Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

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David Alexander
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby David Alexander » February 10th, 2008, 7:05 am

A commodity is worth what someone is willing to pay on any given day. Some markets are hot. Some are not. Some things go up in value and some drop. If you want something NOW, you pay the prevailing rate. If you are willing to wait, you could possibly pay less....or, possibly, more. That's the chance you take.

That's the nature of the free market.

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David Scollnik
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby David Scollnik » February 17th, 2008, 6:22 pm

Originally posted by magicalt:
If any one is interested the copy on Ebay went for a little over 400.00.
Another copy, eBay Item number: 280199585860, SCARCE #209/500 "Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks" Vol 1, just sold for US $482.77.

Curiously, another copy was and still is available for $430 as a Buy It Now item.

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Gordon Meyer
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Gordon Meyer » February 18th, 2008, 8:11 am

..and that copy sold for $482 after about 15 bids.

It will be interesting to see if L&L addresses the packaging problems and figures out how to accommodate collectors who want consistent numbers ( n of 500) across the volumes. Here's hoping they do both.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 18th, 2008, 8:26 am

There is no way to give collectors consistent numbers with a run this large. It's not practical from a business point of view. The books don't come from the printer in any kind of order in the boxes--they just reach into a box, take one, and stick it in an envelope.
I can't imagine why the books weren't shrink-wrapped individually, and why newspaper was used for the packing--that's just bizarre!
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Jeff Pierce Magic » February 18th, 2008, 9:48 am

Richard, my second book did come shrinkwrapped so I have no idea what number it is.

Jeff

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 18th, 2008, 9:59 am

I can't imagine why some were shrinkwrapped and others not. These are standardized instructions given to the printer that would deal with the entire printing.
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Doug Brewer » February 18th, 2008, 10:21 am

Loved the review by Swiss in this month's Genii. He touches on the controversy of whether this properly serves as a legacy to a man who deserves our admiration. I think when all four (five?) volumes come out, we'll see just an incredible amount of material that hasn't been published and would probably take years to categorize, rewrite, illustrate and publish correctly. A process that would properly serve as a legacy, but that would also serve no benefit to his wife's livelihood. For all we know, Mr. Cervon told his wife to take whatever she wanted and make as much money from it as she could. In the end, what is more important - a "legacy" which is already intact - he was a great magician who will long be remembered - or taking care of your wife and family who you've left behind? I'm not going to judge him or his wife on that choice.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Jeff Pierce Magic » February 18th, 2008, 1:29 pm

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
I can't imagine why some were shrinkwrapped and others not. These are standardized instructions given to the printer that would deal with the entire printing.
My first copy was not shrinkwrapped but the second is. I could have #1 and not know it. Go figure.

Jeff

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George Guerra
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby George Guerra » April 18th, 2008, 4:39 pm

Volume 2 is ON SALE now and L&L will be honoring the same serial number to those who purchased Volume 1. Just ordered my copy and anticipated shipping date is May 20th.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby SteveP » April 18th, 2008, 4:49 pm

Just to expand on that:

"For one week only, from Friday, April 18 to Midnight, Thursday, April 24, 2008(no exceptions), in order to provide you with the opportunity to get the same number book you have for the first volume, you may request that special number for your limited edition volume. These requests will be honored in the order in which they are received."

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby MitchSchneiter » April 18th, 2008, 6:52 pm

George Guerra wrote:Volume 2 is ON SALE now and L&L will be honoring the same serial number to those who purchased Volume 1. Just ordered my copy and anticipated shipping date is May 20th.


Thanks for the heads up! Just got my #6 copy reserved.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 18th, 2008, 7:34 pm

Just ordered mine! Jeez, that's a lot of dough.
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Mallakite » April 18th, 2008, 7:37 pm

Well there goes another 200 dollars out of my wallet, it better not be wrapped in newspaper this time, rather shrinkwrapped.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby mwolfire » April 18th, 2008, 8:12 pm

Last time I got some random high number. Why would I want that particular number again? What am I missing?
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 18th, 2008, 8:19 pm

It costs the publisher between 10 and 15 cents to shrinkwrap a book. My guess is either that L&L forgot to include shrinkwrapping in their print order last time, or that the printer screwed up and simply forgot to do it.
I don't think the same mistake will be made twice.
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby SteveP » April 18th, 2008, 9:02 pm

mwolfire wrote:Last time I got some random high number. Why would I want that particular number again? What am I missing?
Mark



Some customers want the numbers in all of their books to match, whether it's #1 or #364. Others, like yourself, don't care. L&L is just giving those who do care an opportunity to have matching numbers.

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George Guerra
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby George Guerra » April 18th, 2008, 9:04 pm

mwolfire wrote:Last time I got some random high number. Why would I want that particular number again? What am I missing


I would have agreed with you for some time after I recieved volume one, but with the current demand for these books, now I am 1) glad I have any copy, and 2) since it is being offered, I might as well keep the entire remaining collection consistant at this point.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Terry Oberman » April 21st, 2008, 11:18 pm

For those who are looking for a copy of Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1, I have one up for auction on eBay:


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=013

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Brad Jeffers
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Brad Jeffers » April 27th, 2008, 2:13 pm

Why are limited edition books numbered anyway?

I assume that the reason is, that the first copies that come off the presses would be somewhat sharper than each subsequent copy, and therefore the lower numbered books would be more desirable to collectors.

But wouldn't this no longer hold true, with todays methods of printing. The first copy is no different than the last - right?

And who does the numbering? Is it done by the printers, or by someone at L&L? Maybe this is why there was no shrinkwrap. They would have to be numbered before being shrinkwraped.

Since L&L is offering to fill orders for specific numbers, they will have to open the book to be sure that they are filling the order correctly. So unless they have the book number affixed to the shrinkwrapping (or some other system), then I don't think the books will be shrinkwrapped this time either.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 27th, 2008, 2:42 pm

Brad, don't take this personally, but you don't know doodly-squat about printing.

Every book in a print run should look identical assuming the presses are clean, and this has been the case for almost a century. Even old lead type ("hot type") didn't give noticably poorer reproduction on anything so small as a run of magic books.

As far as the numbering, this is typically done on individual pages, which are then sent to the printer and machine-tipped in for a few pennies per page. Every single one of my deluxe editions have been done this way. The idea of having a page printed for numbering in the book itself, then having to open every book by hand and write the number in (something which would preclude shrink-wrapping), is only something the cheapest person would resort to. Anyone's time, any employee, costs more than it does to machine-tip the pages in.

And, if the printer does it, they can also tuck a post it note under the shrink wrap with the number of the book on it, so the books can be identified without taking off the shrink wrap! This is neither a mysterious process nor rocket science--it's done every day by printers all around the world.
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Brad Jeffers
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Brad Jeffers » April 27th, 2008, 3:19 pm

Richard, You are correct. I don't know doodly-squat about the printing biz. That's why all my remarks were in the form of questions.

I was counting on you to enlighten me. Thanks

But you didn't answer the main question - Why are limited edition books individually numbered?

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Marco Pusterla
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Marco Pusterla » April 27th, 2008, 3:54 pm

Uhm... Has anybody noticed that the second volume is "only" 312 pages compared to the original 410 of the first one? This, of course, excluding the 20 or so pages of photos, index and introduction(s) at the beginning of the first volume... We are paying the same amount of cash ($200+s&h) for 120+ pages less than the first volume...

As I sort my books by size and width, this is most inconvenient :D
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby PapaG » April 27th, 2008, 4:15 pm

Maybe they're trying to ensure five volumes rather than four.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Roger M. » April 27th, 2008, 7:46 pm

With each volume bringing in $100K it's probably tempting for the publisher and "author" to envision a Volume 5.

It's interesting to see that Vol 2 hasn't sold out yet. It would appear that everybody who bought Vol I isn't in that much of a rush to own Vol 2. It's been available for a bit now, and is still on L&L's site for the taking.

Yes, I know the few vocal collectors have jumped in with both feet, but there STILL appears to be no rush to pick up Vol 2.

Also, the almost complete lack of any public praise for Volume 1 has me mystified. Without tipping the material, folks could still rave on about the book........but they haven't, at least in public.

With Vol 1 sold out, folks don't have to worry about screaming how good their book is and having everybody jump onboard doing the material.

Maybe I just don't get it.........$1000.00 for a set of hand written notebooks that nobody is talking about in a positive fashion other than to rave about how collectable they are?

Are they good?......brilliant?.........or just collectable?

.........quick, tell me before Volume 2 sells out :)

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby PapaG » April 27th, 2008, 8:02 pm

The Genii review sums it up.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby PickaCard » April 27th, 2008, 9:51 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:The idea of having a page printed for numbering in the book itself, then having to open every book by hand and write the number in (something which would preclude shrink-wrapping), is only something the cheapest person would resort to. Anyone's time, any employee, costs more than it does to machine-tip the pages in.


I don't know how your volume 1 was numbered but mine was hand written with a pen.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 28th, 2008, 1:05 am

Mine was also numbered in pen, but that's irrelevant. That could have been done by the publisher or by the printer. And it could have been done if the pages were loose and later sent to the printer to be machine-tipped, or by opening each bound book. What's your point?
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PickaCard
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby PickaCard » April 28th, 2008, 8:24 am

From your comment I quoted above, I was under the impression your copy of the Castle notebook may have been machine-tip numbered. Thank you for the clarification.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Jason C » May 15th, 2008, 11:50 pm

Hey I just ordered Volume 2. I missed Volume 1; i sure wish they'd have printed more than 500!! Do you Volume 1 owners expect Volume 2 to be as good? Are most of you guys also getting Volume 2? Any of you want to part with Volume 1?

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Mark Tams » May 16th, 2008, 8:05 am

Yes.

Yes.

No.

:)

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby SteveP » May 16th, 2008, 9:28 am

Yesterday afternoon I sent out the L&L Publishing email newsletter announcing that Volume 2 is in stock and ready for shipping. There are still copies left, but they are going fast.

Blair wrote an interesting post, which I wanted to comment on.

Blair M. wrote:With each volume bringing in $100K it's probably tempting for the publisher and "author" to envision a Volume 5.


Last I heard there are only going to be 4 volumes.

Blair M. wrote:It's interesting to see that Vol 2 hasn't sold out yet. It would appear that everybody who bought Vol I isn't in that much of a rush to own Vol 2. It's been available for a bit now, and is still on L&L's site for the taking.


Your assumption is not correct. The reason Volume 1 sold out as quickly as it did is because customers were allowed to buy multiple copies. Volume 2 was restricted to one copy per customer.

Blair M. wrote:Yes, I know the few vocal collectors have jumped in with both feet, but there STILL appears to be no rush to pick up Vol 2.


"Rush" as you put it, no, but steady sales, absolutely. Volume 2 will be sold out soon.

Blair M. wrote:Also, the almost complete lack of any public praise for Volume 1 has me mystified. Without tipping the material, folks could still rave on about the book........but they haven't, at least in public.


I think we're so used to hype on a product before its released and then the continued hype after it comes out. These books are different. The material isn't spoon fed to reader, so I'm sure some guys are still working through the material. I would also imagine that large quantity of these books are sitting on a collector's shelf. Also factor in a book in very limited release and not every one who owns the book participates in magic forums.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Roger M. » May 16th, 2008, 12:40 pm

Thanks for your thoughts Steve.

If I'd been quicker on the mark when Vol #1 came out, I'd likely be on the train for #2, #3, and #4.

As it is, Vol #1 was cleaned out before I saw it was available, so I"m just a viewer on this one.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » May 18th, 2008, 9:20 pm

I just received an e-mail from L&L that the second volume has shipped. We should see them start to arrive this coming week.
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Mallakite » May 18th, 2008, 9:40 pm

If there are Jennings tricks in these coming volumes of the Castle Notebooks will you be adding them to your own books of Larry Jennings Mr Kaufman?

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » May 18th, 2008, 10:15 pm

Not all of them by any means. Some of the tricks aren't very good. Others have already had better descriptions done in books. So, if a trick is bad, probably not. And if a trick is good, but a new description won't add anything, probably not.

Some of the items I chose to use from the first Castle Notebook had either not great descriptions, or mistakes. Some of them were things I already had from Jennings, and so my descriptions have a lot more detail than the notes Cervon made.

I think there's only one thing from the second book that I'm using in Mr. Jennings Takes It Easy.

I don't believe there's anything of Larry's in the later Castle Notebooks (which would be volumes 3 and 4 of the L&L reprints). By then, relations between Jennings and Cervon were poor, so Larry began using audiocassettes (as early as 1969) to keep his own notes. This is much better because all of Jennings own taped descriptions are more detailed and clearer than Cervon's written notes.
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby MitchSchneiter » May 19th, 2008, 6:56 pm

The book arrived about an hour ago here in Oregon. In just glancing through it I've already found some clever items that I want to start working on. The Paul Fox card in wallet idea is great. I certainly don't regret buying this or the first volume.

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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby chris morrison » May 20th, 2008, 8:59 pm

A copy of V1 is available on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cervon-Castle-Noteb ... dZViewItem
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Mark Collier » May 21st, 2008, 12:31 pm

I just opened Vol.2
Two words...
Bubble wrap :)

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Richard Kaufman » May 21st, 2008, 12:41 pm

That's nice to hear. (And it's nice they read the Forum, too.)
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Re: Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks Volume 1

Postby Jason C » May 23rd, 2008, 11:27 pm

Hey I got Vol 2 in today!


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