The Genii Forum

Is there a version in print with photo quality illustrations (not those crappy photo copies)?

No. The poor quality in the photographs of many of the later printings of the book by Tannens (and later D. Robbins) is a result of the photographs not being properly rescreened when new negs were made for printing.
Earlier editions of the book with better photographs are often available from John Greget in Phoenix, Arizona. (Call 411 to get his number.)
Price will be at least $50.

Thanks, Richard

I'll put the call out:

Anyone have a copy?

I just acquired a set of the original separate lessons in the red collector's binder, and I have to say the quality of the photos knocked me out. I had no idea how good the original photos were, having never known anything but the Tannen's reprint.
One thing was irksome, whoever owned this set originally bound it wrong. In series 1, lessons 1 and 3 were issued as tri-fold pamphlets. Instead of folding in the right-hand third, they bound it in and split the pages on the fold, which put the photos out of order, and in the case of the first lesson, actually cut 3 photos in half (If you look at the photos in the Tannen reprint of Series 1, lesson 1, you will see a white line through photos 4, 9, and 14) Luckily, I was able to repair the damage.
At first I thought the set was incomplete, as it did not include Vernon's "Royal Monte" or Slydini's "Art of using the Lap as a Servante", but those two lessons, as it turns out, were never issued separately, they first appeared in the bound version.

Don, I think the last two lessons were issued separately, but are extremely hard to find. You might check advertising in The Sphinx.

Thanks Richard,
I was going by the introduction to the Tannen
s edition, which states "Here for the first time in bound form is the complete series of magical effects presented by Stars of Magic, Inc. including two extra lessons; one by Dai vernon and one by Slydini."
I will follow your suggestion though, because it's possible that they may not have originally been issued as part of the Stars of Magic series. If they are out there, I'd certainly like to find them.
Don

There was a thread about this subject already. Have you tried searching on Stars of Magic?

Yes, that was how I found this thread. I'll keep looking and see if I can find the thread you are referring to though. Thanks again.
Don

It does appear that they were issued separately. Found this ad in Abracadabra Vol. 16 No. 411 Saturday, 12th December, 1953:

A NEW MAGIC SERIES
"Two great experts, Dai Vernon and Tony Slydini, are publishing a new series of choice routines, uniform in format with the "Stars of Magic" Series Now available:
" The Art of Using the Lap as a Servante " (Slydini), a pamphlet that will be a revelation to "table workers," 9 photo illustrations ($2 00)

"Royal Monte" {Vernon), in which this fine artist reveals one of his specialties 16 photo illustrations ($2 00)

FLEMING BOOK COMPANY

And this might be the thread that Richard was thinking about: Topic: Book of the Month: Stars of Magic which contains this:

By the mid or late 1950s, Holden's was advertising the complete set (a $94 value) for $25, complete with a customized pressure binder; bright red with gold print.* At the same time, two other items appeared in the Holden catalog: New Master Lessons by Vernon and Slydini: Vernon's "Royal Monte" and Slydini's "The Art of Using the Lap as a Servante," each sold separately for $2.

Just to confirm that Slydini's Lap as Servante was a seperate issue- I have it in my red binder and is dated 1954. It was sent folded into thirds. I also have now on e-bay 15 original Stars of Magic issues, ending Friday. The picture quality on the originals is super!http://cgi.ebay.com/ORIGINAL-STARS-OF-MAGIC-MAGAZINES_W0QQitemZ190202983011QQihZ009QQcategoryZ14013QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This confirms what I had concluded based on the following facts:

1) Neither "The Lap as a Servante" or "Royal Monte" bears the "Stars of Magic" logo, while every other lesson does.

2) Neither one of these lessons conforms to the "Series and Lesson" numbering plan of the "Stars of Magic". Instead, both are described as "Lesson 1" This leads me to believe they were both intended as the first lesson(s) of separate projects.

3) All of the original "Stars" lessons were photographed by George Karger, and edited by George Starke (in some cases with a co-editor credited) The two "added" lessons were photographed by Dr. Daley and there is no editor credit given.

Since Dr. Daley was obviously collaborating on this project, I wonder if the reason no more lessons were issued in these series was because of Dr. Daley's sudden demise.

In the mid-1960s the first thing I learned from Stars of Magic was Jarrow's Hanky Panky, a brilliant and highly effective penetration of a handkerchief by a lit cigarette. I used it in my professional close-up work for years until smoking became socially unacceptable.

Because I liked the effect so much, in some circumstances I'd carry a pack of cigarettes so I could light up and do the trick. The cigarette would be vanished at the end of the effect. Really strong material!

David, I had never seen this performed until I saw it on Johnny Thompson's "Commercial Classics" video, and I agree, it's really astounding. If you can find a venue where smoking is allowed, it'd be just as strong today as it ever was.