The Genii Forum

Hey there, do you know where can i buy a copy of this book, used or new?

Thanks very much.

I might as well announce now that The Vernon Touch has gone out of print.

You might as well announce a reprint!! Pretty please with sugar on top!

This book has gotten _expensive_ on the secondary market.

How expensive?

There's one on eBay right now for $340.

That may not mean anything, but amazon has no copies available, and it is scarce to nonexistent at other places (Abebooks, etc.)

It's a great book.

OP: It's wonderful to have it all in one place, but I can't help but point out that if you're a Genii subscriber, you already have access to "The Vernon Touch"

I'd sell mine for $340.

I'd sell mrgoat's copy for $300.

A seller asking for $340 isn't the same as buyers paying $340.

A copy sold on July 3 for $31.

More tellingly, a copy failed to sell on July 18 for the asking price of $60.

George Daily sold a copy for $445: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Book-THE-VERNON-TOUCH-Writings-of-Dai-Vernon-In-GENII-MAGAZINE-1968-1991-/171039201115?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27d2bb175b&nma=true&si=%252BakPNSxwg%252FCfAfNlsTSq13JZeTg%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

There's a copy up on eBay with a starting bid for $14.95 plus $5.95 shipping:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-VERNON-TOUC ... 1376372765

Yes, reprint , please..

At IBM/SAM, the last precious few copies were available for purchase IF a 3 year subscription for Genii was bought at the same time.

This was (is) a GREAT deal, so if you really want the book, you might check with Richard to see if this special offer is still available.

Good luck!

Those few copies left were packed up and will next resurface at the Magi-Fest at the end of January. We have none here.

The book is too expensive to reprint.

The book is absolutely fantastic and well worth your efforts to seek it out.

Richard Kaufman wrote:Those few copies left were packed up and will next resurface at the Magi-Fest at the end of January. We have none here.

The book is too expensive to reprint.

Richard, if you don't mind me asking, why would a book in high demand be too expensive to reprint? Is this because there is a risk in being stuck with many unsold copies? Maybe a smaller print run and higher price tag would be the answer?

It's a large book, 600 pages, on enamel stock. Expensive to print, and expensive to ship. And it has a retail price of $70.

It doesn't pay to print less than 500 books, and even then, printing 500 instead of 1000 (which is what we did the first time) doesn't yield enough profit for the risk. You have to invest money in the printing, and then wait for the books to sell. Selling 200 won't pay the bill, and that's how many people I estimate would buy the book right away.

Thank you for the insight on the magic book market Richard. It is a sober reminder not to wait too long to buy a book that interests me.

Leonard Hevia wrote:There's a copy up on eBay with a starting bid for $14.95 plus $5.95 shipping:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-VERNON-TOUC ... 1376372765

Gavel price: $76.07

Sold for $76

Which magic books published in the last few years have increased in value?

Mind and Magic of David Berglas, Erdnase centennial edition, some of Todd Karr's books, some of Mike Caveney's historical books, Kaufman's reprint of Greater Magic.

I think Derren Brown's books also fetch above the original MSRP prices.

I turned down an offer of $600 for the Mind and Magic of David Berglas, an act which I now regret.

How about the flip side of the equation? What relatively recent books have lost significant monetary value?

My nomination would be: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks

erdnasephile wrote:

Leonard Hevia wrote:There's a copy up on eBay with a starting bid for $14.95 plus $5.95 shipping:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-VERNON-TOUC ... 1376372765

Gavel price: $76.07

That's not a high price for this book, considering its relative unavailability. I never purchased a magic book for its after market monetary value. I prefer to leave that to used magic book dealers. The price for Silverman's Notes to Houdini!!! continues to rise.

erdnasephile wrote:How about the flip side of the equation? What relatively recent books have lost significant monetary value?

My nomination would be: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks

I sold the first 3 castle notebooks in 2010 for $800.... just picked up the whole set of 5 for $600.

All the good stuff is in volume 1 anyway

Not all the good stuff, but most of it.

Rick Ruhl wrote:

erdnasephile wrote:How about the flip side of the equation? What relatively recent books have lost significant monetary value?

My nomination would be: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks

I sold the first 3 castle notebooks in 2010 for $800.... just picked up the whole set of 5 for $600.

All the good stuff is in volume 1 anyway

Sounds like you got a really good deal on those!

Personally, I think some of the very best stuff in the notebooks was published by Cervon in his other books.

I've heard rumors that there is a cache of Cervon tapes out there with the real good stuff. I wonder if that's true...

What I would like to see is a set of DVDs based on the notebooks ...

The Castle Notes contain material by both Vernon and Jennings on which Cervon put his initials, thus muddying the credits forever.

When Bruce stopped writing down his notes, he started putting stuff on videotapes instead. Supposedly a book is being written from that material.

Cervon's highly acclaimed Linking Finger Ring routine is also slated for release sometime in the future.

Too bad the Vernon Touch won't be reprinted. There were errors in the photo captions that slipped through the editors. A subsequent reprint could have corrected those.

A pristine, shrink wrapped copy is up on eBay right now for a good price. The meat is on the table ready for the taking. Anyone who desires a copy of this book should move fast:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vernon-Touch-Ou ... 3ceee4dadc

Any chance you think the market is ready for a reprint of The Vernon Touch yet, Richard? I'm still losing sleep over having missed out on this one.

I don't think so. It's a very expensive book to print: heavy enamel paper, a big page count, and a full color dj.

Ah, thank you for your quick reply. As the optimist I am, I'll keep my fingers crossed for things to change in the future.

A copy is up on eBay at a good price and it looks brand new:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-VERNON-TOUC ... Swux5YP8Ri

Good book. We should reprint it!