magic Made Easy by unknown
  • TRICKS WITH CARDS
    1. How To Make The Pass
    2. The Long Card
    3. To Produce a Particular Card without Seeing the Pack
    4. To Call for Any Card in the Pack
    5. The Changeable Ace
    6. The Convertible Aces
    7. The Gathering of the Clans
    8. Everybody's Card
    9. Forcing a Card
    10. The Card hit upon by Guess
    11. Ups and Downs
    12. To Tell The Card That A Person Has Touched With His Finger
    13. The Card Discovered by Touch or Smell
    14. Confederate Cards
    15. The Ten Duplicates, or Cards in Couples
    16. The Turn-Over Feat
    17. The Nerve Feat
    18. To Tell The Number Of Cards By The Weight
    19. To Change the Card by Word of Command
    20. The Card in a Mirror
    21. The...
★★★★ $5
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Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin & Professor Hoffmann
The Secrets of Stage Conjuring by Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin & Professor Hoffmann

Translated by Professor Hoffmann.

  • PREFACE
  • CHAPTER I. The Theatre Of Robert-Houdin
  • CHAPTER II. A Conjuror’s Stage Arrangements
  • CHAPTER III. Handkerchief Tricks
  • CHAPTER IV. The Light And Heavy Chest
  • CHAPTER V. The Hundred Candles Lighted By A Pistol Shot
  • CHAPTER VI. The Ghost Illusion
  • CHAPTER VII. The Indian Basket Trick
  • CHAPTER VIII. Spiritualistic Manifestations
  • CHAPTER IX. The Bust Of Socrates
  • CHAPTER X. A Curious Effect In Acoustics
  • CHAPTER XI. The Decapitated Speaking
  • CHAPTER XII. The Protean Cabinet
  • CHAPTER XIII. The Feats Of The Davenport Brothers
  • CHAPTER XIV. The Enchanted...
★★★★★ $5
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Lorento
Lorento's Wizard's Guide by Lorento

This is a fairly typical magic book from the 19th century. It mixes magic tricks and illusions with science experiments. Due to the fact that back then many did not have a basic understanding of physics and chemistry, many of these exhibitions of science appeared like magic.

  • How to Cut Your Arm off without Hurt or Danger
  • The Basket Trick
  • To Knock a Tumbler Through a Table
  • To Drive One Tumbler Through Another
  • The Dancing Skeleton
  • To Place Water in a Drinking-glass Upside Down
  • The Faded Rose Restored
  • The Protean Liquid
  • Eatable Candle Ends
  • To Make a Watch Stop or Go at the Word of Command ...
$5
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Charles Bertram
Isn't It Wonderful? by Charles Bertram

A history of magic interwoven with Charles Bertram's recollections.

From the introduction:

The profession of conjuring, if not the most ancient, is certainly one of the oldest professions in the world, and, before commencing my account of the efforts made by a humble professor of the art, I trust that the reader may be interested by a short sketch of its history. Without this, it is possible that he might receive a book relating to the conjurer's art with a shrug of the shoulders. But conjuring, if it has now drifted down to the level of mere entertainment, has played its part in the history...

$5
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Thomas Frost
Circus Life and Circus Celebrities by Thomas Frost

A history of the circus in Britain during the 19th century. One chapter deals with America, another with circus slang. Perhaps most interesting are the recollections of a gymnast and how he made it into the circus.

From the Preface:

But of the circus artistes - the riders, the clowns, the acrobats, the gymnasts, - what do we know? How many are there, unconnected with the sawdust, who can say that they have known a member of that strange race? Charles Dickens, who was perhaps as well acquainted with the physiology of the less known sections of society as any man of his day, whetted public...

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Thomas Frost
The Old Showmen and Old London Fairs by Thomas Frost

A detailed chronology of places, dates and performers of fairs in and around London. We learn mostly of theatrical productions of various kinds including pantomime and dances, and menageries exhibiting exotic animals, and less so of tumbling and acrobats, juggling, balancing and the like. It includes some coverage of conjurers including Fawkes, Pinchbeck, Breslaw and others. There is some overlap of stories from Circus Life and Circus Celebrities because some performers and operators were active in both venues.

  • PREFACE
  • CHAPTER I: Origin of Fairs - Charter Fairs at Winchester and Chester - Croydon Fairs - Fairs in the Metropolis...
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George Miller Beard
Physiology of Mind-Reading by George Miller Beard

The type of 'mind-reading' George Beard means here is what we today call muscle-reading, which is a term that Beard himself coined. Beard describes several experiments he conducted and describes very clearly the physiology of muscle-reading, and that it is an involuntary muscle contraction that has nothing to do with animal magnetism or thought transference.

1st edition 1877; PDF 10 pages.

$5
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George Miller Beard
The Involuntary Life by George Miller Beard

The 'involuntary life' would today be described as trance or as a hypnotic state. Beard writes:

Every human being lives two lives, the voluntary, in which he acts more or less under the control of the will, and the involuntary, in which he acts automatically, and over which the will has but a limited power, or none at all. The acts of both the body and the mind, may be involuntary as will as voluntary, and in both body and mind, the two lives are constantly blended.

However, he was a skeptic when it came to the popular practices and explanations of these phenomena by the means of animal...

$5
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Robert C. Schenck
Draw: rules for playing poker by Robert C. Schenck

While Robert Schenck served as ambassador in the UK, he was persuaded to write down his rules for poker by a duchess. This was the first publication to deal solely with draw poker.

1st edition 1880, PDF 6 pages.

$5
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William Frederick Pinchbeck
The Expositor by William Frederick Pinchbeck

A series of letters, between an unidentified friend and his correspondent (William Frederick Pinchbeck) comprising of how to train a pig, invisible lady and acoustic temple, philosophical swan, penetrating spy glasses, several magic tricks, such as how to catch a bullet, and reflections on ventriloquism.

This book includes the first known description of the "Eight Kings" card stack.

  1. Method of teach the Pig – from Letter I. to IX. See also Letter V. Appendix
  2. Principles of the Acoustic Temple – from Letter IX. To XIV. See also Letter II. Appendix.
  3. A Demonstration of the philosophical...
$6
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Hardin Jasper Burlingame
Herrmann the Magician by Hardin Jasper Burlingame

From the preface:

Having devoted a number of years to the inventing, manufacturing and sale of many of the most popular magical apparatus made in this country, I now present to the reader, biographies of the two great conjurers known to the world under the names of Carl and Alexander Herrmann, both equally famous in their specialties. The main portion of the book is devoted to clear, compact and illustrated descriptions of the best tricks performed by the two Herrmanns, whom I unite under the appellation of Herrmann the Magician, and by other celebrated performers, such as Cazeneuve, Kellar, Vanek, Heller, Samuels,...

★★★★★ $6
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unknown
The Real New London Conjuror or the Art of Legerdemain by unknown

Showing the various ways of performing tricks by sleight-of-hand on dice, cards, etc., together with many surprising deceptions.

  • To change a Box of Bird Seed into a living Bird
  • To thrust a Bodkin into your Forehead without any hurt
  • Breslaw's grand Deception of the little learned Swan
  • The mode of shewing the Hen and Egg Bag, and out of an empty Bag to bring upwards of an Hundred Eggs, and afterwards a live Hen
  • How to seem to change a Card into a King or Queen
  • Card burnt, and afterwards found in a Watch
  • A curious trick played with a Fowl
  • How to eat Fire, and blow it up in your Mouth...
$6
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unknown
Card and Conjuring Tricks and Book of Riddles by unknown
  • CONJURING TRICKS
    • The Certain Guesser
    • The Disappearing coin
    • Money Makes Money
    • A Good Variation
    • The Magic Coin Box
    • Catching the Falling Pile
    • The Flexible Watch
    • Coin and Bottle Trick
    • Needle Dart
    • The Magic Double Ring
    • The Magic Ribbon
    • The Burnt Handkerchief
    • The Vanishing Ball
    • The Wand and Ring Trick
    • Swallowing the Knife
    • The Vanishing Coin
  • EASY CARD TRICKS
    • Telling a Selected Card
    • A Wonderful Discovery
    • The Twenty-one Card Trick
    • Naming all the Cards in the Pack
    • Forcing the Choice
    • The Chosen Card
    • Divination
    • Further Divination
    • The Seven Heap
    • Spelling the Cards
    • Changing...
$6
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Professor Hoffmann
More Magic by Professor Hoffmann

This is the second volume of the Hoffmann trilogy. If you liked Modern Magic you will love More Magic. There is too much to list. Refer to the 'Table of Contents' below for details. This book was rated one of the ten basic books for a working library of conjuring by H. Adrian Smith, historian, collector and owner of the largest private magic library in his time. Other books in this top 10 list are

...
★★★★★ $6.50
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Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin
The Sharper Detected and Exposed by Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin

The first part consists of stories about cardsharks and other crooks from Robert-Houdin's recollections. This is very readable and an entertaining part of the work. The second part explains some of the technical details of the methods used by cardsharks. However, the methods are for the most part only described in very rudimentary form. As Robert-Houdin writes himself, this is not meant as a way to teach you how to do it, but merely to give the reader insight in how the different ruses are accomplished. Nevertheless, it provides interesting insight into the ways and means of cardsharks.

This...

$7
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Douglas William Jerrold
The Hand-Book of Swindling by Douglas William Jerrold

A humoristic manual about swindling, how to become a successful swindler, as well as why it is such a good thing - featuring the late captain Barabbas Whitefeather.

  • Preface Of The Editor
  • Chapter I. The Reader Is Introduced To Captain Whitefeather's Relations.
  • Chapter II. Captain Whitefeather Takes An Enlarged View Of Swindling - Social Evils And Their Remedy.
  • Chapter III. Of The Face Necessary To A Swindler - (An Incidental Speculation On The "Division Of Property") - And Of The Use And Abuse Of Mustachios.
  • Chapter IV. Of The Parentage And Name Of A Swindler - Of His Equipage - Of His...
$7
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unknown
Games of Skill and Conjuring by unknown

Instructions for games, magic tricks, model building, giving shows, and more.

  • Games Of Skill
    • Draughts
      • Laws Of The Game
      • Games For Practice
      • Concluding Observations
    • Dominoes
    • Chess
      • The Chess-Board And Chessmen
      • Value And Moves Of The Pieces
      • Laws Of Chess
      • Technical Terms Used In Chess
      • Opening The Game
      • Games For Practice
      • General Observations
      • Conclusion
    • Morrice
    • Fox And Geese
  • Conjuring
    • Legerdemain And Simple Deceptions
    • To Lift A Bottle With A Straw
    • The Tobacco Pipe Jug Stand
    • To Break A Stick Placed On Two Glasses
    • The Bottle Conjuror
    • The Mysterious Wafers
    • Advantageous...
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Henry Dircks
The Ghost by Henry Dircks

As produced in the spectre drama, popularly illustrating the marvellous optical illusions obtained by the apparatus called the Dircksian Phantasmagoria being a full account of its history, construction, and various adaptations.

Henry Dircks was the first who came up with the stage illusions that later became known as Pepper's Ghost. He had an arrangement with Pepper, they took out a patent in both their names, and Dircks did not want any monetary remuneration for it. John Henry Pepper improved the configuration to make it more practical and successfully staged it earning quite a lot of money with it. However,...

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