Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

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Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 16th, 2007, 5:31 pm

L & L Publishing have just released today, Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1 book, all the information can be found on this link.

Bruce Cervon\'s Castle Notebooks Volume 1

I just ordered a copy, I hope it will be worth the big 200 dollar price tag on it.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 16th, 2007, 6:44 pm

There's a lot of info on the book that L&L gave me when I was setting it up on the website and in the newsletter. Too much to add to the product page in the shopping cart. What I decided to do was make a PDF file available that has the full color ads that appear in the latest L&L Presents. So if you want to read more about the book, see some photos of the inside, you can click here and download the pdf.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » November 16th, 2007, 7:57 pm

That's a big old piece of news.
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 16th, 2007, 8:39 pm

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
That's a big old piece of news.
Richard,

What do you mean by this?

Do you think it's worth the $200 price tag?

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » November 17th, 2007, 8:59 am

I meant it's big news that the Castle Notebooks are being published.

But there are issues with the project: the tricks in there that are not Bruce's are not owned by Bruce's widow. Just because you own a piece of paper doesn't mean you have the right to publish it.

That said, L&L Publishing has come to an agreement with me regarding the Jennings material. I'm not getting a penny, and neither is Larry's widow BJ--I'm just supposed to get copies of it so I can rewrite it in detail and include it in my Jennings books. Larry had been trying for many years to get copies of the notebooks beyond the first three or four from Bruce and Bruce had refused, even though they contained Jennings' own material. And the very idea that notes should be taken was Jennings' to begin with!

L&L has also come to an agreement with the estate of Vernon regarding the Vernon material, though I have no idea what that is.

However, Larry Jennings certainly never wanted his material published in this form. And it was never planned that the Vernon material would be published in this form, either--where are the wonderful Vernon Chronicles beyond number 3 that were supposed to be written by Stephen Minch via L&L?

Why do you think I've been carefully writing two Jennings books for the last 15 years? I could've published the stuff in note form many years ago if I wanted to take the easy way and make a quick profit.

And why is it going to cost you $1000 to buy a full set of five volumes containing all 14 Castle Notebooks?

There are no production costs associated with this material--Linda Cervon is doing the scanning herself so that costs nothing.

There is no writer to pay, no illustrator, no layout. Nothing but the dead printing cost.

Now look at other books that are the same size (400 pages or so) like The Collected Almanac, or Card Craft (700 pages!) and they cost $55. Or David Roth's Expert Coin Magic, which costs a bit more ($65) but also took years to write and illustrate.

These reproductions of the Castle Notebooks are being sold for $200 each (500 copies) and by retail only: that's $100,000 gross.

Multiply by 5 (for the five projected volumes): that's $500,000.

Printing costs will likely run about $50,000, leaving $450,000.

Now, let's say that the publisher and Linda Cervon split the rest, which is $225,000 EACH.

The publisher certainly isn't doing the consumer any favors here. This is strictly a money-making enterprise and one that compromises both the material by Vernon and Jennings that really shouldn't be published in this form to begin with.
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Ryan Matney » November 17th, 2007, 9:18 am

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:


The publisher certainly isn't doing the consumer any favors here. This is strictly a money-making enterprise and one that compromises both the material by Vernon and Jennings that really shouldn't be published in this form to begin with.
Richard, Your statements echo my own thoughts on the matter when I read the release this morning.

Could it be that Bruce's widow needs money? I didn't know Cervon at all but I can't imagine that he wanted the notebooks published as is either.

Probably going to get one anyway.

Does this mean that "Mr Jennings Takes it Easy" will be expanded again to include the castle notebook effects?
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Pete Biro » November 17th, 2007, 9:28 am

Sounds like the Braue notebooks. :eek:
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » November 17th, 2007, 10:18 am

Mr. Jennings Takes It Easy has exactly two sleights and one trick remaining to be written. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but getting to it and doing it properly is a lot. On the way home from the History Conference in LA I was going over other parts of the text and correcting them. There's a lot of that to be done as well.
The book is actually pretty rigidly structured and I've been taking some of the weaker items out. Hard to imagine putting more stuff in!
But, never say never.
I know for a fact that there is unpublished Jennings material in the Castle Notebooks, but how much and of what type I can't say since few have since read them.
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 17th, 2007, 1:03 pm

I think the point of this release may be lost on some. The laws of supply and demand govern our "magic market" no differently than any other, so arguments over pricing are ultimately pointless. If nobody buys, the price comes down. In the end, this publication will be snapped up by those desiring a "close-up and personal" peek at history. To me, Cervon's scrawl is much more interesting than any re-written, re-illustrated, typeset edition might be. JMHO...

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 17th, 2007, 5:08 pm

Information when commodified into books is--if you really think about it--a peculiar, physical product. Value that is assigned is wildly varied and is ultimately personal. Magic books, especially these days, are valued in terms of the usefulness and applicability of the information disclosed, its retail price, and its scarcity. What I'm now saying is largely understood by everybody...yet we often forget that some magic books gain stature prior to being written or available. Consumers then imagine what such books might be--books like Revelations, the next Jennings book, the Grippo book, the in-depth Del Ray book...or any of those books mention on this Forum that consumers would love to be written...

Cervon's Castle Notebooks have long been "imagined works." One hear about them and thinks, "Boy! I'd love to get my hands on them...just to see what undisclosed secrets lie therein...!"

When they become available, curiosity takes over...If producers say that the number of editions is limited, the value goes up...The rationale is that limited editions are collectibles-waiting-to-happen.

Around the time Fred Kaps was bowling over everybody with the "Floating Cork," he was the Man--the magician who was doing the Real Work and doing it superbly. I remember visiting Magic Inc. and asking about Kaps. Jay Marshall eventually went into the back room to ostensibly get something. When he returned, he had a book tucked under his arm. It was thick and heavy. Being a bibliophile, I off-handedly asked, "What's that book about?"

Jay did not reply right away. I asked again. Finally, he said that it's not for sale. "In fact," he said, "there are only four copies!"

THis got my immediately attention.

"What's the title?"

Jay paused and then showed me the cover:

THE COMPLETE WORK OF FRED KAPS

Then he went into the back and when he returned he no longer held the book.

I would have paid him $500 (over time) for that book. Hell, I may have given him $500 just to peruse it.

So it goes...

Those who wish to pony up the bucks for the Castle Notebooks will do so...some more happily than others...

Afterwards, talk about the relative value will wildly fluctuate.

Me?
I'll probably buy a copy...

or...

wait for the DVD....<g>

Onward...

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 17th, 2007, 5:13 pm

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
I know for a fact that there is unpublished Jennings material in the Castle Notebooks, but how much and of what type I can't say since few have since read them.
Richard,

Your posts above are very interesting.

I cannot believe that Cervon would not even let Jennings read past the 4th Castle Notebook.

Since very few people have had access to the Castle Notebooks and even fewer have read them, is there any way to know if there really is anything of value in them?

By this, I understand that Cervon has published many books with material that was taken from the Castle Notebooks: 3 Vernon Chronicles and a few of the Cervon books (Ultra Cervon?).

How are we supposed to know if all of the "A" material has not already been published?

Maybe all that is to be discovered from the Castle Notebooks is the "C" material? Endless variations? (Before you guys start telling me that Vernon does not have "C" material, I suggest you re-read some of the effects in Vernon Chronicles.)

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » November 17th, 2007, 6:46 pm

Bruce was a very clever guy--his material is generally very good. He had tons of very good card material that he never published. I assume much of that will be in the Castle Notebooks. But Cervon was more a student of Marlo's than Vernon's, and his material is not terribly difficult to describe.

Describing Vernon's material is more difficult because it's more subtle--ditto for Jennings. The first three volumes of The Vernon Chronicles were written by Stephen Minch, not Bruce. And he didn't work just from Bruce's notes--both Larry and Bruce demonstrated most of the material to Stephen so he could write it properly.

My information about the Jennings material comes from one person who has had a chance to look at all the Castle Notes over a period of years while Bruce was alive. But, I really don't know what's in there and Jennings felt there was a lot of material (both his and Vernon's), but couldn't remember it--which is why he wanted copies of the notebooks. He had to ask Bruce repeatedly for several years for copies of the notebooks, and then only received the first four (again, this is my recollection of what I saw in Larry's magic den).
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 17th, 2007, 7:05 pm

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
But Cervon was more a student of Marlo's than Vernon's, and his material is not terribly difficult to describe.
Richard,

I am not sure I follow you on the above. Are you saying that there is a lot of Marlo material in the Castle Notebooks?

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » November 17th, 2007, 9:10 pm

No, I don't know if there's any Marlo material in the notebooks. My point was that in his way of thinking, and his style of handling cards, that Bruce followed more closely in the steps of Ed Marlo.
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 17th, 2007, 9:59 pm

I may have found the answer to some of my questions:

In Cervon's introduction to The Vernon Chronicles volume 1:

"[...] In 1971 my note keeping stopped, but I had by then thirteen, hand-printed, eight-by-eleven inch notebooks with over one-hundred pages each. Unfortunately, for Vernon fans, after the fifth volume most of the material is my own."

It makes me wonder if interest will not die off way before all of the notebooks are reprinted.

In Cervon's introduction to The Vernon Chronicles volume 3"

"[...] First I go through my notebooks and cull Dai's work from the many items recorded there. Often my notes are condensed and details must be filled in from memory; and sometimes I find tricks that neither Dai nor I have done for many years, and that both of us have forgotten. In such cases, details of handling must be reconstructed."

It makes me wonder if the Castle Notebooks will be useful to learn practical material or if it will just be a bunch or cryptic notes.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Ryan Matney » November 17th, 2007, 11:53 pm

I'm guessing the notes are fairly complete in most cases. Probably more so than the Daley notebooks.

Counting these and Cervon famous stash of many many homemade videotapes of his own material he must have left behind a mountain of card tricks.

Wonder if we will see those...

I'm still waiting for someone to publish ANY of Michael Skinner's notebooks.
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Ian Kendall » November 18th, 2007, 1:35 am

Wasn't there a scan of one of the pages in the Cervon issue of Genii a couple of years ago? Looking at that may give one an idea of what to expect.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Terry » November 18th, 2007, 11:16 am

Whether the notebook series continues past the first volume will depend upon the buying public deciding it is worth purchasing.

If Volume 1 sells out, but volume 2 only sells 50%, then L & L would have to make the business decision to continue publishing volume 3 to 5.

Either way, it was Bruce Cervon who took the time to record the material for posterity. His estate should have the sole rights to do with it as they will.

Since these aren't subscription based and L & L is a reputable company, any reference to Busby is ignorant. Surprised the individual didn't just do the regular name dropping.

With all the wailing about Vernon's 'Revelations' book being little more than a reprint of Erdnase's book with minimal additions, it should be interesting to see if Bruce recorded more information than the "shadow" figures would allow in Revelations.

Re Jennings - maybe he should have been as astute a note taker rather than relying on someone else to do it? Since Richard has a monetary interest in preserving the Jenning's material, it's understandable why he is defensive.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 18th, 2007, 2:29 pm

Originally posted by Ian Kendall:
Wasn't there a scan of one of the pages in the Cervon issue of Genii a couple of years ago? Looking at that may give one an idea of what to expect.

Take care, Ian
While these aren't those scans, here are two larger inside page images. These are in the L&L Presents PDF that I mentioned earlier.

Image 1

Image 2

One other item of interest with these is that there aren't effect descriptions. You have to read through each one & work through it to discover what the effect is.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Rick Ruhl » November 18th, 2007, 3:04 pm

So this is what I got in email...

"Thank you for ordering Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1. You are now guaranteed to own a copy of this monumental work. The book is in the finishing stages of production and you can expect shipment by December 10. Your credit card will not be charged until it has actually shipped and you will be notified then. Congratulations on your purchase of this remarkable piece of magic history!"

Hmm didn't say anything about shipping in Decemeber on the webpage. I know L&L has a good rep, but you'd think they do like others and put down the real shipping date.

My guess is, this book will appricate in a few years, because of the content in it, and the limited number of books printed.

Another investment, like Richard's version of Greater Magic.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 18th, 2007, 4:57 pm

I think I will wait for the Jennings books. (Well, I have been waiting so I will continue to wait.)

Personally I don't want to read facsimiles of hand written notes. For 200 dollars!!! For that amount I'd want a typeset, edited and proofed leather bound book. Plus I want several experts to have gone through all that material and cull out or fix effects that simply don't work.

As it stands if I purchase one of these volumes I will have to do all that work myself. It's hard enough to work through a well written effect from a trusted author and publisher. (ie. Kaufman)

Seems to me a monumental mistake to not present this material in as professional a manner as possible.

Randy

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 18th, 2007, 5:13 pm

Unless one is really, really interested in filling in "missing links," "blank spaces," and other kinds of lacuna that always exist in the history yet to be written, the value of old correspondence, notebooks, diaries, film footage, and so on seldom hold much interest to the average consumer-hobbyist. Just a only a few care about provenance (even though they may endlessly argue about obscure facts and factoids), the same people are only marginally interested in one person's annotations about another person's annotations regarding a set of arcane lecture notes and other esoteric works...

On the other hand, I love the scholarship and rich details evident in journals such as GIBECIERE or in fastidious translations done by Vanni Bossi and others. I swoon over limited-edition monographs by Bill Kalush and beautiful books produced by Stephen Minch and Ricky Jay. These guys and several others significantly connect the dots in the history of our art form.

Side-bar: In my personal collection I have hundreds and hundreds of letters written by Marlo and written to Marlo, plus scads of unpublished notes. All of this assorted "stuff" could be collected and put into a book called THE SACRAMENTO CODEX or something equally pretentious. Fifty copies would be printed and these would be privately sold to collectors at an undisclosed price. Who else would care?

Considering the tepid response to other projects I've finished (like writing a large treatise on the 21-Card Trick or collating all of the unpublished material (by Marlo) on CARD TO WALLET, it is doubtful that the SACRAMENTO CODEX will be written.

Meanwhile, I applaud those who are taking the time and trouble to enrich the Published Record...regardless of the price they are asking and the fickle nature of the marketplace that may rebuff their efforts...

In the end, all is grist for the mill...or end up on e-Bay or sold at flea markets.

Onward...

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » November 18th, 2007, 6:04 pm

Larry Jennings invited Bruce to come out to Los Angeles and meet "The Professor." Bruce did, and he and his first wife lived with Larry for quite a while until they could get settled on their own

Jennings was verbally articulate, but couldn't write well because his primary education was inadequate--his parents were divorced and he was constantly going back and forth between rural Georgia and Detroit. Consequently, writing was extremely difficult for him, which is why he made all of his notes on audio cassettes.

Terry--perhaps I'm defensive because of spending over a decade trying to make sure the Jennings material is properly described and explained. I've invested a large part of my life in that and it's more important--at this point--than money. Here's the equivalent, with the Jennings books, of what they're doing with The Castle Notebooks. I could have simply taken all the audio cassettes that Jennings left and transferred them to CDs and sold them in a large set. And good luck to the poor bastards who bought them and tried to learn the tricks!

Before that, however, Jennings asked Bruce to begin writing down all of the material that Vernon was explaining to him. Vernon hated Cervon at first and wouldn't spend time with him, so Vernon would show Jennings stuff, and then Larry came home and told it to Bruce, who wrote it all down. Larry also told all of his own material to Bruce so notes could be taken.

Eventually Bruce did ingratiate himself with Veron and was able to receive material directly.

That's the story behind the Castle Notebooks, and it doesn't matter who preserved the material, the material is always the property of the creator or his estate, not the person who made the notes. This is the essence of IP (intellectual property law).
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 18th, 2007, 7:27 pm

"That's the story behind the Castle Notebooks, and it doesn't matter who preserved the material, the material is always the property of the creator or his estate, not the person who made the notes. This is the essence of IP (intellectual property law)."

Regarding the quoted passage, how do the Castle Notebooks differ from The Lost Notebooks of John Northern Hilliard?

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 18th, 2007, 9:30 pm

After reading the long list of posts on this subject, I have to really ask why it would take 15 years to write two books on Larry Jennings material? My guess is that the material really isn't that good. Sorry to stir it up in here, but I am really tired of all the fuss always made about Larry Jennings. I happen to know people that knew him pretty well and the truth is that there is more hype than substance. Anybody ever heard the story of "Wide Open Larry" at the Magic Castle, with Vernon present? I have been completely disapointed at the footage I have seen of him. If you cannot already see how the trick is done, it usually looks unnatural. I was all excited when I purchased his last VHS tapes. I even talked to him and BJ (by the way she had the class to let me in on what BJ stood for) on he phone when I ordered them direct. I have to say I was disappointed with the performance tapes. Typically, you guys out there in California will protect him by saying that "you didn't get a chance to see him in his prime" blah, blah, blah.....I actually want the hype to be true about Larry. I just got the feeling that I will be let down again in the future.

Richard,

As I antipate the "who in hell are you?" reply, just keep in mind that your future published books on Larry will be the true measure of the hype......beyond the raving reviews that will be published in your magazine.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » November 18th, 2007, 10:03 pm

The Hilliard material is in the public domain.
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » November 18th, 2007, 10:11 pm

Reviewers in Genii are free to write whatever they want. Some of my publications have received less than glowing reviews. The Jennings book will also get reviewed in MAGIC, MUM, and Linking Ring, so there will be other reviews if you're suspicious of what you read in Genii regarding the book.

I don't see how you can equate the amount of time it takes to write a book with the quality of its contents--where's the relationship?

How can it take over a decade to write a book? Well, when you have so much material, it has to be structured in book form in some coherent way. The material has also been screwed up in print before, so I go the extra mile to make sure everything is corrct. Oh, and I edit and publish this magazine that comes out every month.

Having spent much time with Jennings, Dingle, and Hamman, I can safely say that all of their videos suck in comparison to seeing them live. The only Jennings videos that are remotely decent are the ones shot by Dominique Duvivier in Paris. The simple fact is, however, that Larry did his best work when standing, and he couldn't stand up toward the end of his life (in fact I think all of his videos were shot while he was seated). People who make magic videos really don't understand the fine points of sleight of hand, so getting things shot properly is always a problem. Larry was also uncomfortable in front of a camera, as was Dingle.

I can assure you that Jennings was a master.
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby J Bright » November 19th, 2007, 1:33 am

Hi Dan,

I never met Larry Jennings but I have seen old b&w footage from his prime. He really was great. And, how 'bout the dvd L&L just put out? That was great too.

Since the people involved are longer with us, I'd prefer to see the Castle Notebooks in original form. If they were transcribed and edited, errors would probably be made. Just my preference.

Jon

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 19th, 2007, 4:55 am

I'm just curious why all of this "great" material that has been discussed doesn't become valuable to us as consumers or the producers of it until . . . they die?

i.e., Vernon, Marlo, Houdini, Jennings, Cervon, etc.

It's like an added dimension of mystery lies out there after they are gone. Why is that?

Look at all of the time and energy that has gone in to "finding Erdnase". Again, why?

Shouldn't this material be valuable, maybe even more valuable when the creator is with us to discern, describe, interpet and explain the material.

Now we're left with another set of notebooks to decipher. Anyone ever tried to decipher the Daley Notebooks? Someone already posted about the dissappointing Braue Notebooks.

It just seems to me that there are people out there (I'm not suggesting anyone specific here, so don't call me out on this), that take advantage financially from the death of one of the legacy's in this industry.

Just some deeper thoughts . . . we now return you to your normal programming. :)

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 19th, 2007, 6:29 am

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
it doesn't matter who preserved the material, the material is always the property of the creator or his estate, not the person who made the notes. This is the essence of IP (intellectual property law).
I think Mr Kaufman is referring to the magical convention rather than the law. Our own rules within magical "society" provide exactly the sort of protection he refers to.

The law, however, typically works in entirely the opposite way as copyright will not extent to the creator of the tricks but will instead protect the author. I would be surprised if the unpublished card magic of Larry Jennings, however brilliant it was, was either patented or patentable.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 19th, 2007, 6:43 am

I personally have some sympathy for both Cervon and widow here.

- Why should Cervon hand over his notes to someone who hadn't bothered to take their own? Was he Jennings paid secretary? I think not.

- Why shouldn't his widow publish his notebooks which had been compiled at his own time and expense. The "secrets" have no legal protection, but notwithstanding that, she and L&L have reached an agreement with the relevant publishers/estates.

If the result is as bad as Mr Kaufman suggests it will be then it will fade into obscurity without affecting the legend that Vernon and Jennings et al have become.

However, it also gives the opportunity for magical historians and authors (possibly including Mr Kaufman) to compile a well described version of important contents using the facsimile of the original notebooks as their source.

As a consumer, I can only benefit.
  • Mr Cervon's widow gets the benefit of the proceeds of her husband's work in compiling the notebooks.
  • Mr Kaufman and other magical authors get easy access to the original material.
  • I and other more casual enthusiasts may in future get the benefit of well considered write-ups of the best of the material. Maybe the publication will remove some of the hype around the contents and maybe that reduction in hype coul make the publication of a full volume uneconomic, but I suspect the best will surface through magazines, specialist forums etc in due course.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 19th, 2007, 7:10 am

When I interviewed Bruce for Genii he showed me the notebooks and I glanced through them. I was amazed at the cleanliness of the write-ups (by hand) and the general breadth of detail - even illustrations accompanied some effects. This had to have taken much labor. I, a cheap mother, have sent L&L $200.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 19th, 2007, 7:19 am

Notebooks are often (usually) private notes taken for that person's own use, with no thought of publishing. For example, in the case of Jack Avis, the estate trustees were surprised to find nearly 30 notebooks. They (the notebooks, not the trustees) could not have been scanned and published because there was much already in print that Jack was told about, or borrowed the book, or went to a lecture. It would have been unfair to sell facsimiles of varying legibility and therefore I did sort out and write up the applicable entries, published last year as "Rara Avis".

I am posting this to show what can occur with notebooks and not to try to sell the book!

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 19th, 2007, 8:24 am

If you order two other items (I finally got around to ordering the Tamariz reprint and Essential Stewart James)you save $20 on Notebook.
Which covers CA sales tax. Shippig around Dec 10th I think.
Be sure to come up and say hello in the poorhouse. :D

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Pete Biro » November 19th, 2007, 8:29 am

Regal... get back with Farringtnon on he picket lines. :D
Stay tooned.

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Steve Bryant
Posts: 1947
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Ballantine
Location: Bloomington IN
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Steve Bryant » November 19th, 2007, 11:28 am

I am disappointed that the Vernon Chronicles ended (there is definitely A material in there too), but certainly look forward to a peek into the notebooks on which they were founded. These days it ain't the $200, it's finding the leisure time to sift through all the material that is set before us.

Terry
Posts: 1303
Joined: January 18th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Kentucky

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Terry » November 19th, 2007, 1:09 pm

I have to say I was disappointed with the performance tapes.
Let me state that I was in no way attacking Larry Jennings or his legacy with my post. I was addressing the disdain I felt in Richard's post and the promotion of "his" guy since he was publishing Mr. Jennings material.

No to be accused as a name dropper, I do want to express my impression of Larry Jennings as a performer.

In 1989 (or so) I attended my only Steven's convention at the Tropicana. A friend from Florida, Ed McGowan, happened to be there and we hung out at the bar. Later in the afternoon, someone walked up behind us and Ed said, "Let me introduce you to someone." It was Larry Jennings.

He spent the next few hours blowing minds with his work. I can state that video/DVD does NOT do him any justice. I purchased the Classic Magic & The Cardwright from him on the spot. He later shipped them to me from his home and personally autographed them too.

Anyone arguing he said/he said now is fruitless since both parties are now deceased. It is also low class to speak evil about two gentlemen who gave so much to magic.

Both gentlemen were extremely nice to a nobody like me and I personally hold them both in high regard.

Other's opinions are their own.

Leonard Hevia
Posts: 1951
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Dai Vernon, Frank Garcia, Slydini, Houdini,
Location: Gaithersburg, Md.

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Leonard Hevia » November 19th, 2007, 3:19 pm

The Complete Works of Fred Kaps. Heh, heh. Anyone who owns the Fred Kaps...Seeing is Believing! DVD will understand Racherbaumer's story...Mike Caveney was also taken in by that book.

What lover of card conjuring and magic history wouldn't want to peek through the Cervon notebooks? As always, the price is high...Onward (with apologies to Racherbaumer)

Guest

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Guest » November 19th, 2007, 3:22 pm

Originally posted by Leonard Hevia:
The Complete Works of Fred Kaps. Heh, heh. Anyone who owns the Fred Kaps...Seeing is Believing! DVD will understand Racherbaumer's story...
Hope they got the special glasses to go with that book.

Harvey Rosenthal
Posts: 104
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Montgomery Village, MD—USA

Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Harvey Rosenthal » November 20th, 2007, 8:16 am

Thought I should mention for the record that when I met Bruce Cervon in June of 1967 we hit it off extremely well and began an avid correspondence that lasted between 10 to 15 years. During that time I sent him my own material in typed format and he would respond sending me photo-copied pages from his Castle Notebooks containing tricks of his and Vernon's. To date, I have well over 300 pages from the Castle Notebooks. In 1967, when he first took me to his house when he was married to his first wife, he showed me the Castle Notebooks and allowed me to look through them for hours at a time. The notes were on lined loose leaf paper. I saw magic of Vernon, Jennings and Bruce's own material. If my memory serves me, there was also material of other magicians as well. I would estimate that about three quarters of the magic I have contained in the Notebook pages has not seen print. I saw the Castle Notebooks on a number of different occasions when I was out to lecture at the Castle.

When I was corresponding with Roger Klause from 1969 to about 1971 he sent me a great deal of material some of which were pages from Bruce's Castle Notebooks. Evidently, Bruce sent pages from the Notebooks to a number of magicians.
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