Catalogs in Magic & Conjuring

A Chicago dealer who did manufacture his own apparatus.

1st edition 1893, 24 pages.

Magic, books, occultism, mentalism, manuscripts

1st edition 1960, 43 pages.

Die Zauber-Klingl war das beste Zaubergeschäft der Vergangenheit in Österreich. Es befand sich auf einem sehr guten Platz in der Wiener Innenstadt, gleich hinter der Staatsoper, in der Führichgasse Nr. 4, einer Seitenstrasse zur Kärtner Strasse der bedeutensten Einkaufsstrasse in Wien.

Sigmund Klingl war in erster Linie ein Hersteller von Zaubertricks und Zauberapparaten. Er stellte nicht nur zahlreiche Apparate und Illusionen für den allgemeinen Verkauf her, sondern machte auch Spezialanfertigungen für die Superstars der damaligen Zauberszene.

Der vorliegende Katalog von den 20er...

Partial catalog of Electro Fun, Calcutta, India.

This is not a catalog of our entire range of products, but a pictorial representation of our wide variety and range. It is the next best thing I can offer you to a personal visit to our showroom.

We have been creating and making props for magicians around the world for over 25 years. Our products are available through hundreds of magic shops all over the globe. This "Catalog" will enable magicians to get a better idea of the products than a mere name in a price list.

Most of the props we supply are accompanied by detailed instructions...

Robert Nelson and his brother Larry ("Alla Rageh") started the Nelson Enterprises in 1921. Their first "catalogs" were printed on thin, onion-skin paper. By 1927, their catalog boasted over a hundred effects and books, catering almost exclusively to the mental fraternity.

This catalog is nearly impossible to find, being jealously hoarded by mentalists and collectors. Now reprinted in convenient eBook format, the Nelson Enterprises Catalogue Number Six is once again available to expand the mind of performers of every ilk.

Because catalog printing techniques of the 1920s were not meant to...

Robert Nelson and his brother Larry ("Alla Rageh") started the Nelson Enterprises in 1921. Their first "catalogs" were printed on thin, onion-skin paper. By 1931, their catalogs were books in their own right, this one boasting 236 different effects, books, and services catering almost exclusively to the mental, mediumistic and gambling fraternities.

Originals of this catalog are virtually impossible to find, as they jealously hoarded by mentalists, magicians and occult collectors. Now reprinted in convenient PDF ebook format, the Nelson Enterprises Catalogue 12 is once again available to...

A massive catalog featuring magic tricks in all categories from balls and birds to cards and coins and wands and watches.

1st edition 1976, 516 pages.

A massive catalog featuring magic tricks in all categories from balls and birds to cards and coins and wands and watches.

1st edition 1993, 575 pages.

Magic products are being offered in the following categories:

• Accessories
• Advertising
• Ball Section
• Bird Cages
• Block Tricks
• Books
• Bottle Tricks
• Candle Tricks
• Cane Tricks
• Card Magic
• Change Bags
• Cigarette Tricks
• Close-Up, Pocket and Intimate Magic
• Coin and Money Magic
• Comedy Effects
• Cups and Balls
• Dice Magic
• Egg Tricks
• Escapes
• Flower Magic
• Glasses
• Illusions
• Kid-Show Magic
• Light Bulbs
• Linking Rings
• Liquid Magic
• Livestock Tricks
• Mental Effects
• Milk Tricks
• Miscellaneous
• Paper Magic
• Production Magic
• Rice Bowls
• Rope Tricks
• Silk Magic
• Spook Material
• Tables
• Thimbles ...

After the index in the back is a section of 14 pages with additional products. This means it is likely that Abbott catalog #18 is pretty much identical to Abbott catalog #17 except for this final section of products.

Magic products are being offered in the following categories:

• Accessories
• Advertising
• Ball Section
• Bird Cages
• Block Tricks
• Books
• Bottle Tricks
• Candle Tricks
• Cane Tricks
• Card Magic
• Change Bags
• Cigarette Tricks
• Close-Up, Pocket and Intimate Magic
• Coin and Money Magic
• Comedy Effects
• Cups and Balls
• Dice Magic
• Egg Tricks
• Escapes
• Flower Magic
• Glasses
• Illusions
• Kid-Show Magic ...

This catalog includes a price list.

1st edition 1987, 516 pages.

A huge catalog including index and price list.

1st edition 1997, 525 pages.

Includes a historical sketch about Abbott Magic, how it came to be, and why it was started in Colon, MI.

1st edition 1972, 464 pages.

The catalog gives a date of 1976, but that is the same date as #21, which means they probably forgot to change it. Most likely this catalog was published in the early 1980s. The latest date mentioned anywhere in the catalog is 1981. My best guess therefore is that this catalog was released in 1981 or 1982.

1st edition 198?, 448 pages.

Magic products are being offered in the following categories:

• Accessories
• Advertising Section
• Ball Magic
• Bird Cages
• Block Tricks
• Bottle Tricks
• Candle Tricks
• Canes
• Card Magic
• Change Bags
• Cigarette Tricks
• Close-Up and Pocket Tricks
• Coin and Money Magic
• Comedy Effects
• Cups and Balls
• Dice
• Egg
• Escapes
• Flower Magic
• Trick Glasses
• Illusions
• Kid-Show Magic
• Light Bulbs
• Linking Rings
• Liquid Magic
• Water Lotas
• Milk Tricks
• Tricks with Livestock
• Mental magic
• Paper Magic
• Production Magic
• Rice Bowls
• Rope Tricks
• Silk Magic
• Spook and Spirit Material
• Modern Tables
• Thimbles ...

This catalog #15 was the first catalog issued after Percy Abbott's death. The exact date is not clear but most likely it appeared in 1962.

~1962, 488 pages.

This catalog started it all. It is the first one published in 1934, the start of a magic dynasty.

1st edition 1934, 23 pages.

The second catalog already three times thicker.

1st edition 1935, 68 pages.

More than 800 pages of tricks, books, illusions, and other magic products.

1st edition 1947, 832 pages.

In this catalog Eddie Joseph and all his publications and separately sold tricks received a separate section. Abbott is also operating their own printing presses and advertises to print business cards, letterheads, handbills and show cards for magicians. A price list is included at the very end.

• Accessories
• Balls
• Bottles
• Cages
• Canes
• Cards
• Change Bags
• Cigarettes
• Club
• Comedy
• Dice
• Eggs
• Escapes
• Fish
• Flowers
• Glasses
• Illusions
• Joseph
• Light Bulbs
• Linking Rings
• Liquid
• Livestock
• Lotas
• Mental
• Milk
• Money
• Novelties
• Paper
• Parasols
• Pocket
• Printing
• Reels
• Rice Bowls
• Rising...

This #5 catalog was a supplementary catalog to #4. It only listed the new effects Abbott could supply.

1st edition ?, 94 pages.

This catalog #14 is for whatever reason less common than the other Abbott catalogs. It included a tipped in sheet advertising six Robert Orben books.

86 pages.

If you have never looked through one of these big magic catalogs this one is a good example. Even though WWII had already started Abbott's was offering almost 2000 magic items for sale. They had pretty much everything one can think of.

1st edition 1940, 544 pages.

This catalog includes a great article on why magic literature is so important (article can also be found in The Sphinx from March 1936). It should be mandatory reading for today's YouTube generation.

• A Plea for Magical Literature
• Recent and Standard Works on Magic
• Classified Guide to Current Magical Literature
• Fleming Book Company Publications
• Arcas Publications

1st edition 1949, 59 pages.