{"product_id":"2940012844941","title":"Magic","description":"CHAP.                                                            PAGE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   I. INTRODUCTION                                                 11\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  II. PRINCIPLES OF SLEIGHT OF HAND APPLICABLE TO SMALL OBJECTS    26\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e III. TRICKS WITH COINS                                            33\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  IV. TRICKS WITH HANDKERCHIEFS                                    57\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   V. TRICKS WITH BALLS                                            93\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  VI. HAT TRICKS                                                  114\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e VII. ANTI-SPIRITUALISTIC TRICKS                                  127\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVIII. AFTER DINNER TRICKS                                         142\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  IX. MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS                                        159\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   X. STAGE TRICKS                                                209\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  XI. SHADOWGRAPHY                                                228\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePreface\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe art of pretended magic dates back to the remotest antiquity. It has\u003cbr\u003ebeen known under various names, such as White Magic, Conjuring, Natural\u003cbr\u003eMagic, and Prestidigitation. Jannes and Jambres, the magicians of\u003cbr\u003ePharaoh, contended against Moses and Aaron. In the British Museum there\u003cbr\u003eis an Egyptian papyrus, which contains an account of a magical seance\u003cbr\u003egiven by a thaumaturgist named Tchatcha-em-ankh before King Khufu,\u003cbr\u003eB.C., 3766. In this manuscript it is stated of the magician: \"He\u003cbr\u003eknoweth how to bind on a head which hath been cut off, and he knoweth\u003cbr\u003ehow to make a lion follow him as if led by a rope.\" The decapitation\u003cbr\u003etrick is thus no new thing, while the experiment with the lion,\u003cbr\u003eunquestionably a hypnotic feat, shows hypnotism to be old.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe temples of Egypt, Greece and Rome were veritable storehouses\u003cbr\u003eof magic and mystery. The pagan priesthood attained a wonderful\u003cbr\u003eproficiency in optical illusions. In the Middle Ages magic was greatly\u003cbr\u003ein vogue. Later on Nostradamus conjured up the vision of the future\u003cbr\u003eking of France for the benefit of the lovely Marie de Medicis. This\u003cbr\u003eillusion was accomplished by the aid of mirrors adroitly secreted\u003cbr\u003eamid hanging draperies. Reginald Scott, in 1584, in Discoverie of\u003cbr\u003eWitchcraft, enumerates the stock feats of the conjurers of his day. The\u003cbr\u003elist includes \"swallowing a knife; burning a card and reproducing it\u003cbr\u003efrom the pocket of a spectator; passing a coin from one pocket to\u003cbr\u003eanother; converting money into counters, or counters into money;\u003cbr\u003econveying money into the hand of another person; making a coin pass\u003cbr\u003ethrough a table, or vanish from a handkerchief; tying a knot, and\u003cbr\u003eundoing it 'by the power of words'; taking beads from a string, the\u003cbr\u003eends of which are held fast by another person; making corn to pass from\u003cbr\u003eone box to another; turning wheat into flour 'by the power of words';\u003cbr\u003eburning a thread and making it whole again; pulling ribbons from the\u003cbr\u003emouth; thrusting a knife into the head or arm; putting a ring through\u003cbr\u003ethe cheek; and cutting off a person's head and restoring it to its\u003cbr\u003eformer position.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA number of these feats, in an improved form, survive to this day. In\u003cbr\u003ethe early part of the eighteenth century conjuring made considerable\u003cbr\u003eprogress. Men of education and address entered the profession, thereby\u003cbr\u003eelevating it from the charlatanry of the strolling mountebank to the\u003cbr\u003edignity of a theatrical performance. The nobility of Paris flocked to\u003cbr\u003ethe opera house to see the great Pinetti perform. Following him came\u003cbr\u003eTorrini, Comte, Bosco, Philippe, and finally the king of conjurers,\u003cbr\u003eRobert-Houdin. In the year 1844, Houdin inaugurated his Fantastic\u003cbr\u003eEvenings at the Palais Royal, Paris, and a new era dawned for magic. He\u003cbr\u003ereformed the art by suppressing the suspiciously-draped tables of his\u003cbr\u003epredecessors, substituting for these \"clumsy confederate boxes\" light\u003cbr\u003eand elegant tables and little gueridons, undraped. He went still\u003cbr\u003efurther in his innovations by adopting the evening dress of everyday\u003cbr\u003elife, instead of the flowing robes of many of the magicians of the old\u003cbr\u003erégime. His tricks were of a different order, sounding the death knell\u003cbr\u003eof double-bottomed boxes, and apparatus which was too evidently\u003cbr\u003edesigned for the magical disappearance and reappearance of objects.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHoudin has well earned the title of \"The Father of Modern Conjuring,\"\u003cbr\u003eand his autobiography makes fascinating reading.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSince Houdin's time, conjuring has made rapid strides. The wide\u003cbr\u003edissemination of literature on the subject and the consequent exposés\u003cbr\u003ehave stimulated magicians to invent new tricks, or improve old ones.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47162783432944,"sku":"2940012844941","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012844941_p0.jpg?v=1763584549","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012844941","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}