Tarbell Course
by Harlan Tarbell

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 written anything as comprehensive as the Tarbell Course. This course has lost very little over time and is still a wonderful reference work and study aid. Most would agree that the Tarbell Course should be part of any magician's library.

David Bamberg (Fu Manchu) credited the original course with making him the success he was.

You will get the original correspondence course of 60 lessons. (For an additional lesson see the one post graduate lesson Tarbell Post-Graduate Service in Magic No. 1). These 60 lessons are not identical to the later published anthologies (book volumes 1-8 of which only 1-5 were actually written by Tarbell himself; the other volumes were added later under the Tarbell Course name mainly for marketing purposes). For the most part, the 60 lessons can be found under different lesson numbers and sometimes different headings in the volumes 1 to 5 of the books. The post graduate lesson was reprinted in book volume 8. There are some parts from the original 60 lessons that you will not find anywhere in the eight book volumes.

The 60 lessons are laid out with a lot of thought. You learn not just the moves and principles, but the history of magic, ethics, how to market yourself and patter to each trick. In one sentence a unique book sitting at the peak of the pile of magic literature.

[Another similar course, in some ways quite a bit better than the Tarbell Course, but not as comprehensive, is the Rupert Howard Magic Course.]

Table of contents: Lessons

1. The History Of Magic
2. The History Of Sleight Of Hand
3. Necromancy And Divination
4. Development Of Superstitions
5. Magic And Religion
6. Magic And The Science Of Medicine
7. The Rope And Tape Principle
8. The Relation Of Magic To Other Sciences
9. The Principles Of Card Effects
10. Confidence And Enthusiasm
11. The Penetrating Ring; The Jumping Rubber Band; Thumb Tie With Rubber Band; The Japanese Thumb Tie
12. Cards That Pass In The Night; The Cards Up The Sleeve
13. The Regular Pass; The Card Stab; The X-Ray Knife; The Magnetic Knife
14. The Force; Producing A Card From A Whole Orange; The Card And The Banana; The Bewitched Banana
15. Guide To Card Positions; Various Principles Of Palming And Shifts; The Conjurer's Touch; A Mysterious Discovery; "Marvello"; Cards, Envelope, And Hat
16. "Tack It"; New Era Version Of Card Through Handkerchief; Three Cards Through The Handkerchief; Rising Cards Through Handkerchief
17. "Snap It"; Flash Card Production; Mystery Of The Glass House
18. Rising Cards
19. The Enchanted Cards And Envelope; Bewitched Rising Cards And Envelope; Rising Cards From Book; A Book And A Card; Rising Cards Through Hat; Rising Cards Out Of A Hat
20. How To Please Your Audience; Keeping Up With The Times; Making An Impression; Maintain A Healthy Attitude Toward Magic; The Vanishing Wand; King Solomon's Marriage Bands; Arrangement Of Programs
21. Sleight Of Hand With Coins
22. The Homing Coins; Invisible Money Transit; The Coin In The Magical Envelopes
23. The Miser's Dream; The Coin, Envelope, And Handkerchief; The Passe Coins And Glasses; The Passe Coins From Hand To Hand; The Phantom Coin
24. Humpty Dumpty Outdone; The Egg Bag
25. I Am Saving You Money; Effects With Rabbits
26. Simplicity Is The Key-Note Of The Tarbell System Of Magic; The Cut And Restored Ribbon; A Card And Ribbon Mystery; The Ghostly Ribbon; A Spirit Communication; A Wandering Ribbon
27. The Famous Needle Trick; A Thimble Act
28. Silks; The Egg, The Glass, And The Handkerchief; The Wandering Handkerchief; The Silk And The Flame; The Candle, The Silk, And The Paper Tube; The Educated Knot
29. Divisions Of Modern Magic; Unlimited Opportunities In Magic; Specialization; Presentation; Creating Of Effects; Experiments Of Super Mentality; The Chess Knight's Tour; A Mind Reading Act; The Yogi's Prediction; The X-Ray Cards; Telepathic Pictures
30. Making Money With Magic; Wand From Pocketbook; Cigar From Pocketbook; Wand From Card Case; Silk Production From Hat; A Rabbit Traveling Bag; De Luxe Silk Production From Hat; Production Of Rabbit From Silks; Chinese Box Vanish For Rabbit
31. A Modern Crystal Gazing Act; Rapid Mental Transference; A Good "One Man" Mind Reading Act; Distant Mental Communication; Blindfold Card Reading; A Mystic Discovery
32. Your Relation To Other Magicians; Ethics At A Magic Performance; Silk Handkerchief Magic; Mystic Knots; The Dissolving Single Knot; The Speedy Single Knot; The Fade-Away Double Knot; Quick Release Double Knot; Leg Tie And Release With Handkerchief; The Magical Bow Knot; Repeat Handkerchief Vanish; An Eggs-Traordinary Eggs-Planation; A "Sucker" Handkerchief Vanish; A One-Man Handkerchief Vanish; The Sympathetic Silks; Elusive Silks
33. Cigarette Magic; The Burning Cigarette And Silk Handkerchief; The Phantom Cigarette; The Vanishing Cigarette; The Dollar Bill In The Cigarette; Catching Cigarettes In The Air; An Odd Cigarette Vanish; Cardini's Floating Cigarette; To Produce Lighted Cigarette From Box
34. Twelve Impromptu Effects With Cards
35. Sleight Of Hand With Cards
36. More Card Magic; Production Of Cards From The Mouth; Cascade Production From Boy's Nose; Easy Methods For Forcing Cards; The Circus Trick; False Counting; Four Ace Effects; Card Fountains
37. Oriental Magic; Chinese Color-Changing Coins; Chink-A-Chink; The Phantom Knot; The Mystic Knots; Chefalo's Knot; Mysterious Japanese Tie; The Chinese Burning Tapes; Hindu Cut And Restored Turban
38. Oriental Magic; Jap-O-Tie; The Mystic Smoke; The Chinese Sticks; The Climbing Balls; The Disappearing Grain; The Hindu Jar Of Grain; The Productive Japanese Lantern
39. More Handkerchief Magic; The Handkerchief Ball; The Soup Plate And Handkerchiefs; Two Soup Plates And Handkerchiefs; The Twentieth Century Silks; Tarbell's Color Changing Handkerchief; Double Handkerchief Color Change; The Dyeing Handkerchiefs; The Birth Of Old Glory
40. Character Analysis As Related To Magic
41. Billiard Ball Manipulation
42. The "Clean Cut" Color Changing Handkerchief; The "Vice Versa" Color Changing Handkerchiefs; Handkerchief To Billiard Ball; The Elusive Rainbow; Spot The Red; Watch The Lemon; The Magic Chocolates; Popping Corn In A Hat; Nursing Bottle From The Hat
43. Coat And Hat Productions; Comedy Egg Production; A Master Hat Production; Rabbit Productions; An Unexpected Rabbit Production; Rapid Production Of Rabbit From Hat; Silks And The Rabbit; Rabbit Production From Paper Ribbon; Rabbit Production From Gentleman's Coat; A Chicken Produced From Gentleman's Coat; Production Of Bottle Of Milk Or Liquor From Gentleman's Hip Pocket; Changing Rabbit To Box Of Candy; Sausages From Boy's Coat
44. Chemical And Mechanical Magic; A Novel Transmission Of Smoke; Wine And Water; The Wandering Glass And Bottle; A Magical Transformation; A Cooking Lesson; The Welsh Rarebit
45. Spiritualistic Magic; The Living And The Dead; Spirit Photography; The Psychic Paper; Spirit Slate Writing; A Parlor Seance
46. More Spiritualistic Magic; The Dark Seance At The Table; The Dark Circle; Gysel's Mysterious Lights; Dr. Bridges' Thought Projection; The Siberian Chain Escape; The Cabinet Seance; Another Good Tie; The Throw-Away Coat Tie
47. Chinese Linking Rings; Weber's Emergency Routine
48. More Oriental Magic; Tarbell's Mysterious Firecrackers; Kolar's Balloon And Silks; Ching-A-Ling Chinese Lantern Production; The Hindu Mango Tree Growth; Tarbell's Hindu Plant Growth; Comedy Flower Growth
49. Specialty Chinese Magic; Production Of A Large Bowl Of Water; Production Of Stack Of Four Bowls Of Water; Chinese Production Of The Four Bowls; Production Of A Child; Modern Production Of Bowl Of Water On Table; Chinese Production Of Doves; The Mysterious Self-Filling Lota; Ching Ling Foo's Magic Water Can; Mystery Of The Paper Ball, Egg, Frog, And Baby Chicken
50. The Tarbell Rope Mystery
51. Illusions; The Mystery Of King Tut; Who And Which
52. Building Illusions; Black Art Illusions; The Elusive Hindu; A Daughter Of The Sun; The Mystery Of The Girl In The Trunk; The Phantom Flight
53. Escape And Substitution Illusions; The Substitution Trunk Mystery; The Canvas Box Mystery; The Packing Box Escape; The Paper Bag Escape
54. The Black Art Table; The Treasure Chest; The Chinese Pigeon Production; Thayer's Super-Vanish Of Doves
55. The Egyptian Mummy; The Mystery Of The Dancing Girls; The Doll House Illusion
56. The Sword Box; The Penetrative Steel Bars; The Indestructible Girl; Sawing A Woman In Half
57. The Chinaman, The Ghost And The Cat; The Mystery Of The Three Ghosts
58. The Phantom Of The Circus
59. Making The Box Office Pay
60. Advertising And Publicity