I just got the Wolf Messing book, only read the first few pages..saving it til I finish the berglas/playfair memory book...

and I notice steven's magic have the Hanussen one for sale...

any other interesting books of similar kinda people that you'd recommend?

I've got Psychology of the Psychic and a Ted Andrews book on psychometry sitting in my "to read pile" too...but I like to stock up every once in a while...

For weirdness from the Netherlands, check out Croiset the Clairvoyant by Pollack and The Psychic World of Peter Hurkos by Browning.

Not even-handed or scholarly by any stretch of the imagination, but full of interesting tidbits that you can mine.

Cheers matt, just found both on amazon.co.uk...£11 the lot...

The main thing about the Hanussen book that separates it from all the other books about famous psychics of the past is that Hanussen actually wrote it. I translated it from German for Jimmy Bix, who managed to find a copy of this rather rare book and who acquired the rights from Hanussen's estate.

The material in it is the real work. Wait until you see the review by Ray Hyman. Ray is possibly the single best-informed source of material about ideomotor response work anywhere. This should appear in MUM fairly soon.

Abraxus
What book of Messing are you referring to?

Wolf messing - the true story of russia's greatest psychic - tatiana lungin

why you ask poison?

I saw this book was recommended by Cassidy

I have one book by Hanussen what's this one yourefer to Bill?

Mindreading and Telepathy. In German, the title is Das Gedankenlesen/Telepathie. You might have the German version, but the likelihood of your having the English version is very slim. It has been out for less than a month.

It was an interesting job translating this material, because of the complexity of the writing and the amount of Viennese/Austrian/show-biz slang that showed up in the text. Hanussen was not an educated man in the traditional sense of the word. He learned most of his writing by reading psychology books, 19th century Austrian/German literature and contemporary scandal sheets. He had a tendency in some places to write very long sentences that were somewhat tricky to unscramble.

However, with help from several different sources, I managed to untangle the material and at the same time capture a style for Hanussen that would have been very similar to the way he would have written had he written in English.

What book do you have that was written by Hanussen?

I see Stevens Magic has this.

They should have it soon. H&R just got their copies yesterday, and I will be going over to sign them tomorrow.

Bill,
In Mel Gordon's book be mentions a booklet written by Hanussen (a.k.a.
Harry Steinschneider) Cracow: self published 1917 titled Worauf beruht das-?!
Telepathie,ihre Erklarung und Ausubung.
Is this the same book you translated?

Woodfield

No. Worauf beruht das-?! is a very small book, roughly 40 pages, saddle stitched, and it doesn't tip nearly as much. It's more of a pamphlet about developing psychic skills. I have a copy of it. Jimmy Bix has also republished it. There are no plans at this time to translate it into English.

There are a couple of things to bear in mind about Mel Gordon's work. He does not read German, so he has had to rely on other people's translations. He is basically a sensationalist. If you look at the other books that are published by Feral House, you will get an idea of what I mean. Wilifried Kugel feels that Gordon basically ripped him off for some of the information in his book. However, most of the material in Gordon's book is public record, and Kugel basically provided a pathway for him. Kugel's book is very dry. Gordon's is anything but that.

Also, Kugel is unwilling to say that Hanussen was not a genuine psychic. His reason is that before one of his performances, his front man, who was supposed to be doing the pre-show work, was detained by the authorities, and Hanussen still managed to score 100% accurate, according to one of his associates.

I don't find this a very convincing argument.

My mistake, I found Gordon's reference to this work. Thanks for the info.
Gordon's bio is one of my favorite books.
He mentions (page 101) that the original publishers of Das Gedankenlesen/Telepathie planned on publishing other companion volumes by Hanussen.Do you know if that ever happened?
I'm eager to see your new translation.
Woodfield

Brax...Do you have Cassidy's The Hanussen Proof? I am pretty sure they have it over at lybrary.com

I think I maybe have this.I have one book about him,too lazy to go find out which.

Edit.It's this one http://www.amazon.com/Hanussen-Hitlers-C......22915687

I am just returning from a meeting with a magician friend in Austria who has pulled together some fascinating research on Hanussen and his methods. This will eventually see light in the form of an ebook.

Hanussen also wrote an autobiography "Meine Lebenslinie". Of course that has to be read keeping in mind that Hanussen had PR in mind and not to write an accurate account of his life.

yes I do mate, I've bought a few bits of cassidy from lybrary - mind burners and the 21st century psychic ones..very good...

Hanussen was also going to write a book about "pure" telepathy. It never appeared.

The Cassidy book is not the same as the Mel Gordon book. The Mel Gordon book is a sensationalized biography.