The first section reveals the secrets behind such magic tricks as "The Dancing Sailor" and "The Spirit Communication." Subsequent sections offer guides to folding a bird, a bullfrog, a hat, and other traditional origami models, as well as carefully tearing paper to produce a ladder, a five-pointed star, a string of dancing skeletons, and other intricate figures. The manual consists of four parts: paper tricks, paper folding, paper tearing, and paper puzzles.
Houdini's easy-to-follow directions, many of them accompanied by illustrations, are accessible to readers of all ages and skill levels. The master sleight-of-hand artist explains how to use the simplest of props ? sheets of paper ? to completely captivate audiences. Not an uncommon book, but this copy has acquired quite the history of illustrious former magician owners, with the Goldston connection taking it tantalisingly close to Houdini himself.Harry Houdini wrote this book nearly 100 years ago, and it's a fascinating piece of work to collect and read for fun, or to understand Houdini's insatiable curiosity about magic, and willingness to learn some of its stranger aspects.Īspiring illusionists can learn from one of the world's greatest magicians with this facsimile of a 1922 book by Harry Houdini. The text block is slightly foxed, dusty and age toned, there is a short closed tear to the edge of the contents page and the colour frontispiece is present but the glue holding it in place has dried and it has become detached. The book is quite firmly bound in the publisher's red cloth, lettered and bordered in black, the cloth is slightly marked and rubbed, the extremities are bumped and the spine is slightly faded. The earlier chain of provenance detailed by a stamp to the dedication page and with signs to the spine of the paper reference label that Goldston seems to have applied to all books in his library, which has evidently become detached and lost. With an interesting chain of provenance, the book was originally owned by magician and author, Will Goldston, a close friend of Houdini, then Tom "The Magical Schoolmaster" Harris, a Magic Circle member who inherited Will Goldston's library, to Fred Wiles, then most recently on to fellow Magic Circle member, Paul Daniels, with his Wally Herbert designed bookplate and pencil reference to the front pastedown.
edition of four months earlier, rather than second U.K. London imprint, but printed in the United States, so I assume that means first U.K.
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