Magic

Those Beautiful Dames by Frances Marshall.  1984 First (and only) Edition.  84 pages, 8 ½ by 11, spiral bound.  Biographies, stories and photos of female magicians.  A clean, unmarked copy.  $65 

A Few Moments from the Career of E. Cooper Taylor by E. Cooper Taylor III.  1990, 24 pages, 8 ½ by 11, spiral bound in pictorial covers.  The pictorial history of this 1800s American magician.  A fine copy - $35

Herrmann family authority the late James Hamilton produced seven monographs on the Herrmanns – all now quite scarce.  In emptying his home a few mint copies were found of his 2009 booklet on Leon Herrmann and his manager – Jesse L. Lasky: Music, Magic and Movies.  17 pages, 8 ½ by 11, this contains considerable information on Adelaide as well as Leon.  Illustrated with photos including sepia Frontispiece.  A few new copies - $20 

Magic For Free, 1887-1945 by James Hagy.  1995, 111 pages, 8 ½ by 11 in pictorial blue covers with Velo binding, limited to 300 copies signed by the author.  Hagy presents an extensive check-list of 95 magic give-aways, booklets, book sets, etc. with extensive descriptions and many quaint reproductions in color and black & white.  Great fun for $40. 

Thurston’s Book of Magic by Howard Thurston.  Complete 5 volume set of his “Library of Magic” – the quaint booklets issued by Swift & Co., each 16 pages including their orange pictorial covers.  All are complete in fine to Vg condition.  See Hagy, Magic For Free #90.  The complete set - $50 

Spotlight on 101 Great Magic Acts by Tony Taylor.  1975, 95 pages, 8 ½ by 11 in green pictorial covers.  Taylor describes the acts of 101 professional magicians along with an informative Preface and illustrations.  Shevlin #125.  $40

Magic in Fiction: A Short Title Checklist by Michael Canick.  1998, 40 pages, 8 ½ by 11 in blue printed covers.  Michael lists the author, title, publication date and publisher of 716 works of fiction featuring magicians, ventriloquists, gamblers, etc.  Added is a two page Bibliography.  $25

Sex and the Single Magician by Jim Magus.  1974, 26 pages, 8 ½ by 11 in pictorial yellow covers.  Here Jim switches from his usual writing on bizarre magic to “a magician’s guide to picking up girls”.  Actually, this is Jim’s clever close-up magic of the type to appeal to women, with a flirtatious aspect.  Fine copy and long out of print.  $25

Magician’s Magazine (Roger Patrick).  A complete file of all five issues, July 1973-January 1974.  Ormond McGill, Lee Grabel, Dr Blaisdel’s Secret File, magic cartoons by Don Albrecht, etc.  All fine copies, Alfredson/Daily #4520.  $35 

Personal Magnetism by Charles Carter (Carter the Great).  No date, about 1905?  A pitch book sold by Carter at his shows – 71 pages of self-improvement and a full page ad for Carter’s Magic and Magicians (which was copyright 1903) in brown printed covers.  I located a small cache of ten “new” copies only a bit shelf-worn, so just $15 each. 

A Bibliography of Conjuring Periodicals in English (language), 1791-1983 by James Alfredson and George Daily.  Foreword by Bill Kuethe.  1986, limited to only 500 copies and long out of print.  Xvi plus 396 pages, 8 ½ by 11.  An essential for collectors and a valuable resource for all magicians.  My copy is one of my most referred to books. Previously owned. $90

The Magic of Al Koran by Martin Breese.  1983 First Edition.  93 tall (British A4 size) pages.  A fine copy in fine DJ.  $45

The Great Wizard of the North: John Henry Anderson by Constance Pole Bayer, Anderson’s great-great-grandniece.  Introduction by William Rauscher.  1990 First Edition, xviii plus 183 large pages, well-illustrated with Anderson advertising, memorabilia and photos.  Nice copy in pictorial DJ.  $49

Encyclopedia of Silk Magic.  The complete four volume set, all in matching bindings and dust jackets.  All four books and all four dust jackets are in excellent, about as new condition.  A fine set and long out of print.  $160 for all. 

John Calvert: Magic and Adventures Around the World by William Rauscher. 1987 First Edition, numbered copy, xi plus 305 pages.  An uncommonly desirable copy as this has the special bookplate autographed by both the late John Calvert and William Rauscher.  A fine copy in fine DJ with original prospectus laid in.  $100

The Great Wizards’ Hand Book of Magic, or Parlour Entertainment and Fortune Telling by Cards.  Toole-Stott Conjuring 321, dating as 1850.  Woodcut on front depicts John Henry Anderson performing The Inexhaustible Bottle Trick to a crowd of enthusiastic drunkards. Eight pages in nice condition.  $225 

John Henry Anderson: The Great Wizard of the North and His Magical Family by Edwin and Michael Dawes.  2014, limited to 400 copies.  xiv plus 303 pages plus fold out charts and color plates.  The definitive book on Anderson illustrated with many reproductions from his books, playbills, memorabilia, etc.  $65

The Magic Way by Juan Tamariz is now available in a greatly enlarged and improved edition – from 187 to 296 larger pages with much better text and photos.  New copies in stock at only $47.

Levante: His Life, No Illusion by Kent Blackmore.  The Seventh in the Series of Magical Pro-Files from Mike Caveney.  239 pages, HB in DJ, tipped in color frontispiece.  1997, limited to only 1,000 numbered copies and out of print.  As new in as new DJ.  $75 

The Compleat Magick, Volume 1.  (Bascom Jones).  Collectors Workshop, 1986.  Copy #90 of only 500 numbered copies.  x plus 571 pages, 8 ½ by 11.  A fine, about as new, copy.  $200 

Charles Dickens: Conjurer, Mesmerist and Showman by Trevor Dawson.  2012, xiii plus 231 pages, Foreword by Edwin A. Dawes.  A beautiful book, HB in DJ with perhaps 200 reproductions of early photos, playbills and engravings, printed on nice coated paper.  Eddie Dawes describes the three previous small works on Dickens as a Conjurer while Trevor Dawson goes into considerable detail.  A book of great interest both to magicians and Dickens enthusiasts.  A bargain at only $40.

Grace Thurston.  My Magic Husband:  Howard Thurston Unmasked.  2006.  "I was a naive, virginal young lady of 15, and the man was one of the most gifted and bizarre personalities the world has known.  He was, at 29, an amazing master of legerdemain."  So begins the story of Howard Thurston's first of four wives.  Grace Thurston talks of their relationship with William Robinson (before becoming Chung Ling Soo),  fooling Leon Herrmann with the Thurston Rising Cards, and even discloses the real method, not the bogus method given in the 1901 Howard Thurston's Card Tricks. When first shown a copy, Grace proclaims "It's all wrong." Howard replies "You don't think I'm going to tell them how to really do any important tricks, do you?"  8 1/2 x 11, 190 pages hard bound in dust jacket.  Limited to 500 copies.  This presents the early Thurston he didn't want you to know about. $75

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

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, $65 

William Frederick Pinchbeck, The Expositor; or Many Mysteries Unravelled.  Boston, 1805.  1996 facsimile edition with new foreword by Byron Walker.  Limited to 1000 numbered copies. Green cloth with gilt picture of the Learned pig picking out the Ace of Diamonds on the cover.  With Pinchbeck bookmark. $45 

Arnold Furst, Famous Magicians of the World. 1957, 48 pages 8 1/2 x 11. In pictorial wraps.  reviews of the shows of Dante, Ormond McGill, Lee Grabel, Kalanag, Sorcar, Fu Manchu, Blackstone, Sr., Richiardi, Jr., Chang, and Virgil.  With more than 100 photos, fine copy $20

Arnold Furst, Great Magic Shows, 1968, 40 pages  8 1/2 x 11 in pictorial wraps. reviews and photos of the shows of Houdini, Carter the Great, Maurice Rooklyn, Jack Gwynne,  Milborne Christopher, John Calvert,  Bill Neff, Jim Conley, Richiardi, and Les Levante.With more than 100 photos.  Fine Copy. $20 

Jon Racherbaumer,  The Ascanio Spread, 1980, 35 pages, 8 1/2 x 11,  illustrated with photos and line drawings.  Have several new copies with rusty staples.  $20 ea. 

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

Joe Karson, The Worlds Fastest Card Trick, 1948, 8 pages, As featured by Harry Blackstone, Jr.., Several mint copies at $5

J. B.  Findlay,  Tenth Collectors' Annual.  1994.  Limited to 200 numbered copies, signed by the publisher (Ray Ricard).  43 pages plus 3 tipped-in color photos.  Publisher's preface on how this "lost" collectors' annual came to be published and 9 articles of interest to collectors by Jimmy Findlay, Wilford Hutchinson, Bert Pratt, and Stanley Collins.  Published at $35, I have a few remaindered copies at only $25 

Walter Gibson's Big Book of Magic for All Ages, 1980, 231 pages, Hard bound in dust jacket.  $20 

Walter Gibson,  The Complete Illustrated Book of Card Magic.  1969 first edition.  xviii plus 468 large pages.  Illustrated with 378 photos.  A good copy in Scotch taped dust jacket, placed in archival dust jacket protector.  $50 

Bennett’s Best.  1975, 115 pages of routines with cards, coins, pearls – Easy Coins Through the Table, Cards to Pocket, Okito Box Routine, etc.  Overstock bargain $10

Senor Mardo, The Mixologist: Magic, specially for the bartender, using some of the bar paraphernalia.  31 pages of magic specially designed for the bar room setting. 27 effects.  Fine copy.  $10

The Riddle of Chung Ling Soo by Will Dexter.  1973 Supreme Magic Co.  224 pages plus frontispiece and photographic plates.  Book as new, jacket as new except for a little fading of spine.  $50

What Shall We Do Tonight? By Leger D. Mayne (obviously a pseudonym, probably for William Brisbane Dick of Dick & Fitzgerald fame).  1873, published by Dick & Fitzgerald.  Toole-Stott Conjuring #490.  366 pages plus ads for D & F publications.  Frontispiece and many engravings.  A very attractive copy in original highly gilt and pictorial green cloth.  Magical entertainment throughout.  $125

Paul Gertner’s Steel and Silver by Richard Kaufman.  1994 First Edition and long out of print.  213 pages, 8 ½ by 11, HB in DJ.  Fine copy in fine DJ.  $55

Conjurian’s Discoveries by the late John Booth.  1992 First Edition, xiv plus 273 pages.  A fine copy in fine DJ.  $40 

Cardwarp by Roy Walton.  4 pages, 8 ½ by 11, with 19 illustrations, on yellow paper.  I found a few mint copies for only $2 

The Master Illusionists by Mark Walker.  1983 and long out of print.  130 pages, 8 ½ by 11.  This contains detailed biographies with superb photos of six prominent magicians: Harry Blackstone, Jr, David Copperfield, George Goebel, Doug Henning, Andre Kole and Siegfried & Roy.  Fine hardbound copy in dust jacket.  $25 

The Magic In Books by Leo Behnke.  2009, Foreword by Steve Martin, 12 pages of preliminaries plus 120 pages.  This is Leo’s autobiography and reminiscences, and it seems he knew and worked with or for almost everyone of note!  I have new copies, with a bookmark of Leo’s likeness included.  This is a book you will enjoy reading, and as a bonus Leo gives us a check-list of the dozens of books he has written or edited “so far!” $30

S.B.S. (Same Both Sides): A Unique Book of Card Tricks, compiled by Lloyd Jones.  43 pages in pictorial covers.  A compendium of 35 effects with double face or double back cards by more than a dozen contributors.  I found a few new copies at only $10 each.

Remember, Vernon became famous as "The man who fooled Houdini" - by using a double backed card! 

U. F. Grant Catalog #1 (Probably 1935) 32 pages.  This first catalog was issued as a "stock" catalog for other dealers to put their imprint on the cover.  Photos and great illustrations.  $25

Michael Skinner, Intimate Magic.  1982.  37 pages, 8 1/2 x 11, comb bound.  Fine copy. $20

Michael Jeffreys, The Enlightened Magicians.  1990 First Edition.  271 pages, 8 1/2 x 11, hard bound in dust jacket.  Famous magicians divulge the secrets of their success.  Among the magicians interviewed are:  Siegfried and Roy, Blackstone, Jr.  The Pendragons, Lance Burton, Johnny Thompson, Marvyn Roy, Billy McComb, Bruce Cervon, Michael Finney, Whit Haydn, Johnny Ace Palmer, and many others.  Only $30.

R. Armour, Magic of the Scottish Conjurers Association.  1947.  31 pages of magic by John Ramsay, Jimmy Findlay, Leslie May, Duncan Johnston, George Mackenzie, etc.  Most importantly, this book contains The Great Divide by DeVega, which gave Robert Harbin the inspiration for his famous "The Zig-Zag Girl".  As new copy. $10

The King of the Conjurers.  1985, 15 pages in wraps.  Limited to 125 numbered copies.  This is a facsimile reproduction of the illustrated article on Robert-Houdin from a 1877 issue of Harper's New Monthly Magazine.  Mint.  $10 

Glen David Gold, Carter Beats the Devil.  2001 First edition, first printing.  483 pages. Color frontispiece and plates.  Fine copy in dust jacket with raised images.  Autographed by the author!  $25

Harvey  Long's Fund Raising Magic.  1997, 59 pages A guidebook to raising money for organizations using magic as a theme.  New copy.  $10

David Ginn,  Promoting Me -- and You! 1979.  Limited to 496 numbered copies and out of print. This is copy #455.  This book is a comprehensive collection of PR material of David Ginn with bound in examples of his actual publicity.  Fine inscribed copy. $100 

The Great Raymond: Entertainer of Kings – King of Entertainers by William Rauscher.  1996.  Xiii plus 345 pages (of which 24 are in full color) plus another 16 pages in full color of 19 Raymond posters.  Issued at $150, I have a few new copies, HB in DJ, at only $90. 

Wonderful Routines of Magic: The Second Addendum by Ellison Poland.  Xii plus 191 pages, 122 illustrations.  (The First Addendum was a small softbound – I do not have a copy now). 1994 First Edition.  Sleight of hand with cards, coins, toothpicks.  Hardbound, fine copy in fine dust jacket.  $30

Thayer's Studio of Magic Book Catalog.  1940.  78 pages, in pictorial wraps.  Informative categorized guide to the books offered by Thayer in its prime.  Several fine copies, bargain priced  $10 each.

Thayer Quality Magic Catalog Number 8.  "The Finest, Largest, and Most Comprehensive Compilation of Magical Good Ever Published."  1936, 311 page.Original pictorial wraps, very nice copy  $75 

Owen Magic Supreme Catalog #5.  1959 (first edition) 76 large pages.  Superbly illustrated with photos and drawings.  Fine copy.  $25

The Magic of Tan Hock Chuan. 1977, 43 pages, Well illustrated. Magic with cards, mind reading, silks, ropes, and apparatus you can build.  As new.  $15

Hyla Clark, The World's Greatest Magic.  1976.  First printing. 208 pages, 8 1/2 x 11, hard bound in dust jacket.  Full color throughout.  History, biographies, full color poster reproductions, and much more.  Fine copy. $20

Thayer Quality Magic Instruction Sheets compiled by Glenn Gravatt.  A complete set of 4 large hardbound volumes, all near fine condition in fine dust jackets.  Sets have been selling for hundreds of dollars lately.  This near fine set is $140.

The Magic of Michael Ammar.  1991 and long out of print.  xx plus 306 pages, 8 ½ by 11.  Fine copy in fine DJ.  $45

Peter Rabbit the Magician.  Published by the Strathmore Company, 1942.  An elaborate magic book for children with seven pockets, each containing  a trick involving Peter Rabbit.  All seven tricks are present (uncommon!) , plus Peter’s large Magic Carpet is in the rear.  Large 12 by 9 ¼ size.  A fine item in pretty good, complete condition.  I’ve seen copies offered at Antiquarian Book Fairs by specialists in children’s books at up to $500.   See Zauberkasten (Witt) page 102.  $125

The Art of Close-Up Magic by Lewis Ganson.  The two volume set of Harry Stanley First Editions in surprisingly fine condition – both books and both dust jackets.  The fine set - $85 

Abbott Catalog #13, 1952.  Their only spiral bound catalog.  Great cover!  Included are both supplements: “Books and Magazines Supplement” and “Original Tricks by Eddie Joseph, Suggested Routines by Percy Abbott”.  All 3 in fine condition for $20

Max Holden Catalog #17.  240 pages, a fine copy from the 1950s, collated complete.  $20 

Edwin Dawes, The Great Illusionists.  1979.  216 large pages.  hard bound in dust jacket.  Filled with superb reproductions of rare playbills, posters, etc.  Fine copy in fine dust jacket.  $35

Richard Cohn, Brooklyn Magicians  chronicles the early magicians to perform there.  Included are Professor Wyman in 1850 with his "Gun Trick", Senor Blitz, Lubin Brothers, John Henry Anderson, Compars Herrmann, Robert Heller, The Davenport Brothers, Professor Seeman with "Electra", etc. $20 

Daryl Does Den Haag by Daryl (Martinez).  28 pages of clever Daryl material in red pictorial wraps, plus the additional 2 page illustration sheet.  Fine copy.  $15

Slyter Brochure.  Fine, well illustrated 4 page, 8 1/2 x 11 brochure for Clarence Slyter and his Magical Drunk act.  As new copy.  $10

Joseph Ovette,  Miraculous Hindu Feats, 1947, 15 pages, 22 "geek magic" effects such as: Buried alive, Drinking acid, Fingers in hot lead, Bar through tongue, Control of the blood, the Trap Trick, etc.  Several mint copies at $10 each. 

Ibidem (P. Howard Lyons) A complete file of the 24 (#1-24) Karl Fulves reprints, all in excellent to mint condition.  $100

Ovette, Fast Ones.  1952 edition.  40 pages of Ovette magic in a new edition with art work by Pete Biro.  Mint copies.  $5 

Mediums, Mystics & the Occult by Milbourne Christopher.  1975 First Edition, First Printing.  Xii plus 275 pages, illustrated with many photos from the Christopher Collection.  Previous owner name on front free end paper, otherwise a fine copy in fine dust jacket.  $25 

Carl Rosini: His Life and Magic by Robert Olson.  1966 First Edition, 100 pages, 8 ½ by 11, spiral bound with the spiral in perfect condition.  This contains 60 pages of the Rosini biography and 40 well-illustrated pages explaining his magic.  A very nice copy. $35

Magical Ways and Means by Al Baker.  1941 First Edition, xx plus 135 large pages.  A fine production from Carl Jones, superbly illustrated with photos by Irving Desfor and Illustrations by Harlan Tarbell on fine, coated paper.  This First Edition had the little rabbits on the covers, making it appear to be a children’s book, which it certainly was not.  When reprinted they took away the rabbits (and shrank the page size).  This is a fine copy of Baker’s best material.  Laid in is a copy of the Carl Jones four page prospectus.  The book is autographed on the front fee end paper “Sincerely Yours, Al Baker, Dec 1 – 41”.  This was issued without DJ – to display the little rabbits?   $65

Magic By Ho Yam (William Mayoh).  1949 First Edition, (10) plus 137 large pages on fine coated paper.  This contains dozens of Ho Yam’s original effects and routines, mostly with an oriental flair, superbly illustrated with more than a hundred fine, clear photos.  This is a very good HARDBOUND, large page size, copy in the full color, but badly chipped, dust jacket.  $75

The Miracle Makers by J.G. Thompson.  1975 First Edition, 306 pages and illustrated with 140 photos.  Hardbound in dust jacket – both as new.  $35

The Modern Conjurer by C. Lang Neil.  1947, 386 pages, fine copy in pictorial dust jacket.  There have been no editions since this of 1947, and with over 500 (yes, five hundred) photos, may be too expensive to ever reprint.  This was Jay Marshall’s favorite book, from which he learned much of the material he performed throughout his career.  This edition adds a new Foreword by Walter Gibson.  A classic. $85

Inside the Mediums Cabinet by Dunninger.  New York, 1935 First Edition.  228 pages plus many photographic plates.  A nice expose of Fraudulent spirit mediums, a chapter on Houdini, etc. A fine copy in the interesting but slightly chipped dust jacket.  $60 

Signor Arvi: The Forgotten Illusionist by Trevor Dawson. 2015. 64 pages plus 4 pages of color plates,

many photos, hardbound in dust jacket. Limited to 150 copies signed by the author. This once famous

illusionist performed for more than twenty years in England, Scotland, France, the United States and

Canada, usually as the headliner on every bill, yet he has been largely forgotten. His show was

entertaining and baffling, risqué yet tasteful, and Dawson reveals all, complete with many photos. $35