Let's say you are at a dinner party and are invited to perform a trick. You have no apparatus on you, nothing prepared. In an absent manner, you place a glass of sherry to your lips, as though bracing yourself for the fray. The glass is half emptied (be careful about this), when a sudden movement is made as though you threw it up to the ceiling; but nothing is seen to ascend, though the glass, with the wine in it, has disappeared. After a short pause, to allow the general astonishment to take full effect, the missing article is discovered inside the coat of your immediate neighbor, with the wine in it unspilt. How is this startling trick performed? Find out in this legendary classic of legerdemain, Sleight of Hand, widely regarded by professional magicians as one of the finest magic books ever written. Clearly and minutely, the steps are given for hundreds of astonishing tricks: drawing-room tricks with coins, common objects, cups and balls, handkerchiefs, and so on, including many fascinating card tricks. Be assured that sleight of hand relies primarily on dexterity, not apparatus. And if you are truly interested in magic, you must eventually master sleight-of-hand techniques or give up the idea of being anything more than a beginning magician. These techniques, both basic and more advanced, are all here -- in the best book on the subject that you could possibly own.

It is always a matter for self-congratulation on the part of an author to be called upon to furnish a Preface to a second or subsequent edition of some "bantling of his brain." In the present instance the task is more satisfactory than usual, the author not coming before the reader empty-handed. Since the publication of the first edition, conjurors have not been idle, and numerous new methods for producing magical surprises have been invented. Such of these as are suitable or worthy—for, in their haste to be novel, many have failed to be satisfactory—the author has incorporated; and, by a thorough revision of the work, he has placed before the aspiring conjuror, written up to date, all that it is possible for him to know in the region of Sleight of Hand. E. S.Part I. Drawing-room Magic. I.—Palming II.—Tricks with Coins III.—Tricks with Common Objects IV.—Tricks with Cups and Balls V.—Tricks with Handkerchiefs VI.—Chinese Tricks VII.—Tricks at Table VIII.—Tricks with Cards Part II.—Grand, or Stage Magic. IX.—General Remarks X.—The Table and Dress XI.—Sleights and Properties for General Use XII.—Tricks with Cards XIII.—Tricks with Handkerchiefs and Gloves XIV.—Tricks with Coins XV.—Miscellaneous XVI.—The Cornucopian Hat XVII.—Tricks with Watches and Live Stock XVIII.—Sham Mesmerism, Clairvoyance, &c. XIX.—Final Instructions

Sleight of Hand is a manual by Edwin Sachs. It shows the basics and finer points of the skillful use of one's hands when performing conjuring tricks, such as tricks with coins, cards, cups and balls, handkerchiefs, watches, gloves, as well as mesmerism & clairvoyance tricks of the trade.