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Modern Magic.
Modern Magic.
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE ART OF CONJURING. BY PROFESSOR HOFFMANN. With 318 Illustrations. WITH AN APPENDIX CONTAINING EXPLANATIONS OF SOME OF THE BEST KNOWN SPECIALTIES OF MESSRS. MASKELYNE AND COOKE. Populus vult decipi: decipiatur. AMERICAN EDITION. GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS London: Broadway, Ludgate Hill New York: 9 Lafayette Place By PROFESSOR HOFFMANN. PARLOR AMUSEMENTS and Evening Party Entertainments. 516 pages, 107 Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, $1.50. MODERN MAGIC. A Practical Treatise
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MODERN MAGIC.
MODERN MAGIC.
Considering the great antiquity and the unfading popularity of the magic art, it seems at first sight a matter of wonder that its literature should be so extremely scanty. In England, in particular, is this the case. Until within the last few years it would have been difficult to name a single book worth reading upon this subject, the whole literature of the art consisting of single chapters in books written for the amusement of youth (which were chiefly remarkable for the unanimity with which e
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THE MAGIC WAND.
THE MAGIC WAND.
This is a light rod of twelve to fifteen inches in length, and about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. It may be of any material, and decorated in any manner which the fancy of the owner may dictate. To the uninitiated its use may appear a mere affectation, but such is by no means the case. Apart from the prestige derived from the traditional properties of the wand, and its use by the wizards of all ages, it affords a plausible pretext for many necessary movements, which would otherwise app
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THE MAGICIAN’S TABLE.
THE MAGICIAN’S TABLE.
There are plenty of good minor tricks which may be performed anywhere, and with little or no previous preparation, but as soon as the student has outgrown these humbler feats, and aspires to amuse his friends or the public with a pre-arranged séance , his first necessity will be a proper table. We do not now refer to the elaborate combination of traps, pistons, etc., which is used for stage performances. This will be duly described in its proper place. The table necessary for an average drawing-
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THE MAGICIAN’S DRESS.
THE MAGICIAN’S DRESS.
It is not very many years since the orthodox dress of the conjuror was a long and flowing robe, embroidered more or less with hieroglyphic characters, and giving ample space for the concealment of any reasonable sized article—say from a warming-pan downwards. The very last specimen of such a garment, to the best of our belief, is, or was, worn by the magician attached to the Crystal Palace. We do not know whether he is compelled by the regulations of the establishment to wear such a robe; but if
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CHAPTER II. General Principles of Sleight-of-Hand applicable to Card Tricks.
CHAPTER II. General Principles of Sleight-of-Hand applicable to Card Tricks.
Among the various branches of the conjuror’s art, none will better repay the labour of the student, whether artist or amateur, than the magic of cards. It has the especial advantage of being, in a great measure, independent of time and place. The materials for half its mysteries are procurable at five minutes’ notice in every home circle; and, even in the case of those tricks for which specially prepared cards, etc., are requisite, the necessary appliances cost little, and are easily portable—tw
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CHAPTER III. Card Tricks with Ordinary Cards, and not requiring Sleight-of-Hand.
CHAPTER III. Card Tricks with Ordinary Cards, and not requiring Sleight-of-Hand.
There is a large class of tricks which may be described as consisting of two elements—the discovery of a chosen card by the performer, and the revelation of his knowledge in a more or less striking manner. We propose to give, in the first place, three or four methods of discovering a given card, and then a similar variety of methods of concluding the trick. It must be remembered that for our present purpose we exclude all tricks for which any special dexterity is requisite. There will be little
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CHAPTER IV. Tricks involving Sleight-of-Hand or the Use of Specially Prepared Cards.
CHAPTER IV. Tricks involving Sleight-of-Hand or the Use of Specially Prepared Cards.
We have already explained the nature and use of the “forcing” pack of cards. It may be well, before we go further, to give a short account of one or two other species of prepared cards. The Long Card. —This is the technical name for a card longer or wider, by about the thickness of a sixpence, than the rest of the pack. This card will naturally project to that extent beyond the general length or width of the other cards, and the performer is thereby enabled to cut the pack at that particular car
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CHAPTER V. Card Tricks Requiring Special Apparatus.
CHAPTER V. Card Tricks Requiring Special Apparatus.
We propose to describe in this chapter such card tricks as require the aid of some mechanical appliance or apparatus, but are still appropriate for a drawing-room performance. There are some few tricks performed with cards (such as the Fairy Star, the Demon’s Head, and the like) which necessitate the use of a mechanical table, or other apparatus of an elaborate and costly character. These will not be here noticed, but will be given, at the close of the work, in the portion devoted to Stage Trick
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CHAPTER VI. Principles of Sleight-of-hand more especially applicable to Coin Tricks.
CHAPTER VI. Principles of Sleight-of-hand more especially applicable to Coin Tricks.
Before attempting tricks with coin, it will be necessary for the student to practise certain sleights and passes which more especially belong to this particular branch of the magic art, though the sleight-of-hand used in “coin tricks” is more or less applicable to most other small objects. The principles which we have given for card tricks will not here be of any direct assistance to the student; but the readiness of hand and eye which he will have acquired, if he has diligently put in practice
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CHAPTER VII. Tricks with Coin without Apparatus.
CHAPTER VII. Tricks with Coin without Apparatus.
There is an immense variety of tricks with coin—some with apparatus, some without; some demanding a thorough mastery of sleight-of-hand; some so simple as to be within the compass of the merest tyro. The only classification which we shall attempt will be to divide them into such as do and such as do not require special apparatus. A Florin being spun upon the Table, to tell blindfold whether it falls head or tail upwards. —You borrow a florin, and spin it, or invite some other person to spin it,
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CHAPTER VIII. Tricks with Coin requiring Special Apparatus.
CHAPTER VIII. Tricks with Coin requiring Special Apparatus.
The “Heads and Tails” Trick. —This is a pretty little trick, of an unpretending nature, but of very good effect, especially if introduced in a casual and apparently extempore manner. The performer borrows, or produces from his own pocket, four penny-pieces. Placing them upon the table, he requests some one to make a pile of them, all one way, say “tail” upwards. He next requests the same or another person to turn over the pile so made, without disturbing the relative position of the coins, and a
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CHAPTER IX. Tricks with Watches.
CHAPTER IX. Tricks with Watches.
To indicate on the Dial of a Watch the Hour secretly thought of by any of the Company. —The performer, taking a watch in the one hand, and a pencil in the other, proposes to give a specimen of his powers of divination. For this purpose he requests any one present to write down, or, if preferred, merely to think of, any hour he pleases. This having been done, the performer, without asking any questions, proceeds to tap with the pencil different hours on the dial of the watch, requesting the perso
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CHAPTER X. Tricks with Rings.
CHAPTER X. Tricks with Rings.
The Flying Ring. —The majority of ring tricks depend upon the substitution at some period of the trick of a dummy ring for a borrowed one, which must be so nearly alike as not to be distinguishable by the eye of the spectator. This desideratum is secured by using wedding-rings, which, being always made plain, are all sufficiently alike for this purpose. You may account for your preference of wedding-rings by remarking that they are found to be imbued with a mesmeric virtue which renders them pec
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CHAPTER XI. Tricks with Handkerchiefs.
CHAPTER XI. Tricks with Handkerchiefs.
We have already discussed a good many tricks in which handkerchiefs are employed in one way or another. The present chapter will be devoted to those feats in which the handkerchief forms the sole or principal object of the illusion. Where practicable, the handkerchief used should always be a borrowed one (so as to exclude the idea of preparation); and in borrowing it will occasionally be necessary to use a little tact in order to make certain of getting the right article for your purpose, withou
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CHAPTER XII. Tricks with Dominoes and Dice.
CHAPTER XII. Tricks with Dominoes and Dice.
To Arrange a Row of Dominoes face downwards on the Table, and on returning to the Room to turn up a Domino whose points shall indicate how many have been moved in your absence. —This is a capital drawing-room feat. You place a row of twenty dominoes face downwards upon the table, avoiding as far as possible the appearance of any special arrangement, but nevertheless taking care that the points of the first domino (commencing from the left) shall amount to twelve, the points of the second to elev
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CHAPTER XIII. The Cups and Balls.
CHAPTER XIII. The Cups and Balls.
The subject of the present chapter may be said to be the groundwork of all legerdemain, being, we believe, the very earliest form in which sleight-of-hand was exhibited. At the present day it is not very often seen, save in the bastard form known as “thimble-rig,” and used as a means of fleecing the unwary upon race-courses and at country fairs. It is, however, well worthy the attention of the student of modern magic, not only as affording an excellent course of training in digital dexterity, bu
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CHAPTER XIV. Ball Tricks Requiring Special Apparatus.
CHAPTER XIV. Ball Tricks Requiring Special Apparatus.
Before proceeding to the description of the tricks which form the subject of this Chapter, it may be well to mention one or two principles of sleight-of-hand, not yet noticed, which have a special application to ball tricks, and are also useful with regard to oranges, apples, eggs, etc. The Pass called the tourniquet , or “ French drop ,” described already in relation to coin, will be found equally applicable to balls up to a couple of inches in diameter, but is not available for objects of larg
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CHAPTER XV. Hat Tricks.
CHAPTER XV. Hat Tricks.
The present Chapter will be devoted to those tricks in which a hat plays a special or prominent part. Borrowed hats have been used in the course of many of the tricks already described, but the part played by the hat has been of an incidental and subordinate character. In the tricks next following the hat is the principal article employed. The majority of hat tricks are different modifications of the same broad idea, viz., the production from a borrowed and apparently empty hat of various articl
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CHAPTER XVI. Miscellaneous Tricks.
CHAPTER XVI. Miscellaneous Tricks.
Under this head we propose to describe such tricks as do not come within either of the preceding categories. We shall make no attempt at classifying them, save that we shall, as far as practicable, describe the best known and simplest feats first, and thence proceed to the more complicated. Stage tricks, i.e. , tricks adapted to the stage only, will be treated in the Chapter next following. We will begin with The Cut String Restored. —This is a trick of such venerable antiquity, that we should n
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CHAPTER XVII. Stage Tricks.
CHAPTER XVII. Stage Tricks.
The present Chapter will be devoted to such tricks as by reason of the cumbrousness or costliness of the apparatus required for them, are, as a rule, exhibited only upon the public stage. The stage performer may, if he pleases, avail himself of the aid of mechanical tables, electrical appliances, etc., which enable him to execute a class of tricks which are beyond the scope of an ordinary drawing-room performance, though the wealthy amateur will find no difficulty in converting his own drawing-r
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CHAPTER XVIII. Concluding Observations.
CHAPTER XVIII. Concluding Observations.
It now only remains to give the neophyte a few parting hints of general application. In getting up any trick, even the simplest, the first task of the student should be to carefully read and consider the instructions given, and to make quite certain that he perfectly comprehends their meaning. This being ascertained, the next point will be to see whether the trick involves any principle of sleight-of-hand in which he is not thoroughly proficient; and if it does, to set to work and practise dilig
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ANCIENT AND MODERN MAGIC. CHAPTER I. Introduction.
ANCIENT AND MODERN MAGIC. CHAPTER I. Introduction.
The wonder excited by the marvellous automatons of Messrs. Maskelyne and Cooke has caused many inquiries into the art of mechanical conjuring. Although the productions of those gentleman at the Egyptian Hall have been thought by the general public to be unprecedented, we shall see that their marvels have been produced in ages long gone by, and that the art of conjuring, or producing apparently unaccountable and magical results by means of mechanism, was an art brought to great perfection hundred
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CHAPTER II. Kempelen.
CHAPTER II. Kempelen.
Kempelen’s Speaking Machine has been thus described. It was of simple structure, and consisted only of five parts—viz., the reed, representing the human glottis; an air-chest, with internal valves; the bellows or lungs; a mouth with its appurtenances, and nostrils formed to resemble those of the human body. The reed was not cylindrical, but formed to imitate the reed of a bagpipe drone. The hollow portion, however, was square, and the tongue of the reed, which vibrated, consisted of a thin ivory
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CHAPTER III. Theodin.
CHAPTER III. Theodin.
Contemporary with Houdin were Theodin, Robin, Professor Anderson, and a whole host of minor stars, at whom I shall just take a passing glance, and then I will enter at once into the subject of modern automata, second sight or clairvoyance, optical illusions, and the other branches of the art of magic and conjuring. The principal production of Mons. Theodin was the rope acrobat, which I have fully explained in a preceding chapter. Mons. Robin also exhibited a very ingenious and interesting piece
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CHAPTER IV. Automata: Psycho.
CHAPTER IV. Automata: Psycho.
We now come to our own time, and to a description of the various automatic exhibitions of the present day. The most notable and successful, because the most original, exhibitors and inventors of automatic figures at the present day are Messrs. Maskelyne and Cooke, now located at that old “home of mystery,” the Egyptian Hall, London. Their first and, in my opinion, their best piece of mechanism was Psycho, the celebrated Whist Player, which they produced in 1865. A description of this interesting
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CHAPTER V. Marionettes.
CHAPTER V. Marionettes.
In perusing these articles the reader must have observed, ere this, that a great deal of the success of mechanical, and, in fact, all kinds of conjuring, consists as much in the credulity and ignorance of the audience as in the perfection of the trick itself. It is not at all surprising that, centuries ago, the performer of a few juggling tricks, or the man slightly in advance of his age in science, should have been looked upon by the vulgar crowd as a person having dealings with another world,
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CHAPTER VI. Clairvoyance.
CHAPTER VI. Clairvoyance.
It is surprising with what avidity our forefathers, when they perceived some effect arising from an unknown cause, flew to the aid of diablerie and the supernatural for an elucidation of the mystery. Without seeking at once to work out a cause from the known laws of nature and natural phenomena, they stopped all pursuit in the paths of inquiry by at once bringing forward his Satanic Majesty as the cause of everything and every occurrence for the origin of which they could not give an immediate e
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CHAPTER VII. Spiritualism.
CHAPTER VII. Spiritualism.
The belief in the materialization of spirits, and the visits of spiritual inhabitants of another world to the scene of their mortal sojourn for the sole object of giving specimens of their caligraphy on slates and ceilings, rapping and playing upon tambourines, sealed accordions, guitars, and so forth, affords another proof that there are no bounds to human credulity and stupidity. A worthy doctor of philosophy, only recently deceased, said in my hearing, while speaking of the gross ignorance th
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CHAPTER VIII. Parlor Magic.
CHAPTER VIII. Parlor Magic.
The art of magic, as it is now understood, is no longer a secret and mystic profession; it is a written art, and may be easily acquired by the clever mechanician, or any person having dexterous hands and a large amount of self-possession and impudence. I say “impudence,” because most of the best tricks are really so extremely simple that many persons of a timid or self-conscious disposition would feel ashamed to venture to perform them, in case of what they think must be inevitable detection and
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THE CRYSTAL CASE AND MAGIC BALL.
THE CRYSTAL CASE AND MAGIC BALL.
This marvellous and remarkably elegant illusion consists of a pretty case, with glass front and sides, which the performer proves to be perfectly empty by placing his wand inside, and which the audience can see through the glass front and sides, being inserted in the very back of the box. Nevertheless, on exclaiming Heigh! Presto! the performer makes a large ball appear inside, to the great astonishment of the audience. To increase the effect, the casket can be tightly corded, thus proving that
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THE DISSOLVING FLAG AND CANDLE.
THE DISSOLVING FLAG AND CANDLE.
This is a startling trick, consisting of a series of surprises. The performer first shows a beautiful silk flag, which he rubs in his hands, and commands to pass into a lighted candle, standing on the table. The flag is then seen slowly to melt away, the performer showing both hands empty. He then takes the lighted candle, and extinguishes it by wrapping it in a piece of newspaper, which he screws up very tight, until it breaks with the twisting, when, instead of the remains of the candle, the s
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THE ELECTRICAL PACK OF CARDS.
THE ELECTRICAL PACK OF CARDS.
The performer takes an ordinary pack of cards in his hands and shuffles them, then commences by making the cards run from one hand to the other several inches at a time, till he elongates them two or three feet. The performer can repeat this wonderful trick as many times as he likes. He then takes the cards in the palm of his left hand, and with his right hand runs the cards from the palm of the left hand right up to the shoulders, the cards lying on the arm one by one in the most beautiful orde
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THE DIMINISHING PACK OF CARDS.
THE DIMINISHING PACK OF CARDS.
The performer takes a pack of cards in his hands and opens them out. He then rubs his fingers over them, and they gradually diminish, until they are only half the original size. He then takes them again, and they gradually get smaller and smaller till they are not much larger than a dime, and finally they vanish altogether. Improved principle, very superior quality French make. Per set, $2....
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THE ENCHANTED CARD FRAME.
THE ENCHANTED CARD FRAME.
This frame is first shown to be quite empty, back, front, sides, every part of it is shown; then a card, which has been chosen from the pack, is commanded to appear in it, and instantly does so, without removing it from the sight of the audience. The card may then be taken out, the back of the frame removed, and they can then see right through the glass. It will disappear again if desired. A carte-de-visite, photograph, or picture, may be made to appear, instead of a card, if wished. Price, $2..
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THE STICKING PACK OF CARDS.
THE STICKING PACK OF CARDS.
Three cards are selected from the pack by the company, then returned to it, and the pack is shuffled. The performer then takes it, and knocking it against the door or wall, the pack sticks up there, to the great surprise of the audience. Those of the company who chose the three cards are asked to name them, and as they do so they rise one by one from the pack. Price, $2. THE ABOVE SENT TO ANY ADDRESS ON RECEIPT OF THE PRICE BY THE MANUFACTURERS, PECK & SNYDER, Nos. 124 & 126 Nass
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