Byron Walker's Magic Books

THE ULTIMATE THAYER by Dr. Robert Albo and Phil Schwartz will be mailed in March 2010.    This will consist of :

1. An oversize, 9” by 12” hardbound volume of pictures and history of Thayer’s magical life.  This will have more than 250 pages and be 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 will also have 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 will be 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 will be 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.

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

Revelations by Dai Vernon.  1984 First edition.  A mint copy in near mint dust jacket.  $100

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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Erdnase.  The Expert at the Card Table.  First edition facsimile, limited to 750 copies, published in 2002, the 100^th anniversary of the first edition.  Gold stamped front cover and spine on green cloth.  New copies, with the Publisher’s Note on the production laid in.  Not $3,000, only $75

Slydini Encores.  1966, 157 pages, nearly 200 photos of Slydini demonstrating some of his best material  (boy did his Imp-Pass fool me!).  A superb copy of the first edition in pictorial wraps, inscribed “To my friend Bob with best luck, Sincerely, Slydini” in his fine handwriting.  $75

Stanyon’s Magic.  This is the deluxe 1996 Kaufman & Greenberg edition, 3 volumes in slipcase.  This edition adds a “Publisher’s Note” regarding the set and the valuable new 44 page index.  Of additional interest is the added copy of a letter from Ellis Stanyon explaining his 5 year gap between Vol 14 #11 and Vol 14 #12 (Aug 1914-Sep 1914/1919).  This is a previously owned set in near fine condition.  Limited to 500 sets and no longer available from the publisher.  Reduced from $250 to only $175

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.

All five items are in VG condition.  $20 for all.

The Classical Technique of Fire Eating by Gerald Taylor. First Edition.  #367 of only 500 numbered copies.  43 pages, 20 “Art Photo Studies” of Bruno Nolo’s Living Statue Fire Act.  This copy was nicely inscribed by the author in 1976.   A fine copy.  $35

David Roth’s Expert Coin Magic.  The deluxe 1985 First Edition issued in slipcase at $69.50 in 1985.  This is a near mint copy in as new slipcase.  $69

100 Years of Magic Posters by Charles & Regina Reynolds.  1976 Darian House First Edition.  The front cover is sun-faded with a bend at the lower fore edge but the wonderful large posters are all present and just fine.  112 pages, 11” by 16”.  $50

The “Flocked Books” of Magic.  A complete set of the two magic books issued with flocked covers:

The Elusive Canary by Mystic Craig.  1936, 33 pages on the vanishing bird cage.

Original Ideas in Magic by Lloyd Chambers.  1941, iv plus 27 pages of original and unusual magic, from The Great Egyptian Floto to Shooting Through a Woman. 

The set of two “Flocked Books” in VG condition - $60

Encyclopedia of Silk Magic Vol 4.  1993 First Edition and out of print.  (The first three volumes were published by Harold Rice, Volume 4 was compiled by Mark Trimble).  This includes a master index to all four volumes and perhaps complete your set?  A fine copy in fine DJ.  $45

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

The Ring & Rope Book by Philip Willmarth Volume One (all issued).  1975, 60 pages, 8 ½ by 11, more than 100 photos.  A VG copy - $20

The Card Magic of LePaul.  1959.  219 pages, 313 VG photos!  Hardbound, gold stamped on front cover and spine.  A fine copy in fine dust jacket.  $50

Hocus Pocus Junior.  1997 Steve Burton edition with his insightful Excursus.  #203 of only 300 numbered and signed copies.  As new.  $100

Original Magic by Marconick.  About 1967.  200 pages of the originations of this Dutch innovator.  The text is trilingual (English, French, German).  Superbly illustrated with photos and line drawings on glossy paper.  How to make Money Trick, Hindu Thread, Through a Beer Mat, Fire Bowl, Rope Through Neck, Rope Routines, Card Magic, dozens more.  Fine copy in dust jacket.  $30

The Four Faces of Robert Harbin by Chris Woodward.  1998, limited to only 100 copies.  A fine copy, $20

Bookishly Yours by J. B. Findlay.  1987.  #142 of only 300 copies.  This contains 14 nice photos of the Findlay collection plus text on his massive hoard.  Fine copy, $20

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.

The Dai Vernon Book of Magic.  Harry Stanley first edition with the best photos.  A very nice, clean, bright copy (no DJ).  $40

The Miracle Makers by J. G. Thompson, Jr.  1975 first edition, 306 pages, illustrated with photos throughout.  Hardbound in dust jacket, both mint.  $25

Magicians Tricks: How They Are Done by Henry Hatton and Adrian Plate.  1917, xvii plus 344 pages.  A stunning copy in the fine pictorial cloth.  An absolutely superb copy of one of magic’s classics.  $50

The Houdini-Price Correspondence, compiled by Gabriel Citron, 1998.  192 pages of the informative correspondence between Houdini and Harry Price. Limited to only 350 copies, numbered and SIGNED by the compiler.  A fine copy - $45

Benjilini on Houdini.  1994 first edition.  x plus 71 pages, 8 ½ by 11.  Bibliography, fine, inscribed copy, copy #100 of only (I believe) 100 copies.  $40

Whodunit? Houdini?  Thirteen Tales of Magic, Murder, Mystery edited by Otto Penzler.  1976 First Edition.  xi plus 253 pages.  A nice collection of short stories involving magicians by Clayton Rawson, Walter Gibson, Maxwell Grant (I know it’s the same guy), Erle Stanley Gardner, Carter Dickson and eight others.  Very nice copy in interesting dust jacket.  $20

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 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.  Signed by Dr Albo on the limitation page.  A fine copy in a fine plastic jacket.  $500