Byron Walker's Magic Books

The Collectors’ Forum (Fred Evans).  Fernandes Bibliography #16402.  A complete file of 21 issues (V 1 #1 – V 5 #4) plus the “Special Collector’s Edition” issued as a prospectus.  A fine file, beautifully bound in brown cloth with gilt spine titles.  $175

Del Ray: America’s Foremost by John Moehring is now in stock.  This is a superb production of 448 pages, HB in DJ, with a 94 minute DVD included.  Part One is Del Ray’s well illustrated biography, Part Two details 8 of Del’s favorite close-up routines.  And yes, Bill Spooner describes the electronic miracles that Del Ray used, with photos.  I’ve seen many magicians over my lifetime interest in magic.  If I could see only one again it would be Del Ray – that’s how good he was.  Limited to only 1000 copies,  Only $68 and I’ll pay shipping in the U.S. 

, The Davenport Story Volume One: The Life and Times of a Magical Family 1881-1939 by Fergus Roy, 2009, is a beautiful volume of 440 large (A2) pages, hardbound in DJ.  This is superbly illustrated with photos depicting the early years.  I’ve placed the dust jackets in archival dust jackets to protect your investment.  $150, including shipping in the U. S.

The Davenport Story Volume Two: The Lost Legends, 2010, continues the Davenport story and features the first publication of “lost” books of three prominent British magicians/authors: Robert Harbin, Edward Victor and G. W. Hunter.  341 large (A2) pages, hardbound in DJ.  I’ve placed the dust jackets in an archival dust jacket protector to protect your investment.  $150, including shipping in the U. S.

The Magic Magazine (Max Andrews).  Alfredson/Daily #3860.  A complete run of Vol 1 #1 to Vol 3 #12.  (The first 36 of 54 issues), all beautifully bound with all covers in a huge volume, brown cloth with gilt spine titles.  Among the frequent contributors were Billy McComb, Victor Farelli, Edward Victor, Eddie Joseph, etc.  Included is the series of “Open Letters” between Robert Harbin and Richard Himber.  All issues collated to be complete (took hours but I kept reading…..).  More than 1,000 pages of magic, news, history, reviews, etc. for only $145.

A Magician’s Tour – Revisited by Harry Kellar, with many additions by Phil Temple.  This is a beautiful book of xii plus 226 pages, 8 ½ by 11, hardbound in dust jacket.  This reprints the autobiography of Harry Kellar with dozens of added photos and a fine 20 page color section of the beautiful Strobridge, H. A. Thomas and W. J. Morgan Kellar posters that we treasure today.  (Two of the posters exist in only one known copy).  Included is a nice reproduction of the scarce Kellar’s Wonder Book of 1903, 56 pages in colorful wraps.  Limited to only 500 copies, I have a few new sets at $100 for both.

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Dante Audience Book: “50 Tricks for Everybody”.  Mint copies from Dante’s 1940 season with Dante on the front cover and Moi-Yo Miller on the rear.  24 large pages (10” by 12”) plus covers this is loaded with Dante photos and history, plus the 50 tricks.  $15

Goebel: The Man with the Magical Mind  by William Rauscher.  2010, xiv plus 205 pages, 8 ½ by 11, twelve page color section.    Foreword by Jim Steinmeyer .This is the biography of George Goebel, professional magician and costumer, his relationships with Baltimore magicians such as Milbourne Christopher, Hen Fetsch, the wonderful eccentric Dantini, etc.  This has more than 380 photos and illustrations!  Included is a 206 minute DVD with segments of Goebel’s 1980 and 1982 shows, etc.  Book and DVD, new copies, hardbound in dust jacket, $45

Bill Severn’s Magic Trunk, probably 1970s, consists of an attractive slipcase designed to look like a trunk and containing four of Bill’s books:

Magic Shows You Can Give,

Magic in Your Pockets

Magic Comedy

Magic With Paper.

Charles Bertram: The Court Conjurer by Edwin A. Dawes.  1977 First Edition.  This is copy #7 of only fifty copies of the Deluxe Edition signed by the author, specially bound in pebbled leatherette, with colorful dust jacket, housed in a pebbled leatherette slip case.  360 pages, 8 ½ by 11, color plates.  This copy has an additional fine inscription by the author.  Fine copy, $250

The Illusionist (Edd Schultz)  Fernandes Bibliography #28876.  A complete file of 19 issues (one a double issue).  Vol 1 #1 – Vol 5 #3/4.  A beautifully bound file in superb condition, largely on performing and building illusions, by Jim Steinmeyer, Paul Daniels, Rand Woodbury, Paul Osborne, Don Arthur, Fred Phelan, Tony Clark, Ben Robinson, Gary Darwin, Billy McComb, John Booth, much more.  $150

After The Dessert by Martin Gardner.  1942 “Second Edition” (actually third, or second printed edition), published in England by L. Davenport.  Illustrations by Nelson Hahne.  The title page quote attributed to Shakespeare was actually made up by the joking Gardner.  32 pages, VG copy.  $10

Corporate Presentations by Leo Behnke.  1992, 12 plus 126 pages, 8 ½ by 11, with the two blueprints in a pocket in the rear.  If you want to do trade shows or corporate presentations this is the book that tells you how.  Issued at $100, this fine copy is $85

The Castle Keep  (Tom Blue)  Fernandes Bibliography #15203.  A complete file of 24 issues.  A very interesting periodical with articles on collecting by Tom Blue; mentalism by Julies Lenier; cards by Larry Jennings and by Bruce Cervon; a check-list of movies containing magic, mind reading, crooked gamblers and con men; a check-list of magicians in fiction; and much much more.  A fine file.  $100

The Card Magic of Nick Trost.  1997 first edition, fine copy in fine dust jacket.  $45

Quest, Query & Plea (Ken Alfredson)  A complete file of three issues in fine condition. (Apr 1973, Aug 1973, Feb 1974).   Alfredson/Daily #5820 as “uncommon”.  $20

The Modern Magician  (James McKnight)  Alfredson/Daily #4915 as “uncommon”.  A complete file of eight issues, all in very nice condition (Oct 1932-Apr1934).  Included is the autobiography of Frank Lane, biographies of the cover magicians, mentalism articles by Robert Nelson, etc.  $75

 Arnold Furst, How to get Publicity in Newspapers....and Other Media.  1975, 95 pages, photographically illustrated throughout.  THE  guide on the subject.  $10

Fourth Collectors Annual by J. B. Findlay.  1952.  A fine copy, inscribed, dated and signed by Findlay to Dr. Zina Bennett.  $100

Ray Ricard, A Short Title History and Checklist of Wee Books, 1800 to 2005.  Limited to 150 numbered and signed copies.  111 pages, 8 1/2 x 11. 2 color plates and 12 color photos in text.  This is the comprehensive history and listing of 754 books on magic and the allied arts that conforms to Jimmy Findlay's description of a "wee" book (can be sealed an an envelope 3 1/2 x 6 inches".  Published at $35, I have a few remaindered copies at $25.

Houdini Periodical Bibliography by Arthur Moses is the valuable listing of Houdini’s appearances in periodicals, both magic and for the public, from June 1898 through December 2005, about 2,000 of them!  The sixteen page color section is a real treat.  Hardbound, 96 pages, 8 ½ by 11.  Highly recommended to any magic collector or Houdini enthusiast.  List $40, this as new copy only $30

Houdini’s Texas Tours 1916 & 1923 by Ron Cartlidge. 2002 First Edition, viii plus 119 well-illustrated pages detail much previously unrecorded information on our hero.  A fine hardbound copy in near fine DJ.  $20

Houdini: His Life Story by Harold Kellock, From the Recollections and Documents of Beatrice Houdini.  1928 Harcourt, Brace and Company First edition, x plus 384 pages, Frontispiece and 30 photographic plates.  Pasted to the front free end paper is a very old Houdini clipping on Houdini’s secret code.  A very good, tight copy.  $50

Houdini: The Untold Story by Milbourne Christopher.  1969, 261 pages.  This copy has the F. William Kuethe bookplate and three Houdini newspaper articles tipped in.  A very good copy in very good dust jacket.  $25

THE ULTIMATE THAYER by Dr. Robert Albo and Phil Schwartz is in stock for immediate shipment.  This consists of:

1. An oversize, 9” by 12” hardbound volume of pictures and history of Thayer’s magical life.  This has more than 250 pages and is in full color throughout.
2. A second, matching volume with color photos of more than 400 pieces of Thayer-Owen apparatus, with catalog descriptions and additional information.  This also has more than 250 pages in full color.
3. A folder containing ten DVDs of performance of the apparatus shown in the second volume, plus historical footage dating back more than seventy years.
4. A reproduction of the true first Thayer Catalog (yellow covers, not red) including the loose photos, as issued.  This is reproduced from the only known complete copy, which is in my collection. This is in an envelope on the inside back cover of the first volume.
5. A beautiful, newly minted Thayer commemorative token housed in an envelope on the inside back cover of the second volume.
6. A hardbound slipcase to hold all of the above, lavishly decorated in gold on black cloth (Thayer colors).

The Ultimate Thayer is limited to only 400 sets.  The price is $450 plus postage. .  I accept cash, check or money order in person or mailed to my post office box. (If more convenient, I accept PayPal to my Email address above if you add their charge to me.  That makes $463 if from U.S. funds, $468 plus postage if converted from non-U.S. currency).  Like all of the publications from Dr. Albo, this will undoubtedly increase in value in the future.  NOTE: COPIES NOW IN STOCK FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY.  THE PRICE IS $450 PLUS SHIPPING.  CALL OR EMAIL FOR TOTAL.  THEY ARE THE FINEST PRODUCTION FROM DR. ALBO EVER! 

The Thayer Commemorative Token.  This must be about the most beautiful magic token ever minted, and I think I’ve seen them all over my 35 years of collecting tokens.  It’s a thick, solid, brass token, deeply embossed on both front and reverse, in a plastic holder.  400 were placed in The Ultimate Thayer.  Only 100 additional tokens were minted.  Plans were to sell these only after Ultimate Thayer sets are sold out, and then for $75.  I was able to obtain a dozen of these for only $25 each.

Dr. Albo: Complete set of the first three Supplements to go into Volume Eight, consisting of:

1. Title page
2. The Okito Timeline (by Eric Lewis)
3. Floyd Thayer
4. Force Books and Book Tests (by Bill Kuethe)

This is a new set, removed from the shrinkwrap to photograph and replaced.  All for only $65

Classic Magic Supplement II  by Dr Robert Albo.  1989.  This is the 167 page supplement to go in your Volume Eight or to stand alone.  It’s loaded with photos, has a color section, contains the missing material from David Bamberg’s Illusion Show, and much more.  Fine copy.  $150

The Oriental Magic of the Bambergs by Dr. Robert Albo.  (Volume One of the series).  1973 First (and only) edition and one of the most difficult to obtain.  Full color frontispiece tipped in and color section.  Limited to only 1,000 copies.  Correction sheet laid in.   A fine copy in a fine plastic jacket.  $500

Volume Eleven (Classic Magic With Apparatus – Laboratories of Legerdemain).  2005.

X plus 486 pages.  Included is a DVD in the rear pocket containing a Master Index to the entire Albo Classic Magic Series of eleven volumes.  This is the final and scarcest of the entire set as only 300 numbered copies were printed (the other volume print runs were from 500 to 1000 copies).  I have only one fine, inscribed copy.  $850

Science and Magic by Dr Robert Albo is the 1981 exhibition catalog for his lecture/demonstration at the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California.  Dr Albo discusses the relationship between science and magic, with photos and descriptions of many magic pieces utilizing scientific principles.  This will fit in your Volume Eight (the binder) as a Supplement or stand alone..  A few mint copies at $25.

Dr Robert Albo Exhibition Catalog – International Festival of Magical Arts, Jan 15-29, 1984.  This is the 16 page catalog of magic apparatus, mainly arranged by country, with photos and descriptions of choice pieces in the Albo collection.  Added are a few photos of posters from my collection.  This can go in your Volume Eight (the binder) as a Supplement or stand alone.  A few mint copies at $25.

Magic Collecting by Dr. Robert Albo.  16 pages, 8 ½ by 11 in pictorial wraps.  This contains Dr. Albo’s thoughts on collecting and his career as a collector plus 53 photos of the famous Albo Collection.  As new copy..  This is one of the supplements to go in your Volume Eight or to stand alone. A few mint copies at $25

Magic by Dr Robert Albo is an 8 ½ by 11 brochure issued as an exhibition catalog and contains many photos and descriptions of apparatus in the Albo collection, plus some posters in my collection.  This will fit in your volume Eight (the binder) or stand alone. A few mint copies, $25

The Magic of Germany by Dr Robert Albo was the first of his “Magic by Country” series.  This contains 21 pages, of which 4 pages are on the magic shops of Germany, followed by 70 photos of German made apparatus, all with descriptions.  A few new copies are available for $25.

The Magic Apparatus Collection of Robert Albo, M.D. is the exhibition catalog of his apparatus display in Los Angeles Feb 13-May 11, 1989.  This includes the 8 ½ by 11 brochure plus 4 pages of photos of his apparatus inserted into the brochure.  This will fit in your Volume Eight (the binder) or stand alone.  A few mint copies, $25