for Beginners in Magic & Mentalism

This book is the British version of Magic Made Easy (200 Photos), except that 159 illustrations have replaced the 201 photos. Also, the text was changed to British spelling, and some other changes have been made to accommodate a British readership, such as changing a trick with a dollar bill to one with a pound note.

I find this illustrated edition better because the illustrations are clearer and easier to understand than photos, particularly for a beginner unfamiliar with most of the movements and methods.

This edition looks like an unauthorized edition of the original because...

An introduction to conjuring.

Carl March was a pseudonym of the award-winning children's book author Sid Fleischman. He was an excellent magician. Performing magic informed his writing both in content and dramatic structure. This beginner's magic book is excellent and profusely illustrated with 201 photos by Willis I. Deits.

Excerpt from the introduction:

Magic tricks, puzzles, shadowgraphy, palmistry, crystal gazing, ...

Excerpt from the introduction by Will Goldston:

A practical course of instruction in the fundamentals of conjuring with cards.

Excerpt from the preface:

Table of Contents

• Preface
• PART I. PRELIMINARY
  • The Art of Conjuring
  • The Cards
  • Learning and Practising
  • The Illustrations ...

I couldn't find out much about the author, but it appears that he worked professionally in telephony, thus perhaps also his contribution of a telephone trick in Magic is Fun issue 2. He was the second earliest discoverer of the only magic hexagon in 1895, which he patented in 1896, and was long thought to be the first until new records showed that the German Ernst von Haselberg discovered it in 1887.

Excerpt from the introduction:

This is a thoughtful introduction to magic with everything you need to get started with this great hobby or even profession if you want to take it that far.

• Introduction
• Overture And Beginners, Please!
• Chapter One: And It Wasn’t Up His Sleeve At All!
• Chapter Two: This Is An Amateur’s World!
• Chapter Three: So You Want To Be A Magician?
• Chapter Four: A Mindreader, Eh?
• Chapter Five: A Full Hand Of Clubs
• Chapter Six: Meet The Magic Circle
• Chapter Seven: The International Brotherhood Of Magicians
• Chapter Eight: These Are Names To Conjure With
• Chapter Nine: Top Of The Bill
• Chapter...

This work is primarily intended for those who are seeking to master the art of entertaining by magic, but who are quite ignorant of the rudiments of conjuring.

The first section, although dealing with conjuring books in general, is intended to indicate to the reader how to read this volume so that he may profit from the matter contained in the various sections.

Sections Two, Three, and Four give full instructions on the use of the appliances, appurtenances, and sleights of conjuring. Therein are described the elementary principles and appliances of the art of conjuring which must be...

This book reveals some large-scale illusions and then teaches a range of easy tricks for the beginner.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Secrets Of A Famous Magician Revealed
  • Buried Alive
  • Escape From A Milk-Can
  • The Vanishing Elephant
  • The Disappearing Horseman
  • "Needles And Thread"
  • Through A Brick Wall
• Magic Tricks Which Can Be Performed In The Home
  • The Handkerchief Trick
  • The Cord And The Handkerchief
  • The Vanishing Sixpence
  • A Bangle Trick
  • Try These Two Match Tricks
  • The Broken Match
  • The Coin Mystery
  • The Telegraphic Coin
  • A Blowing Feat
  • Lighting A Lump Of Sugar
  • The Three...

Bob Dunn was an illustrator by profession and this work is full of illustrations making each trick easy to comprehend and learn. From the introduction:

This is a bilingual magic ebook. All 30 easy close-up tricks are explained in English and French. Impress your friends with your magic. [Les tours de magie ont toujours beaucoup de succès, je vous propose 30 tours de close-up avec lesquels vous allez pouvoir épater vos amis (es).]

1. [Note that the first trick is missing. Notez que le premier tour est manquant.]
2. The Sturdy Balloon / Le ballon invincible
3. Instant Stamps / Les timbres
4. Faster Than Polaroid / Plus vite qu’un “Polaroid”
5. Jigsaw Puzzle / Le casse-tête
6. Making Money / Faire de l’argent
7. Free as a Bird / Libre comme l’oiseau
8. Cupid’s Arrow / La flèche de Cupidon
9. The Fortune Cookie / 9.Les gâteaux ‘Bonne aventure’
10. Travelling Seven / Le sept voyageur
11. Mr. Flexible / Monsieur Souple
12. The Mysterious Gender Ring / L’anneau mystérieux...

This is a wonderful ebook to introduce a beginner to magic and teach him or her several excellent magic tricks. It covers all the necessary basics. Written by Peter Warlock, a world-wide respected master magician and widely published author in magic.

From the introduction:

This ebook gives directions for a number of conjuring tricks that depend on skill rather than costly apparatus for their magical effect. They include examples of mind-reading, escapology, ventriloquism, and stage illusions, and each section of the ebook is devoted to a particular type of act.

The success of any show depends on coordinating the movements with the patter. It is important that the two should be practiced together, so an outline script is provided with each trick.

Table of Contents

• Foreword
• A Complete Conjuring Act
  • Effect
  • Accessories and Apparatus
  • Presenting the Routine:...

Fascinating puzzles, tricks and mysterious stunts.

It starts with a short biography of Harry Houdini and then has a series of simple magic tricks and party stunts. Each one is described with an illustration and a few words of explanation.

Table of Contents

• The Disappearing Coin
• The Balanced Quarter
• A Good Trick With Glasses
• Try This On Your Friends
• Ring On A String
• The Magnetic Hand
• A Clever Cork Trick
• The Climbing Ring
• This Trick Will Fool You
• The Mysterious Match
• A Trick For Bridge Players
• A Knot That Will Mystify
• Try This On A Friend
• Try This At A Party
• Which Cards Are...

This ebook will teach you how to be a magician. Some of the lessons cover the techniques of performing magic, while others cover magic tricks, for you to perform a magic show at a party or any informal gathering.

The descriptions of the tricks are generally divided into four parts - the Effect, the Requirements and Preparation, Performance or Presentation, and Additional Notes. There are more than 75 effects explained, and over 100 illustrations are included to make everything easy to understand.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• The Real Secrets of Magic
• One Way Handkerchief
• Waterproof...

My name is Mark Lewis. This is the book that changed my life. In fact, I suspect it changed the life of a lot of other card magicians too. The Royal Road to Card Magic was first published in 1949 and 70 years later it is still considered the standard work in card magic. A terrific study plan which if you follow carefully (as I did) you cannot possibly fail to achieve proficiency as a card magician. You can start the book knowing nothing about card tricks but by the time you get to the end you will become an expert. Of course, a lot of things have happened in card magic over the last...

There have been a number of 'introductions' to magic published, but we never felt they hit he right note. We have always felt the need of a first book for the newcomer - a primer, as it were. Frances Marshall has now put together a volume that will take the newness and strangeness out of the world of magic. With the aid of Jay Marshall, she has arranged a glossary of words and terms that are familiar to the initiated magician, but gibberish to the newcomer to our field. The ebook begins when laymen (young or old) discover magic. Maybe they see a TV spectacular, or a big magic show, or a friend fools them...

This guide is written in an unusual style, a conversational style, where each lesson starts with "Dear Mr. Smith", like a letter to a fictional student. This feature makes it a very readable and valuable course. In the introduction Jonson writes:

In 14 clearly organized lessons you will learn how to handle a deck of cards like a pro. And along the way you will acquire some amazing, yet simple card tricks, which will allow you to successfully perform a little card act for an audience.

• Lesson 1: Tools and Instruments
• Lesson 2: Getting Acquainted With Your Instrument
• Lesson 3: Your First Techniques: Basic Shuffles
• Lesson 4: Your First Card Trick: "The Mystery of the Triangle"
• Lesson 5: Ordinary Cuts
• Lesson 6: A Small Card Miracle: "The Cards Know"
• Lesson 7: More Auxiliary Sleights and Review
• Lesson 8: A Few Simple Flourishes ...

This ebook teaches lots of simple tricks. Learn to read people's mind and predict the combination of a lock. Push your thumb through your ear and melt away a knot. Read its powerful secrets and master skills within the art. For with knowledge comes great power and this ebook is where you start.

Table of Contents

1. Floating Sausage
2. Shrinking Finger
3. Hole in your Hand
4. Thumb Through Ear
5. Legs Through the Floor
6. Colour Prediction
7. Two into One
8. Mind Reading Cards
9. Clipped Card
10. Telekinetic Straw
11. Suspended Pencil
12. Rubber Pencil
13. Rising Ring
14. Jumping Ring
15. The Grid
16. Floating Ball
17. Straw Through...

Learn Magic is a classic magic book for serious beginners. It teaches 20 lessons and focuses not just on effects, tricks and moves, but also on the 'how to learn magic' aspect. Beautifully illustrated by Hans Jelinek.

Henry Hay's larger magic book for beginners, The Amateur Magician's Handbook is broader in scope and already assumes some basic knowledge about magic.

Paul Fleming wrote:

Where to start and what's important.

This is a well thought out and compact introduction to card magic by Paul Hallas. He teaches you the most important sleights and tricks that go along with these sleights.

From the introduction:

Learn how to entertain and Mystify with baffling card tricks!

This ebook will teach you to baffle your friends with card tricks that you can learn quickly and easily. You will be taken into the mysterious and secret world of Magicdom and everything you need to know is contained within these pages. You will start with the simplest of tricks and slowly work your way forward with the more complex routines that require you to learn some simple sleights and subterfuges. But don't worry because everything is carefully explained and clearly illustrated. If you learn just a few of the magic tricks...

Harry Baron performed magic for over sixty years and was a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with the coveted Gold Star. His books have sold around the world and have been translated into many languages. Apart from writing Magic for Beginners he produced instructions for hundreds of other tricks. He owned his own magic studio and manufactured apparatus for amateurs and professionals. As a result of managing the conjuring department of the famous Gamages store for nearly thirty years, he met most of the world's leading magicians. He lectured and taught conjuring to professional groups, as well...

Right before your very eyes, this ebook shows you all the secret trick and sleight-of-hand effects you need to perform mystifying feats of magic. These are under-your-nose, how-did-you-do-that tricks that will entertain your audience and confound your friends - from an arm's length away!

These tricks are simplicity itself, they use items found in your pocket or around the house. Even better, you can perform many of the tricks without any preparation. No matter what your skill level, with this ebook you can master telepathic and mind-reading magic, spectacular illusions and other baffling...

Card College Lightest is the final volume of Roberto Giobbi's acclaimed 'Light' trilogy. In it are taught 18 thoroughly astonishing tricks of professional quality, complete with performing psychology, presentations, valuable tips and insights, all of which contribute to making these sleightless effects into near miracles.

The tricks Giobbi has selected this time range from time-tested classics to little-known wonders by masters of the craft, including Larry Becker, Henry Christ, Aldo Colombini, Paul Curry, Alex Elmsley, Karl Fulves, Martin Gardner,...

From the back cover:

Roberto Giobbi's newest survey of sleightless card magic, Card College Lighter, gives the famous Giobbi treatment to 21 baffling card tricks by some of the craft's greatest masters, including Vernon, Annemann, Leech, Maven, Fulves, Hummer, Vollmer and Krenzel. These tricks do not require sleights, but they all show the cunning perspective of a professional performer, guaranteeing astonishing and entertaining results.

Following in the footsteps of his Card College Light, Roberto Giobbi teaches the secrets of professional-caliber...

You get both volumes, Card College 1 and Card College 2. And since you are buying two volumes, we can give you a bit of a price break. (If you are looking for the 8 hour video course please go here Card College 1 & 2: Personal Instruction.)

For a detailed description of the contents of volume 1 and 2, please refer to the separate product pages. You will find in these two ebooks almost 200 embedded video clips showing you how master magician Giobbi works the cards.

[Note that to view the embedded video clips on iPad you will need the PDF-Expert app. And to view...

For more than a generation The Amateur Magician's Handbook has been the acknowledged classic text for conjurers, both beginners and advanced. Even David Copperfield recommended it during one of his TV specials. Literally thousands of magicians found their love for magic through this book. Several of these magicians are today recognized performers. This fourth edition, expanded as well as thoroughly revised, and introduced by Milbourne Christopher, includes a section where the Amazing Randi contributes his experience using video for self-coaching.

This new edition teaches, briskly yet carefully,...

This is by far the best ebook on self-working card tricks. (For the second volume in this series see Card College Lighter. For the third volume see Card College Lightest.)

From the author of Card College, the world's most acclaimed course on sleight-of-hand card magic, comes Card College Light, Roberto Giobbi's first text focused entirely on professional caliber card tricks requiring no manipulative skill.

For whom is this ebook intended? It is for beginners, of course - but by no means in total. This ebook is intended for everyone who has always wanted to...

This is the second volume of the famous Card College series. Volume 1 and volume 2 can be considered a unit, covering most important moves as well as most if not all crucial theoretical points. Each section describes a move or a group of sleights in minute detail, using carefully chosen words, beautiful illustrations and clear video clips. There are a total of 108 video clips in this volume. At the end of each section you will find some of the best and most amazing effects. (If you are looking for the 8 hour video course please go here Card College 1 & 2: Personal Instruction.) ...

Card College is a modern classic. It is without a doubt the most important work on sleight of hand with cards. This is the first volume in a series of five. The speciality of this electronic book are its 89 video clips, which show how Giobbi executes each and every technique described. (If you are looking for the 8 hour video course please go here Card College 1 & 2: Personal Instruction.)

This ebook has also been nominated as a finalist in the prestigious EPPIE 2004 ebook award in the category non-fiction/how-to. This is the first magic book to be nominated for a non-magic book...

The younger generation of card magicians probably knows or has heard of Card College by Roberto Giobbi. The Royal Road to Card Magic is very similar but of older vintage and doesn't cover as much ground. It introduces the novice into the art of card magic one move and principle at a time, always with tricks accompanying the moves. It is therefore not a mindless list of moves but a well prepared and thought out textbook. It will take the beginner to an intermediate level. Once The Royal Road to Card Magic has been mastered one can move on to Expert Card Technique which...

The Tarbell Course is without a doubt the most comprehensive and most encompassing magic literary work in existance today. It has almost 1300 pages and nearly 2900 illustrations. It covers practically every form of magic: sleight of hand with cards, coins, thimbles, cigarettes, silks, ropes, ..., up to mentalism and illusions. It goes beyond the mere technique and teaches patter, routining, marketing and other often neglected facets of being a magician. There is no other book which comes even close in breadth and depth of the material covered. It is amazing that since the late 1920s nobody has...