The Art of Magic, T Nelson Downs

1909, spine lifting.

For the magician who has learned the basic sleights of cards and coins, and who wants to make his act both mystifying and entertaining, the undisputed all-time best guide is T. Nelson Downs' The Art of Magic. Downs was one of the greatest sleight-of-hand performers who ever lived, and his name is associated with many of the most famous card and coin manipulations.

In this classic volume he's compiled a selection of the finest tricks by other magicians, new methods of his own for many tricks, and several tricks that he invented. Beyond giving excellent instructions for all these tricks, Downs often includes complete transcriptions of appropriate patter-a vital part of many tricks that is often missing from other books of magic.

Approximately two-thirds of the book is devoted tro tricks with cards:

• Everywhere and Nowhere (2 methods)
• Houdini's Torn Card Trick
• The Flying Cards (2 methods)
• Cards Up the Sleeve (2 methods)
• The Card Through the Handkerchief
• The Rising Cards (6 versions)
• The Four Ace Trick (7 methods)
• and many others

The remainder of the book contains over 20 unbeatable coin tricks (one of Downs' specialties), including the latest methods for the trick of which he was the supreme exponent-The Miser's Dream, tricks with eggs, tricks with balls and miscellaneous tricks, including The Cigarette Paper Trick, The Torn Bank Note, The Vanishing Knot, and-the king of all rope ties and the most mysterious release ever invented-The Jacoby Rope Tie.

Many of the outstanding methods and sleights in The Art of Magic cannot be found in any other standard books. The Art of Magic can be recommended as an indispensable book for all intermediate and advanced magicians.