Perfect for novice or armchair magician with more than 200 astounding tricks from basics to more difficult tricks using vintage engravings.

Modern Magic by Professor Hoffmann was one of the first books published in English on the art of conjuring during the Victorian era. Hoffmann was considered to be one of the greatest authorities on the theory and practice of magic at that time. This hardcover edition is a facsimile of the 1876 edition and whist some parts of the text are faded, it perfectly readable and makes a beautiful addition to any magician or historian's library.

This book charts the history of modern magic across India, China and Japan, analyzing representations in the cultural imagination of the West.

Magic, During suggests, has helped shape modern culture. Devoted to this deceptively simple proposition, During's work gets at the aesthetic questions at the very heart of the study of culture. How can the most ordinary arts—and by “magic,” During means not the supernatural, but the special effects and conjurings of magic shows—affect people?

Pull back the curtain on the real history of magic – and discover why magic really matters If you read a standard history of magic, you learn that it begins in ancient Egypt, with the resurrection of a goose in front of the Pharaoh. You discover how magicians were tortured and killed during the age of witchcraft. You are told how conjuring tricks were used to quell rebellious colonial natives. The history of magic is full of such stories, which turn out not to be true. Behind the smoke and mirrors, however, lies the real story of magic. It is a history of people from humble roots, who made and lost fortunes, and who deceived kings and queens. In order to survive, they concealed many secrets, yet they revealed some and they stole others. They engaged in deception, exposure, and betrayal, in a quest to make the impossible happen. They managed to survive in a world in which a series of technological wonders appeared, which previous generations would have considered magical. Even today, when we now take the most sophisticated technology for granted, we can still be astonished by tricks that were performed hundreds of years ago. The Secret History of Magic reveals how this was done. It is about why magic matters in a world that no longer seems to have a place for it, but which desperately needs a sense of wonder.

Presents step-by-step instructions and pictures describing how to perform magic tricks created by the great magician, Mr. Mysterio.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions, Including Trick Photography" by Albert A. Hopkins. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

This 1877 translation of Robert-Houdin's 1868 conjuring manual reveals the techniques used in popular stage performances during the Victorian period.