WANTED: Encyclopedia of Impromptu Magic

[Guest]

Hi

I'm looking for a copy of Martin Gardner's Encyclopedia of Impromptu Magic

I don't particularly care what condition it's in.

Thanks

[Guest]

You can always try H&R Magic Books!

[Richard Hatch]

Originally posted by Rick Castro:
You can always try H&R Magic Books!

Rick, thanks for the vote of confidence. Unfortunately the book is now out of print and we don't have any used copies to offer. Demand is quite high, but I understand that Magic Inc has sold the reprint rights and an expanded edition is in the works from another publisher at some future date. Perhaps that publisher will post a status update here...

[Todd Karr]

Oh, that's my cue. Thanks, Richard.

Yes, The Miracle Factory has a contract with Jay Marshall and Martin Gardner to do a new version of the Encyclopedia. It will include two cartons of notes Martin kept over the years of additions to the book, and he's checking our text for any extras he might want to add. He's also done a new intro for us.

Best of all, we'll be adding new impromptu effects by a stellar cast of magic notables, though we'll carefully distinguish these from Martin's original text. We love the flavor of the old version and want to remain faithful to the experience of reading Martin's original.

[CHRIS]

Not quite the same as the book, or the upcoming expanded reprint, but you can get the original column of Martin Gardner's Impromptu Magic in Hugard's Magic Monthly. A complete file of this wonderful magazine is available in paper from various dealers or if you prefer electronically as e-book fully searchable from Lybrary.com. I might add that the e-book is also quite a bit cheaper than the paper version.

Chris Wasshuber
preserving magic one book at a time
Lybrary.com

[Guest]

That's outstanding!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!

Not only can I not wait for the new updated edition but also I'm still committed to finding an original copy.

Any idea as to a release date for the New Edition?

Again, thanks for all the replies.

[Erik Hemming]

Todd-

Cool!

Does loving the "flavor" mean you're keeping the copious space for jotting your own notes? No coated paper? Free Mont Blanc Meisterstuck with every collector's edition?

(Sorry. A little carried away there....)

This is delightful news....

Gordo

[Todd Karr]

Hi, everyone

First of all, I'm a big fan of Chris' Sphinx on CD/DVD and I assume that his Hugard's is equally useful. Martin added a lot to the actual Encyclopedia, but what was in Hugard's will give you a good start.

Second, sorry to disappoint fans of the huge margins in the old edition, but the flavor-preservation is mainly regarding the words and look, so you'll have to settle for normal white space on high-quality paper.

[Edwin Corrie]

If anyone's interested there's a very nicely produced French translation of the Encyclopedia, as advertised here:

http://magic.callways.com/p281.html
http://magic.callways.com/p470.html

I'm not sure how many volumes there are, although it may be only two as they seem to have come to the end of the alphabet in Vol. 2.

[David Mitchell]

Wow...

I only paid $25 for mine brand new. (Canadian)

Sounds like it was a good price.

David.

[Edwin Corrie]

Was that 25 dollars per volume or for the pair? Either way you got a bargain. The prices for books here in Europe are pretty shocking sometimes.

[Guest]

I got a copy less than a year ago from 'Magic Books by Post' herre in the UK for around 30 I believe. They ship internationally, however I would think the cost of that would be rather expensive.

[Richard Hatch]

George Daily has just put a nice copy on ebay. Here's a link:
Encyclopedia of Impromptu Magic on eBay
Good luck!

[dvertucci]

I believe Magic Inc in Chicago still has copies for $30.00 . Magicinc.net

[Carlo Morpurgo]

Originally posted by Daniel Vertucci:
I believe Magic Inc in Chicago still has copies for $30.00 . Magicinc.net

how did you find it? my search did not return any results....

carlo

[gfajuri]

I should point out that the French edition published by Passe Passe was NOT authorized by Magic Inc.

Gabe Fajuri

[Todd Karr]

Gabe is correct. Neither Martin Gardner nor Jay Marshall authorized the French edition. [WHOOPS! See correction below! TK]

[Edwin Corrie]

That's a real pity. The books are nicely done, but you'd think they would get permission before going ahead with a project like that. Like with the Pabular books, which would be well worth having if they were legitimate.

[Richard Kaufman]

There are lots of thieving bastards all over the world: I've seen two of my books illegally published in Japan.
God knows how many others there are around the world.
DVDs, of course, are far worse. There are illegal copies of every DVD ever made for sale in Russia and China.

[Pete Biro]

It's not just in magic... I used to find, or have sent to me by friends, magazines from South America where they just made plates right off the pages of magazine articles I had published in car magazines here in the US of A.

[Frantz]

Hello,

Gabe is correct. Neither Martin Gardner nor Jay Marshall authorized the French edition.

I am sorry but this is not true. Franois Montmirel has bought the rights from Martin Gardner for the french edition.

Very cordially,
---
Frantz

[dvertucci]

Originally posted by Carlo Morpurgo:

Originally posted by Daniel Vertucci:
[b] I believe Magic Inc in Chicago still has copies for $30.00 . Magicinc.net

how did you find it? my search did not return any results....

carlo [/b]

Carlo you can try calling them at 773-334-2855 Last time I was at the shop I believe they still had the book . Hope this helps

[Todd Karr]

Frantz: Vous avez raison! Mes excuses...

Hi, everyone: Guess what? I goofed. I just checked with Martin and he did indeed grant French edition rights a while back.

I'm glad Martin's words will reach out to Francophones now, and I'll look forward to seeing lots of bouncing croissants next time I'm in Paris!

[Frantz]

Hello,

Frantz: Vous avez raison! Mes excuses...

That's Ok, thank you in the name of Franois Montmirel for your rectification !... ;-)

By the way, french editors are not all "thieving bastards" (sic)... Some of them are trying to do the best to produce good quality magic books... That's important enough to be underlined here... ;-)

Very cordially,
---
Frantz

[Kevin Williams]

I just found 2 new copies for $50each. You can email to presto1@eartlink.net. Please put magic in the subject line.

Good luck,
Kevin

[Chris Bailey]

My buddy has a copy that has the word "Impromptu" mispelled on the cover. Was this the first edition? It's spelled "IMROMPTU"

[Oliver Corpuz]

My buddy has a copy that has the word "Impromptu" mispelled on the cover. Was this the first edition? It's spelled "IMROMPTU"

The first edition, first printing was 1978. Second printing was 1985.
Third printing was 1991.
Fourth printing was 1992.
Fifth Printing was 1997.

Does anyone have a sixth or later printing?

My copy is the fifth printing, and Impromptu is spelled correctly. I'm not sure which printing had it spelled wrong.