Or the life, adventures, and personal experience of Jonathan H. Green.
It commences at his parentage and gives the whole history of the Life of the Reformed Gambler from the time of his birth until his reformation and conversion. It is a book designed as a warning to the young men of this country and is one that all should read and take warning and advice from. Beautifully illustrated from various scenes in the course of his life.
This is Dr. Lynn's autobiography describing his travels in Australia, China, Japan, Hong Kong, India, and other countries. He was the earliest Western magician to perform in China and Japan. He had a long-lasting rivalry with J. N. Maskelyne appearing a week before Maskelyne in the Egyptian Hall in London in the spring of 1873.
In the "How It's Done" section he provides mock descriptions of some of his tricks.
Includes news stories and photos from Hardeen's life as an escape artist. Plus some handcuff secrets and a couple of tricks are explained.
Ideas for radio magic, podcasts, and ZOOM shows
Radio has a following of thousands of listeners. It is a powerful promotional vehicle for magicians that the magic press have long neglected.
Combining the extensive research of Ian Fenn with the previously unpublished thoughts of Arthur Setterington, this ebook aims to help magicians make the most of this challenging medium.
It's not merely a book of tricks. It's intended to give you the information you need to create your own routines that will turn listeners into clients or live audiences.
Contents
Indian Conjuring is an illustrated guide to Indian magic tricks by Major L. H. Branson, a British officer in the British Indian Army and magician. It includes explanations and step-by-step instructions for a variety of magic tricks that the author came across while serving in colonial India during the early twentieth century.
[Please note that this book is filled with colonialism and racism. We provide such digital reproductions of old books for research, learning, and historical perspective. It does not mean that we agree with any particular statement, point of view, or opinion offered.]
Reminiscences of the life of humorist Artemus Ward (Charles Farrar Browne) and pictures of a showman's career in the Western world.
A wonderful account of show business by the example of the humorist Artemus Ward during the 19th century. In particular, it describes how performers had to travel through the US during the 1860s, how they had to advertise and promote their shows, including the characters they encountered and the situations they had to master.
For conjurers most interesting is chapter 25: Spiritualism And Conjuring. This tells of how Hingston and Browne helped a conjurer by...
An account of the author's professional life; his wonderful tricks and feats; with laughable incidents, and adventures as a magician, necromancer, and ventriloquist.
Excerpt from the Preface:
In presenting my Autobiography, I am fully aware of the grave responsibility I assume, and equally so of the presumption of a person describing, in a measure, his own character;—yet it is essentially better to relate one’s adventures himself, than to entrust them to the dictation of others. The reminiscences of my life may not be entitled to any special merit, beyond the amusement they may afford...
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...
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,...
For the first time explains and demonstrates the great secret of her marvelous power.
In this autobiography, Lulu Hurst tells her rise to fame and fortune by performing acts of incredible strength on stage. She does this with personal recollections as well as quoting from various newspaper reports. At the time she performed many attributed her strength to some as of yet unknown or unexplainable force. But she had no unusual strength or the aid of any special force. She cleverly used mechanical principles as well as showmanship to make it appear she had super-human strength. In the second...
Life and adventure on the prairies, mountains, and Pacific coast.
Beyond the Mississippi is a travel log of Albert Richardson from a few years before and after the American Civil War. As the title suggests, he traveled west of the Mississippi through states and territories such as Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, Iowa, Oregon, California, Nevada, etc. He describes nature, people, politics, and commerce. It includes exciting adventures as well as fairly dry facts such as how many bushels of grain a particular area produces. Overall it is quite readable and the...
This multi-part article starts with some historical perspectives and then is largely about the evils of gambling. However, it has a section on crooked play which is interesting for historical reasons. The topics covered in the section are:
1st edition 1837, PDF 73 pages.
This is a celebration of Sorcar's success as a magician. Several authors, reviewers, and commentators write about Sorcar and his performances. This is followed by cartoons by Alias and photos depicting Sorcar in various places.
An informal history of gambling in America from the colonies to Canfield.
Inside flap:
Sucker's Progress is the first attempt to write a connected history of the most prevalent of venial sins, and traces the history and development of gambling in America from the card and dice games in the back rooms of colonial taverns to the days of Richard Canfield the last of the great American gamblers. The book is concerned with the picturesque and spectacular features of gambling, and only incidentally with its morals.
The author commences with a survey of the origin and development of the principal...
A sketch of the life of Henry Meyer a converted gambler.
Henry Meyer was by his own account a very successful gambler who would play predominantly in Europe. One day he played against a young man and won all his money. Subsequently, that young man took his own life. At that point, Meyer realized that the young man was his younger brother. This charring experience made him give up gambling completely.
While I don't doubt that Meyer was a professional gambler who would later reform and give up gambling, the story with his brother rings a bit too fantastic. It is hard to believe that he and...
This is an excellent series of articles on the history of gambling in America. Excerpt from the introduction:
These articles are the result of long travels in many parts of the United States. They are real contributions of human and public interest.
The actual experiences of a visitor to the most famous gaming resort in the American metropolis.
Excerpt from the introduction:
In those elegant fictitious biographies which our ancestors used to write, the hero was never considered properly ingratiated into the reader's sympathies until he had spent an evening, at least, in a gaming-house, and had come away more or less crumpled and despoiled. Now, a great deal has been said on this same subject in New York, during recent months, and one establishment of the sort - which we will call Danfield's, because that is not precisely its name...
Stories of card and revolver play, told by a man who "worked" the trains with his confederates in the days when stakes ran high.
If one believes this account, then a lot of the crooked gambling on trains was simply theft at gunpoint rather than sophisticated sleight-of-hand card advantage play.
1st edition 1910, PDF 7 pages.
This is the article that ran in The Sun on November 1st, 1926 after Harry Houdini's untimely passing.
1st edition November 1st, 1926, PDF 5 pages.
The biography of a great artist and creative of the Italian and international magical world.
Fifteen years after his death, the artist, magician and writer Roberto Bombassei, through a work of research and study, pays tribute to his mentor by publishing for the first time his biography: his beginnings, his path, his studies, his thoughts, his creations.
Foreword by Tony Binarelli. English translation and additional notes by Biagio Fasano.
There are not many short biography compilations in magic and this one by Goldston is still one that is being consulted frequently. The most extensive one is by Bart Whaley (Who's Who in Magic) but while Whaley covers many more magicians he does not include portraits. Goldston includes many portraits of magicians and his biographical sketches can sometimes be much more extensive than in other such compilations. Goldston groups magicians as professionals, semi-professionals, and amateurs. He covers 90 professional magicians, 50 semi-professional magicians, and 69 amateurs.
1st edition 1934, 114 pages; PDF...
The trials, tricks and travels of Carl Hertz the famous American illusionist.
A highly readable and informative autobiography that takes Carl Hertz around the globe. Hertz was born as Leib Morgenstein in San Francisco, the son of Russian and Polish immigrants. He started with showbusiness in Northern California at a young age and had initially little success. Nevertheless, Carl Hertz went on to create a distinguished international career as a stage illusionist and debunker of fraudulent mediums and other scammers.
CHAPTER I
My boyhood - Fascination which conjuring has for me - I am discharged...
Spirit materialization and fraudulent mediums.
A record of research and experiment in a much-talked-of realm of mystery, with a review and criticism of the so-called spiritualistic phenomena of spirit materialization and hints and illustration as to the possibility of artificially producing the same.
Excerpt from the author's preface:
In placing the following pages before the public, the author is actuated by two motives: - Firstly, that recent occurrences in our midst, relating to some of the so-called phenomena of Spiritualism, and questioning the evidence on which these phenomena...
The Delphos Kleeblatt, a German newspaper, was established by Carl Jettinger in December 1889 on a suggestion by Edward Gallaway. It ran until 1905. Gallaway approached Jettinger with the idea, having just returned to Delphos from a stint as a typesetter at a German newspaper in Indiana, and convinced him to partner with him in this newspaper startup. However, before the newspaper was launched Gallaway changed his mind, left Delphos, moved to Ft. Payne in Alabama and started there the Payne Weekly People. Carl Jettinger, a bit miffed by first being convinced of the great idea, and then Edward bailing out...
DVD
A docu-drama (dramatized documentary) on the identity of the mystery author of a classic book on sleight-of-hand with cards.
The best magicians of the 21st century set out on a journey to search for the lost author of the most legendary book about the art of sleight of hand. S.W. Erdnase is the pseudonym of the man thought to be the most notorious card shark of the 19th century. His book The Expert at the Card Table is now considered the card conjurer's bible, making it compulsory reading for any magician. It took more than 30 years after its publication for the true value of the book to be appreciated. His true identity remains...
Way back in 2005, I began broadcasting a world-first: an hour dedicated to magic, live from London. At the time, I was presenting my breakfast show on commercial radio. Every Monday evening at 7pm GMT, the airwaves went live with Radio Magic. Each episode featured a ten-minute interview with a famous star of magic (see The Magic Interview Series ebook). As a spin-off from that year-long project, I recorded a few long-form interviews with magicians and these recordings became available as CDs: thus, the Magic Interview Series was born. Looking back, I was podcasting before podcasts! Now, for the first time ever, these...
A wonderfully interesting confession of a con man who was a contemporary of Erdnase, and just like him operated for a time while traveling with small circuses in Illinois and surrounding states. Of particular interest is a full dialog of how an unsuspecting person on the train was lured into gambling 3 card monte. The dialog demonstrates how skillfully these operatives were and how well they understood human nature. Other cons are also described in detail.
Excerpt from the preface:
When these confessions appeared serially, friends and distant enquirers took it for granted that they were fiction;...
This work is sort of a condensed history of magic. The story of some notable tricks. For example, what was the oldest conjuring trick in the world? What was the newest? Were the Piddingtons really telepathic? How does a magician saw a girl in half? Do conjurers use marked cards? How do they do the Indian Rope Trick?
Poker stories from the Mississippi.
The stories play in Brownsville and Arkansas City both located on the West bank of the Mississippi river during the second half of the 19th century.
Excerpt from the preface:
The things that I saw, that seemed worthy of note, I have set down without prejudice to the little town of Brownsville, which has grown since I was there. Let no citizen of the place pursue me vindictively because I found him less interesting than Stumpy. And let no one’s civic pride suffer because I noted in the town only what seemed to me picturesque. I have no quarrel with...
Excerpt from the introduction by Robert Parrish:
It appears that there have always been roving showmen: minstrels, montebanks, travelling players. Being such a trouper is a bit different from being an actor, or performing artist per se. You are not booked, your coming is not arranged for. You do not depend upon any of the machinery that makes the showman an organization man. You just take to the road and keep moving.
Such showmen differ from pure vagabonds in that they have a calling; to perform. This distinguishes them from the great American character the Confidence Man, although the Confidence...
Charles Oswald Williams was a good friend of Professor Hoffmann, Chung Ling Soo and many other notable magicians. He was also a magic dealer and inventor, amongst his customers was a young Cardini. Williams also had the honour of being one of the first magicians to perform in The Magic Circle's inaugural show.
Charles Oswald Williams was at the inception of the Golden Age of Magic and his life story followed the development of Magic as we now know it. This ebook chronicles his life story in parallel to the rise of Magic. In addition, it contains a full account of The Magic Circle's first show in London in 1906, describing...
Being a record of his experience as a white slave; a soldier in the Union Army; a professional gambler; a patron of the turf; a variety theater and minstrel manager; and, finally, a convert to the Murphy Cause, and to the Gospel of Christ.
This book is an illustration of this paragraph by S.W. Erdnase:
Hazard at play carries sensations that once enjoyed are rarely forgotten. The winnings are known as "pretty money," and it is generally spent as freely as water. The average professional who is successful at his own game will, with the sublimest unconcern, stake his money on that of another's, though...
This is a wonderful account of a traveling showman's trials and tribulations in England and Scotland during the middle of the 19th century. Among other things, he was a conjurer. While this is not a book of tricks, one coin trick is explained as part of one story of his life. But much more interesting are the descriptions of various scams and the modus operandi of various ways to defraud the public by traveling hucksters the author encountered. The operation of the thimble rig is explained in detail. It is an account of how traveling showmen struggled essentially their entire life to make...
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...
A fascinating glimpse into Okito's (Theo Bamberg) life and creations. The Bamberg dynasty had magicians spanning seven generations. Okito was a prolific inventor, builder of tricks, and exceptional performer. Learn the details of many of his most cherished secrets.
From the introduction by Dorny:
As the inventor of more magical effects than anyone else in the past half-century, he is constantly planning and building new tricks and illusions. In the construction of his miracles, he is a perfectionist. His finished work is always a masterpiece. Nothing is left to chance. With Theo, it must work. ...
How does one actually become a magician - and why? Is it even possible to make a living from magic? What is life like as a magician? Are these normal people?
A person who has traveled with his art to more than 60 countries around the world will tell you his secrets. See him awarded second place world champion at the FISM World Congress of Magicians, with a show based only on sleight of hand. Learn how he became a self-taught expert manipulator. See how he booked his own gigs and was even hired as the only completely unknown actor for "The Dream Ship" on German television network ZDF. ...
This is the story of an Austrian inventor, his patent, and his appliance to make objects and people invisible on demand.
In the 1930s the Austrian press was excited about the invention of "invisibility rays" by an Austrian inventor. The invention was licensed by the company Semperit (the largest car and bicycle tire manufacturer in Austria) and exhibited at a trade show where it became a sensation and was viewed by hundreds of thousands of visitors. During that trade show, the inventor made for the first time also people invisible. He applied and received a patent in Great Britain for his...
David Alexander and Richard Kyle would speak for hours on the phone exchanging their thoughts, their insights, and their discoveries regarding Erdnase. Richard Kyle would often write a letter to David afterward to memorialize...
This series of 14 articles was written by Edward Gallaway, aka S. W. Erdnase. It is a compact but thorough introduction to estimating for printers. For many years, Gallaway taught estimating to printers at the then largest privately held printing company, R. R. Donnelley. He was an instructor in their apprentice school and was at the same time the chief estimator of the company. He would later found his own School for Print Estimating in Chicago, the only such school solely dedicated to teaching this subject. He wrote the textbook for his school Estimating for Printers as well as other works...
A 'magical' autobiography and an inspirational book.
Can you believe it! A non-US, UK, or Europe magician that achieved fame and fortune, traveled the world, became a TV star in his own country, and achieved all his dreams! A magical inspirational real-life story like never before. Magician, Professional...
More unusual people including super fat, slim, tall, small, and many other freaks of nature. Learn about giants such as Chang Yu Sang, Edward Beaupré, Allen E. Tilden, Conrad Furrows, Bimbo, Sgt. Emmet M. Stephens, Capt. George Dowling or John Aasen. Or perhaps you are more interested in midgets such as Lynn Major White, Lia Graf, Tom Thumb, Major Rhinehart, Doletta Boykins, and Major Mite. Many more identified and unidentified prodigies are documented.
1st edition 2013, 62 pages.