Great Magicians’ Tricks by Will Goldston

Details: The title is explanatory. Every trick described in this book is the work of a Master Magician. Nearly every trick has been “performance tested”-that is, tested before audiences-by a Master Magician.

There are no “suggestions” or “ideas” for tricks in “GREAT MAGICIANS’ TRICKS.” The method for producing each effect is thoroughly practical. The reader-no matter how expert a magician he may be-who tries to improve on any trick explained in “GREAT MAGICIANS* TRICKS” will be merely wasting his time. One may be quite certain that a Great Magician did not decide to employ a particular method for producing the effect he wanted until he had thought of all the possible methods that could be used.

Having examined all of them he selected the best and used it. “GREAT MAGICIANS* TRICKS” does not merely tell you what tricks Great Magicians have performed ; it tells you much more than that. The book does not suggest how these tricks might have been performed. There has never been a magical book on these lines before, and there will never be another, for I know that the material for a second book of this kind does not exist.

No matter what particular branch of magic you are working upon there is something in this book FOR YOU : Every kind of magical effect, from a pocket trick to a large complicated illusion is described in “GREAT MAGICIANS’ TRICKS.”

I have given much thought to the task of explaining each trick thoroughly. I have gone through the descriptions again and again, revising and altering when necessary, so that the reader shall be able to “see” each trick immediately he reads about it.

Only those writers who have tried to explain the working of a trick on paper know how difficult it is to teach magic in that way. Therefore, in order that the working of each trick may be easily understood by the reader I have supplemented the explanations with working diagrams, specially drawn for the book. I have spared no expense in my endeavor to make “GREAT MAGICIANS’ TRICKS” a very valuable work of reference for magicians. It is my firm belief that the explanation of each trick is so clear that it is really superior to a practical demonstration.

Contents (from Book):

7 An Introduction (by Horace Goldin)

13 The Best Books In Magic (Arnold De Biere)
17 A Few Notes (Will Goldston)

19 Houdini
23 Houdini’s Secret Belt
25 Houdini’s Challenge Escape from a Packing-Case
27 Buried Alive

31 Chung Ling Soo
33 Shooting Through a Woman

37 Carl Hertz
40 The Slate
42 A New Changing Bag

44 Nevil Maskelyne
46 Nevil Maskelyne’s Leg Tie

48 Owen Clark
51 Owen Clark’s Watch Trick

55 Horace Goldin
61 Sawing a Horse in Half

66 De Biere
70 The Latest Card in the Balloon

74 Chefalo
77 The Vanishing Lamp
79 The Mysterious Parasols
82 Chefalo’s Umbrella Trick
88 Chefalo’s Rings and Watches Trick
92 The Lady and the Vase
96 The Production of a Duck from a Boy’s Coat
99 The Devil’s Stove
102 Chefalo’s Hour Glass Illusion
105 The Spirit Chair
109 A Statue Comes to Life

112 Harry Price
116 Two Mediumistic Miracles
121 The Boston Bell Box

128 Murray
130 The Chinese Pillory
135 Murray’s Escape from Three Safes

141 Louis Gautier
143 A Trick With a Box of Matches

146 Edward Proudlock
148 Edward Proudlock’s Diminishing Cards

151 George W. Hunter
152 A Ring and a Knot
156 A New Cut and Restored Paper

159 Chris Van Bern
161 Chris Van Bern’s Quick Surprise

163 Henry Rigoletto
164 The Changing Die and Handkerchief

168 Robert H. Gysel
169 Gysel’s Thumb Cuff Escape
171 An Electric Bulb That Lights Itself

174 Arthur Margery
175 A Rosary Card Rack
177 A Little Feat of Dexterity

180 Dr. O.H. Bowen
182 The Martin Chapender Hat Load
184 Martin Chapender’s Black Art Table

186 Douglas Dexter
189 The Knowing Dart
191 Magical Music
193 The Cut and Restored Rope
196 The Cut and Restored Treasury Note
200 Four Aces and Four Kings
203 The Mystic Star

205 Arthur Sherwood
208 Sherwood’s Coin and Chocolate Box

212 James Rogers
213 A Materialised Bottle

216 W.M. Melmore
217 An Escape From a Prison Van

220 Ned Williams
224 Wet Paint
227 A New Penetrating Tumbler
232 A Trick With Giant Cards

237 Norman
238 A Fan, a Glass, and a Ball
239 The Canister and the Card
241 The Twentieth Century Trick – With Two Dice and an Orange
244 The Production of Six Coins
246 The Spirit Ball
249 The New Blendo
251 Passing an Alarm Clock Through a Sheet of Glass
255 The Chest of Chu Chin Chow
258 A Plant Mystery
263 The Twin Box Mystery
268 The Production of Three Bouquets

271 Fernand Verheyden
273 The Divination Miracle
277 A Changing Card
279 The Travelling Candle
281 A New Rope Trick – Rope Cut in Four Pieces and Restored
284 The Moving Dice

288 A.S. Davis
289 The Magic Figure
292 The Travelling Card
295 A Useful Candle
298 A New Version of the Indian Basket Trick

302 Walter Blau
303 A Cord and Two Rings

306 Some Recollections (Will Goldston)
313 Part Two
317 Part Three
319 Part Four
325 Part Five

327 Three String Tricks
331 The Mysterious Mummies
333 A New Cut and Restored Ribbon
335 Taking a Lighted Match From the Pocket
337 A Smoke Mystery
339 The Changing Cards
340 The Ring on the Wand
342 A Handkerchief From Nowhere
344 De Kolta’s Spring Flower Holder
347 Bautier De Kolta’s Handkerchiefs and Soup Plates
349 De Kolta’s Handkerchief Vanisher
351 Goldston’s Watches and Ribbons
354 The Phantom Bottle
358 The Production of a Large Bird Cage
361 The First Illusion
364 Goldston’s Birth of a Flower Maid
367 The Milk Tank
371 The Shadow Illusion
375 Goldston’s Weighing Illusion

379 Frederick Eugene Powell
381 John Mulholland
384 Dr. Milton Bridges
386 Jack Pilkington
388 Roberta
391 Nate Leipzic
392 Max Holden

395 Index
399 List of Photographic Illustrations

• Publisher: Collector’s Workshop
• Pages: 253
• Location: McAllen, TX, USA
• Dimensions: 9″x11″
• Date: 1931, 1991
• Binding: hardbound

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