Greatest magic books ever written

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LaMont
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Greatest magic books ever written

Postby LaMont » April 19th, 2015, 10:57 pm

Hi,

Does anyone know what issue of Genii included a list of the greatest magic books of all time and had various lists by other magicians? I think it was around 10 years ago.

Thank you.

LaMont

Riversky
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Riversky » April 20th, 2015, 1:10 am

Not from Genii, but here a great list:

This site was created to summarize some of the most important books in the field of magical entertainment. We asked a few prominent magicians to list the top-ten magic books they would take to the desert-island. The magicians were not allowed to select their own books and multi-volume books (such as The Tarbell Course in Magic) count as one book....

http://www.bestmagicbooks.com/

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Alfred
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Alfred » April 20th, 2015, 2:09 am

Is it possible you are refering to "Millenium reflections", which appeared in the 2001 January issue? On page 48 you'll find Jamy Ian Swiss' list under "A millennium of magic literature". There are also lists of illusions —Jim Steinmeyer's "Ten best illusions of the 20th century" on page 62— as well as lists of tricks —Danny Orlean's "150 years of tricks to buy" on page 66.

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Joe Pecore
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Joe Pecore » April 20th, 2015, 2:12 am

Share your knowledge on the MagicPedia wiki.

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Matthew Field
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Matthew Field » April 20th, 2015, 5:23 am

I hope it's got the "Bammo Ten Card Deal Dossier" in there.

Matt Field

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Matthew Field
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Matthew Field » April 20th, 2015, 5:28 am

But seriously, folks.

I compiled a "Five-foot Shelf of Magic Books" which my esteemed participants felt were essential for members of The Magic Circle to read.

You can find it here:

http://forums.geniimagazine.com/viewtop ... lf#p288553

You've got to scroll to the top of the page.

Matt Field

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degrisy
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby degrisy » April 20th, 2015, 6:06 am

Interesting is the article 'Speaking Volumes' by David Regal on Genii, June 2002.
Ars longa, vita brevis

Bill Mullins
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Bill Mullins » April 20th, 2015, 9:17 am

Matthew Field wrote:I compiled a "Five-foot Shelf of Magic Books" which my esteemed participants felt were essential for members of The Magic Circle to read.

You can find it here:

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=42618&p=288553&hilit=shelf#p288553

You've got to scroll to the top of the page.


Or we could just link to the top of the page.

Jonathan Townsend
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Jonathan Townsend » April 20th, 2015, 12:08 pm

degrisy wrote:Interesting is the article 'Speaking Volumes' by David Regal on Genii, June 2002.


There's a thread here on David's article. If you read the thread you'll also see examples of where there's room for improvement in magic literature... teaching text. The jumping match/toothpick example is interesting... or maybe it's going to show up as a tell-all book and DVD?
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time

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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Rick Ruhl » April 20th, 2015, 12:33 pm

And the Magic of Robert Harbin isn't in any of them.

Or Expert at the card table....

wow...

observer
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby observer » April 20th, 2015, 12:51 pm

Rick Ruhl wrote:And the Magic of Robert Harbin isn't in any of them.

Or Expert at the card table....

wow...


Expert is on Annemann's list though, which is still pretty solid. Maybe leave out the thimble book. Or, maybe not.

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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Jonathan Townsend » April 20th, 2015, 1:30 pm

Harbin's book, Cramer on Germain and EACT are on my short list. Then again so's a book of short stories by Borges.
Anyone gonna speak up for Ralph Adams? How about Josef Albers on the Interaction of Color?
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time

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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Bill Mullins » April 20th, 2015, 4:01 pm

Jonathan Townsend wrote: Then again so's a book of short stories by Borges. . . .
How about Josef Albers on the Interaction of Color?


Magic books, Jon . . . .

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Andrew Pinard
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Andrew Pinard » April 20th, 2015, 9:33 pm

I tackled a "list" on my magicmatters blog... You can find it here: http://magicmatters.com/?p=174

Most recently I have been posting on the literature of card magic which might also be of interest...

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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Riversky » April 20th, 2015, 9:50 pm

Jonathan Townsend wrote:

Anyone gonna speak up for Ralph Adams?

Around 1970 I cut high school and wandered into Ralph Adam's Photography Studio in located in Santa Maria, Ca.
He presented a classic C&B routine.Well this just blew my little mind!
Time well spent away from school.
I did'nt know who he was, but he introduced me to the Wonder of Magic.
What books has he authored?

http://santamariatimes.com/lifestyles/c ... 002e0.html

LaMont
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby LaMont » April 21st, 2015, 6:23 pm

Hi,

Thank you guys for all the help. I now have a starting place to look in the archives of my old Genii issues. I appreciate all your help.

LaMont

LaMont
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby LaMont » April 21st, 2015, 6:27 pm

Hi,

I don't see my latest post so I'll thank everyone again for all their help. That's the information I was looking for.

LaMont

Bill Mullins
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Bill Mullins » April 21st, 2015, 6:49 pm

Andrew Pinard wrote:I tackled a "list" on my magicmatters blog... You can find it here: http://magicmatters.com/?p=174
.


You mentioned the Rice Silk books as being one of two sets in a handwritten font. What's the other?

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Q. Kumber
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Q. Kumber » April 22nd, 2015, 6:24 am

Bill Mullins wrote:
Andrew Pinard wrote:I tackled a "list" on my magicmatters blog... You can find it here: http://magicmatters.com/?p=174
.


You mentioned the Rice Silk books as being one of two sets in a handwritten font. What's the other?


Wasn't it Wagner's Master Notebook?

Incidentally a card trick of Brian Glover's that had been published in Abracadabra appeared in Wagner's book, word for word.

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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Jonathan Townsend » April 22nd, 2015, 11:23 am

Q. Kumber wrote:
Bill Mullins wrote:
Andrew Pinard wrote:I tackled a "list" on my magicmatters blog... You can find it here: http://magicmatters.com/?p=174
.


You mentioned the Rice Silk books as being one of two sets in a handwritten font. What's the other?


Wasn't it Wagner's Master Notebook?

Incidentally a card trick of Brian Glover's that had been published in Abracadabra appeared in Wagner's book, word for word.


The abra... issue was?
The item was...?
provenance for that item is...?
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time

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Andrew Pinard
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Andrew Pinard » April 22nd, 2015, 8:27 pm

Bill Mullins wrote:You mentioned the Rice Silk books as being one of two sets in a handwritten font. What's the other?


Q. hit it: I was thinking of Wagner's Master Notebook, although I believe that the last Bill Tarr book (published by Kaufman & Greenberg) utilized hand-lettering that was digitized as a font and might qualify as well...

Leo Garet
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Leo Garet » April 23rd, 2015, 9:15 am

Brian Glover & Bob Wagner

I know that Brian contributed to Abra quite regularly in the late 50s and early 60s, but he told me that it was his “Elevator Routine” that appeared in the Bob Wagner “Master Notebook.”

“Elevator Routine” was published in “New Phoenix,” in May 1964.

I haven’t seen the Wagner book and it’s a long time since I’ve seen the relevant issue of “New Phoenix," so I can’t comment on the “word-for-word” thing. I don’t recall Brian saying it was “word for word,” simply that the trick was in the book. No credit, no references.

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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby David Kaplan » April 23rd, 2015, 10:13 am

Bill Mullins wrote:
Andrew Pinard wrote:I tackled a "list" on my magicmatters blog... You can find it here: http://magicmatters.com/?p=174
.


You mentioned the Rice Silk books as being one of two sets in a handwritten font. What's the other?


There's also "Some Manuscriptricks", an interesting handwritten booklet by Holland's Flip Hallema.

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Andrew Pinard
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Re: Greatest magic books ever written

Postby Andrew Pinard » April 24th, 2015, 8:41 am

Leo Garet wrote:“Elevator Routine” was published in “New Phoenix,” in May 1964.


Out of curiousity, I looked up the routine (p. 384) and compared it to the one listed in Bob Wagner's Master Notebook of Magic. It looks as if the Glover piece is incorporated into a larger routine ("The Enchanted Pack of Cards", page 141) in the Wagner book. The "Elevator cards" is part 3 of the routine and appears on page 144, though the "elevator card" is illustrated on page 141). The handling does not appear to be identical and, unlike the version in The New Phoenix, there is no patter described. Additionally, Glover's piece opens with the following statement: "Here we have a novel dressing for the well known 'Elevator routine.'" I presume that the elevator card/"out of order" is the original concept of Glover and was the item of contention.

Interestingly enough, the original concept (said by Bill Simon in Effective Card Magic to be a Marlo creation originally published in The Sphinx) was intriguing to many card men who subsequently published their handlings, but over the last couple of decades has become lumped in with the ambitious card plot (likely due to the presentational approach) and it seems that few remember (myself included) the original expression as a trick with "three" cards (and the rest of the pack as a "block")...


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