The Art of Magic by Thomas Nelson Downs
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The Art of Magic by Thomas Nelson Downs
The collaboration of T. Nelson Downs and John Northern Hilliard produced this wonderful book. Downs was the first to introduce an act with small objects onto the vaudeville stage. He was most famous for his coin manipulation, and in particular for his version of the “Miser’s Dream”. The Art of Magic covers sleights with cards, coins, and balls, and teaches many tricks and routines with detailed explanations from the master.
The card section in this book was epoch making. It features the first appearance in print of the side steal. Based on the number of pages dealing with card magic this is more a card book than anything else.
Overall a very thorough introduction to magic. Another excellent book by T. Nelson Downs is Modern Coin Manipulation.
This book was rated one of the ten basic books for a working library of conjuring by H. Adrian Smith, historian, collector and owner of the largest private magic library in his time. Other books in this top 10 list are:
- The Expert at the Card Table by S.W. Erdnase
- Magicians’ Tricks by Henry Hatton and Adrian Plate
- Modern Magic by Prof. Hoffmann
- More Magic by Prof. Hoffmann
- Later Magic by Prof. Hoffmann
- The Modern Conjurer by C. Lang Neil
- Our Magic by Maskelyne and Devant
- Tarbell Course by Harlan Tarbell
- Greater Magic by John Northern Hilliard
1st edition, 1909, Downs-Edwards Company, New York; 2nd edition, 1921; 1980 reprinted by Dover Publications, New York; 348 pages.
- CHAPTER I.
FLOURISHES AND FANCY SLEIGHTS WITH CARDS. - The Card Fan
- Card Balancing
- To Tear a Pack of Cards
- The Fan and Ruffle
- The Downs Fan
- Springing the Cards
- Second Method
- Third Method
- The One-Hand Drop
- Second Method
- The Cards on the Arm
- A Series of Fancy Flourishes
- The Flower of Cards
- Throwing Cards
- Cards from the Mouth
CHAPTER II.
CARD TRICKS WITH UNPREPARED CARDS AND NOT REQUIRING SLEIGHT OF HAND. - Novel Card Discovery
- Second Method
- Third Method
- Fourth Method
- New Methods of Concluding Card Tricks
- Second Method
- Third Method
- The Reversed Card
- The Piano Trick
- The Transposed Cards
CHAPTER III.
CARD TRICKS INVOLVING SLEIGHT OF HAND. - The Transfixed Pack
- Second Method
- Everywhere and Nowhere
- Everywhere and Nowhere; new method
- The General Card; T. Nelson Downs’ Method
- The Flying Card
CHAPTER IV.
SLEIGHT OF HAND WITH CARDS (continued). - The Princess Card Trick
- Second Method
- The Prince’s Card Trick
- The Twenty Card Trick
- A Comedy of Errors
- The Siamese Aces
- The Card in the Pocket
- Houdini’s Torn Card Trick
- Barrington’s Torn Card Trick
- A Card Discovered by Sense of Touch
- The Flying Cards
- Second Method
CHAPTER V.
SLEIGHT OF HAND WITH CARDS (continued). - The Cards up the Sleeve
- Second Method
- The Dissolved Card
- The Mysterious Card
- The Card and Hat
- The Stabbed Card
- The Great Poker Trick
- Another Poker Trick
- The Disappearing Queen
- The Card Through the Handkerchief
- The Card in the Watch
- Second Method
CHAPTER VI.
CARD TRICKS BASED ON A NEW AND ORIGINAL SYSTEM OF LOCATING A CHOSEN CARD. - Chosen Card Appears in Any Part of the Deck
- Second Method
- Third Method
- Fourth Method
- Fifth Method
- Sixth Method
- The Ubiquitious Cards
- Second Method
CHAPTER VII.
CLAIRVOYANCE WITH CARDS. - First Method
- Second Method
- Third Method
CHAPTER VIII.
A SERIES OF CARD TRICKS BASED ON A NEW AND ORIGINAL SYSTEM. - The Irregularities of Scroll Designed Cards
- Mind-reading with Cards
- Divination Extraordinary
- The Transfixed Card
- The Magician’s Will Power
- Prophecy Down-to-Date
CHAPTER IX.
THE RISING CARDS. - The Tattlings of Toto
- DeKolta’s Rising Cards
- DeKolta’s New Rising Cards
- The Rising Cards in Swinging Houlette
- The Thurston Rising Cards
- Resurrection of the Cards
CHAPTER X.
THE FOUR ACE TRICK. - First Method
- Second Method
- Third Method
- Fourth Method
- Fifth Method
- Sixth Method
- Seventh Method
CHAPTER XI.
CARD TRICKS WITH APPARATUS AND IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER OBJECTS. - Card, Orange and Candle
- The Card in the Frame
- The Valladon Cards on Glass
CHAPTER XII.
FANCY FLOURISHES WITH COINS, USEFUL SLEIGHTS AND ADDITIONS TO THE MISER’S DREAM. - An Illusive Coin Pass
- The Hilliard Pass
- The Coin Roll
- The Coin Through the Knee
- The Traveling Coin
- Down’s Latest Method for “The Miser’s Dream”
CHAPTER XIII.
COIN TRICKS WITH AND WITHOUT APPARATUS. - The Sympathetic Coins
- The Coin Through the Hat
- The Expansion of Texture
- The Bewitched Nickel
- The Disappearing Dollars
- The Free and Unlimited Coinage of Silver
- Coin, Glass and Cone
- The Trained Half-Dollar
- The New Flying Coin
- The Coin Through the Hat
- The Transmutation of Metal
- Subtraction of Money
- Every Man His Own Mint
- New Coin Catching
- A New Coin Combination
- The Downs Coin Wand
- The New Coin Wand
- A New Coin Spider
CHAPTER XIV.
A COIN ACT AND A COIN LADDER. - A Coin Act and a Coin Ladder
- The Coin Easel
CHAPTER XV.
TRICKS OF THE TRADE. - Tricks of the Trade
CHAPTER XVI.
TRICKS WITH EGGS. - To Balance an Egg on a Table
- Egg Changed into Confetti
- A New Idea in the Vanishing of an Egg
- The Eggs from the Mouth
- The Conjurer as Chicken Fancier
- Japanese Egg Trick
- The Latest Egg, Handkerchief and Glass Trick
- “Eggsample”
CHAPTER XVII.
TRICKS WITH BALLS. - The Four-Ball Trick, with Novel Passes
- Passing Four Solid Balls from Hand to Hand
- Color Change with Four Solid Balls
- The Traveling Balls
CHAPTER XVIII.
MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS. - The Four Paper Balls and Plates
- The Flying Salt
- The Cigarette Paper Trick
- The Torn Bank Note
- The Bill and Lemon Trick
- The Ring on the Wand
- The Mysterious Match
- The Inexhaustible Hat
- The Mysterious Knot
- The Vanishing Knot
- The Mystic Tie
- The Jacoby Rope Tie
- The Rope Tie par excellence
- Escape from a Paper Cylinder
- The Giant Memory
- The Trance Vision
- Second Method
- The Quick or the Dead
- Don’ts
- L’Envoi
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