|
|
bond19 Inner circle Blackpool, England 1338 Posts |
I had a magic book as a kid.. I am trying to obtain it again.
unfortunately I do not have the tile or author. All I can remember is it was published pre 50' and was a book covering various aspects of magic explained with written instructions and hand drawn illustrations. I do remember some more unusual effects, such as how to make a candle float, plus how to eat a candle and how to prepare a banana so when you peeled it it was in several pieces. Also it explained the classic coin in ball of wool. Hope someone here can help me re-discover this lost part if my childhood Thanks Chris |
RogueMD Regular user 133 Posts |
I remember that book (esp. the eating the "candle" bit) but I'm not near my library at the moment.
Possibly Hay's Amateur's Magician's Handbook? I'll check when I can.... |
duanebarry Special user 883 Posts |
Size? Format? Memorable cover?
|
jazzy snazzy Inner circle run off by a mob of Villagers wielding 2109 Posts |
Now this is going to keep me up all night. My first thought was "The Real Book about Magic" by Joseph Leeming 1951. But nooooo.
Gotta be here somewhere. Maybe if I eat a candle.
"The secret of life is to look good from a distance."
-Charles Schulz |
jazzy snazzy Inner circle run off by a mob of Villagers wielding 2109 Posts |
Oooo! Oooo!
Could it possibly have been in an old cub scout manual?
"The secret of life is to look good from a distance."
-Charles Schulz |
motown Inner circle Atlanta by way of Detroit 6127 Posts |
Check out:
http://www.byronwalkermagicbooks.com Byron sells older books and has pictures of them on his site. The book you're talking about sounds like spmething you could have gotten at a Lybrary or main stream book store. Byron has slot of those kinds of books on his site and he's a great guy to deal with. Ron Allessi is another guy who's site you might want to check. He has pictures as well. Good luck!
"If you ever write anything about me after I'm gone, I will come back and haunt you."
– Karl Germain |
Caliban Special user 727 Posts |
It sounds like "An Illustrated Book of Magic Tricks" by Will Dexter. It fits the description, contains the floating / eating candle and all the other effects you mentioned, and was published in the 50's. I've had a later edition since I was very young.
Here's an ebay listing (not mine) with a picture of the cover. http://tinyurl.com/yb6392z A google search shows other (cheaper) copies available. |
jskalon Special user Shorewood, IL. 869 Posts |
It may be:
131 Magic Tricks for Amateurs by Will Dexter. I had that book. Man does that bring back memories! http://www.amazon.com/131-Magic-Tricks-A......&sr=1-12 Check out the link. Jack
Jack Skalon
"That's my story and I'm stickin' to it" |
bond19 Inner circle Blackpool, England 1338 Posts |
Thanks for the reply folks.. will check out all the leads
Chris |
Jim Stan Magic Man Loyal user Chicago Area 241 Posts |
I have a copy of the 131 Magic Tricks for Amateurs by Will Dexter. It shows a copyright date of 1958. It states that the original title was 101 Magic Secrets.
The eating candle trick is called "The Feast of Candles" and is on page 27. "The Floating Candle" is on page 26. "Something Up Your Sleeve" on page 71 is the effect where a spectators card is shown on your arm. This will show in the value and in the color of the selected card. There are many good effects shown in this book, each effect is shown on one page. Sands of the Desert, Newspaper Tear, Table Lifting effect, ail Bag Escape, Cube Release, Cubio, Smoke from the Fingertips, Phoenix Match among others. My book shows it as being $.95, lots of great effects. Jim |
Jim Stan Magic Man Loyal user Chicago Area 241 Posts |
Ooops, I meant the Mail Bag Escape. Also the the card on forearm is the effect where the spectator writes his card on a piece of paper which is burnt and the ashes are rubbed on the forearm. It also gives the version where a red card appears in red on your forearm. Pretty good effects for such a low priced book.
Jim |
jazzy snazzy Inner circle run off by a mob of Villagers wielding 2109 Posts |
Yay!
Now I can sleep. That was a magical book. Mom could make it dissappear.
"The secret of life is to look good from a distance."
-Charles Schulz |
bond19 Inner circle Blackpool, England 1338 Posts |
Jim, I think you've nailed it.. now to track down a copy and see!!
Cheers Chris |
Caliban Special user 727 Posts |
It looks like "An Illustrated Book of Magic Tricks" and "131 Magic Tricks for Amateurs" - both by Will Dexter - are very similar books with a lot of the same contents. I would guess that "131 Magic Tricks ..." is the essentially same book as "An illustrated ..." but with expanded contents.
"An Illustrated Book of Magic Tricks" contains The Floating Candle, The Feast of Candles, and the red/black writing on the arm trick etc. The book is written in a pseudo hand-written font. It doesn't contain the Mail Bag Escape, though, so if you specifically remember that being in the book you had, it was probably the "131 Magic Tricks ..." edition with more tricks. |
Jim Stan Magic Man Loyal user Chicago Area 241 Posts |
Chris,
I sent you an e-mail with some data on the book. Jim |
bond19 Inner circle Blackpool, England 1338 Posts |
Thanks Jim and everyone else.. now I just need to track down a copy
Chris |
sleightly Elite user New Hampshire 500 Posts |
Alright, for all those completist "nerds" out there (is it just me?), here is the direct comparison of content between Will Dexter's "The Illustrated Book of Magic Tricks" (1957, Abbey Library) and "131 Magic Tricks for Amateurs" (1958, Arco Publishing Company).
I believe the former to be the original printing (it matches color dustjackets and formats of two other books printed by Abbey Library, "Secrets of the Conjurer's Craft" [believed to be 1958 as it is mentioned on the copyright page of "This is Magic: Secret's of the Conjurer's Craft" another edition of the same content published by both Citadel and Bell Books] & "Famous Magic Secrets" [1955]) and the latter a paper-back printed in New York. I'm uncertain as to the existence of a "101 Magic Tricks" book by Dexter, I don't doubt it, but I don't have a copy in my library (plus, as you will see, the numbers don't add up)... Alrighty, here are the tables of contents: 131 Magic Tricks for Amateurs Will Dexter Contents Introduction 9 That wonderful wand 11 This is a magic wand 12 Who's knocking, it must be spirits 13 Big wand from tiny purse 14 Presto! It's gone 15 The ghostly pencil 16 The power of money 17 The lazy match 18 Where there's smoke 19 The phoenix match 20 The anti-gravity matches 21 The ghostly match boxes 22 A light from your pocket 23 Sweet—and hot! 24 Vapour of the Yogi 25 The floating candle 26 The feast of candles! 27 A double-headed coin! 28 Who put that stamp on the ceiling? 29 Where does the money go? 30 Who has the money? 31 Through the fourth dimension! 32 Your coin, Sir! 33 Guess which! 34 A valuable coin sleight 35 1-2-3! Gone 36 The acrobatic coin 37 Robbers and sheep 38 The homing coins 40 Coin passing 42 Bank balance 44 Or—How to spend your money—and yet keep it 45 The melting coin 46 Cash—with care 47 into thin air! 48 Out of thin air! 49 Penny in the bun 50 The bank note machine 51 The secrets of palming 52 Remember these card magic terms 54 The false shuffle 55 Card control 56 X marks the spot! 58 Another card force 59 The glide 60 2 out of 52 61 The turnover card 62 The famous 4-ace trick 64 The marvellous stripper pack! 66 The acrobatic tie 68 The world's longest trick! 69 "And I shuffled the cards myself!" 70 Something up your sleeve 71 The boomerang 72 The card on the wall 74 The card through the table 75 Five choices 76 The card with four sides! 77 A tunnel through a playing card 78 Strong man staff! 79 The Romans had a word for it! 80 Through the needle 82 Jumping colours 83 The magic circlet 84 The obedient orange 85 The cube and frame 86 The snap knot 88 A trick with Polo—the mint with the hole! 89 Almost the Indian rope trick! 90 The indestructible rope! 91 Going up! 92 Through the tunnel 93 The string and the straw 94 This reef knot is a slip-knot! 95 The knot that's not! 96 A Houdini escape 97 The great sack escape! 98 Robin Hood escapes again 99 The electronic brain 100 Ghost in the parlour 102 The spirits tell! 103 The psychometric boxes 104 The number you want! 105 A baffling book mystery 106 The dictionary test 107 The domino mystery 108 The spirit writes! 109 Mathematical mystery 110 More mysterious maths. III The sidereal pendulum 112 The mystery of the four marbles 113 Ears at your finger tips! 114 The human clock 115 Colour sense 116 The silent spelling bee 117 Eyes in your fingertips! 118 The pulse stopping mystery 119 The linking paper clips 120 Two for the price of one 121 Special edition! Extra! 122 The rajah's jewels 124 Your own flying saucer! 125 Can you believe your eyes? 126 Dice deception 127 I only cheat a little 128 The baffling banana 129 You can—they can't 130 The super ring vanish 131 The ring and the ball of wool 132 Snakes alive! 134 Button, button! 135 The spooky cigarette 136 Full—empty! 137 The topsy-turvy bottle 138 Solid water! 139 A quart into a pint pot 140 The sands of the desert 141 Water becomes wine! 142 The restless ball 143 Dry water—by magic! 144 Floating sugar 145 Phantom smoke 145 Atomic bubbles 147 Magic springtime! 148 The human power plant 149 The colour-changing balloon 150 The ghosts' gallery 151 What? No juice? 152 The confetti tube 154 The spirits' box 156 The chest of the genii 157 The rabbit out of the hat 158 The Illustrated Book of Magic Tricks Will Dexter Contents Introduction 7 That wonderful wand 9 This is a magic wand 10 Who's knocking, it must be spirits 11 Big wand from tiny purse 12 Presto! It's gone 13 The ghostly pencil 14 The lazy match 15 Where there's smoke 16 The anti-gravity matches 17 The ghostly match boxes 18 A light from your pocket 19 Sweet—and hot! 20 Vapour of the Yogi 21 The floating candle 22 The feast of candles! 23 A double-headed coin! 24 Where does the money go? 25 Who has the money? 26 Through the fourth dimension! 27 Your coin, Sir! 28 Guess which! 29 A valuable coin sleight 30 1-2-3! Gone 31 Robbers and sheep 33 The homing coins 35 Coin passing 37 Bank balance 39 Or—How to spend your money—and yet keep it 40 The melting coin 41 Cash—with care 42 Into thin air! 43 Out of thin air! 44 Penny in the bun 45 The bank note machine 46 The secrets of palming 47 Remember these card magic terms 49 The false shuffle 50 Card control! 51 X marks the spot! 53 Another card force 54 The glide 55 2 out of 52 56 The turnover card 57 The famous 4-ace trick 59 The marvellous stripper pack! 61 The world's longest trick! 63 And I shuffled the cards myself! 64 Something up your sleeve 65 The boomerang 66 The card on the wall 68 The card through the table 66 Five choices 70 The card with four sides! 71 Strong man stuff! 72 The Romans had a word for it! 73 jumping colours 75 The magic circlet 76 The obedient orange 77 The cube and frame 78 The snap knot 80 A trick with Polo—the mint with the hole! 81 Almost the Indian rope trick! 82 The indestructible rope! 83 Going up? 84 Through the tunnel 85 The string and the straw 86 This reef knot is a slip-knot! 87 The knot that's not! 88 A Houdini escape 89 The great sack escape! 90 Robin Hood escapes again 91 The electronic brain 92 Ghost in the parlour 94 The spirits tell! 95 The psychometric boxes 96 The number you want! 97 A baffling book mystery 98 The dictionary test 99 The domino mystery 100 The spirit writes! 101 Mathematical mystery 102 More mysterious maths 103 The sidereal pendulum 104 The mystery of the four marbles 105 Ears at your finger tips! 106 The human clock 107 Colour sense 108 The silent spelling bee 109 Two for the price of one 110 Special edition! Extra! 111 The rajah's jewels 113 Can you believe your eyes? 114 Dice deception 115 I only cheat a little 116 The baffling banana 117 You can—they can't 118 The super ring vanish 119 The ring and the ball of wool 120 Full—empty! 122 The topsy-turvy bottle 123 Solid water! 124 A quart into a pint pot 125 The sands of the desert 126 Water becomes wine! 127 The restless ball 128 Dry water—by magic! 129 Floating sugar 130 Phantom smoke 131 Atomic bubbles 132 Magic springtime 133 The human power plant 134 The colour-changing balloon 135 The ghosts' gallery 136 What? No juice? 137 The confetti tube 139 The spirits' box 141 The chest of the genii 142 The rabbit out of the hat 143 When you compare the lists, you will notice that 131 Magic Tricks for Amateurs contains all the material from The Illustrated Book of Magic Tricks with the additional inclusion of fourteen pieces: p.17 The Power of Money [A dollar breaks a pencil held by a spectator.] p.20 The Anti-Gravity Matches [The contents of a box of loose matches remains in the box even when inverted. At a word by the spectator they all fall free.] p.29 Who Put That Stamp on the Ceiling [Stamp on ceiling.] p.31 Money, Money, Who has the Money? ["White" hand trick that reveals hand holding coins.] p.68 The Acrobatic Tie [Tie "rolls up" to reveal a playing card.] p.78 A tunnel through a Playing Card [See name for description.] p.82 Through the Needle [Stunt prop that shows dozens of threads through the eye of a single needle.] p.118 Eyes in your Fingertips! [Sightless vision through blindfold.] p.119 The Pulse Stopping Mystery [See name for description.] p.120 The Linking Paper Clips [See name for description.] p.125 Your own Flying Saucer! [The "floating sausage" illusion with your fingertips.] p.134 Snakes alive [Silk to snake, gimmicked silk effect.] p.135 Button, button! [Malini's signature effect.] p.136 The SPOOKY Cigarette [Rising cigarette from pack.] As you can see, with fourteen pieces added to the original book, the contents never add up to 101... Also, just to be certain, I have uploaded the Feast of Candles as an attachment... Don't say I never did anything for you! ;O) Andrew Click here to view attached image. |
merse New user Budapest 7 Posts |
Hi everybody,
I am looking for a booklet: Micky Hades Publication: the Art of Escapes - Vol. 3. by John Novak Please help me! |
Tom Jorgenson Inner circle LOOSE ANGLES, CALIFORNIA 4451 Posts |
Try listing your want as a new topic so people will see it.
We dance an invisible dance to music they cannot hear.
|
Tom Jorgenson Inner circle LOOSE ANGLES, CALIFORNIA 4451 Posts |
From Jim ford:
Hi: Trying to help the entry above yours at Magic Café. I'm not a member, so cannot contact "merse" He was looking for Art of Escapes book: please pass the following to him: go to ABE BOOKS enter author: NOVAK and title: ART OF ESCAPES when the list comes up, scroll down to about item 6. price $37.50 plus shipping from UK Thanks, Jim
We dance an invisible dance to music they cannot hear.
|
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Books, Pamphlets & Lecture Notes » » Help finding old book.. (0 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.07 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |