Modern Conjurer by C. Lang Neil

Details:  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.

This is a thorough manual of the conjurer’s art. There is an essay on ” General Principles of Natural Magic,” another on ” Manner and Gesture,” and instructions as to ” Clothes” (the conjurer cannot have too many pockets) ; and then directions, illustrated by photographs, for various tricks, with cards, coins, and a great variety of miscellaneous objects. Mr. Bertram, who is a famous performer, tells two excellent stories, which we will take leave to reproduce.

A conjurer undertook to produce a “Welsh Rabbit” out of cheese. Unfortunately the animal turned out to be a kitten. He explained that he had used Cheshire cheese,—hence the unexpected result, a Cheshire cat. Mr. Bertram himself was nonplussed by a too candid confederate. After answering the usual questions : ” You are not a confederate ? “, in the negative, when asked : “You have never seen me before? ” he too truthfully replied : ” Oh, yes, I have ; I have helped you before in this trick at Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Tamworth,”—roars of laughter from the audience. We must not forget to mention an excellent bibliography of books on conjuring.

(Charles Bertram)

Contents:

35 Sleights Used In Card Tricks
35 Two-handed Pass
38 One-handed Pass
40 To Palm Cards
45 To Palm Cards from Bottom of Pack
46 Continuous Back and Front Palm
51 False Shuffle
55 To Force Cards
57 The Change
59 Dealing Seconds
60 Dealing Seconds from Bottom of Pack
62 To Change Front Card

67 Simple Card Tricks
67 Telling Cards Cut by Audience
69 Catching a Chosen Card from Pack in the Air
71 Novel Discovery of a Chosen Card
73 To Shake a Card through a Handkerchief

79 Advanced Card Tricks
79 Manipulations with Cards
83 Passing Twelve Cards up Sleeve
92 The Diminishing Cards
97 Back Palming and Recovery of Four Cards
102 Discovering a Chosen Card Blindfolded
107 The Three Card Trick (a new method)
113 The Rising Cards
119 The “Thurston” Rising Cards
124 The Four-Ace Trick
133 Passing Cards from Pocket to Pocket

141 Sleights Used In Coin Tricks
141 To Palm
143 To Pass
144 The Continuous Back and Front Palm
152 The French Drop
153 To Change a Coin

159 Tricks With Coins
159 To Extract a Coin from a Pocket-handkerchief
163 The Cap and Pence
168 Disappearance of a Coin Wrapped in Paper
172 Ten Coins Passed from Left Hand to Glass in Right
176 The Aerial Mint

183 Tricks with Balls
183 The Cups and Balls
192 The Billiard-ball Trick

203 Handkerchief Tricks
203 Production of Hen’s Eggs from a Handkerchief
207 The Sun and Moon Trick
215 The Handkerchiefs and Soup Plate
220 Handkerchief, Watch, and Glass
227 The Changing Handkerchiefs
231 The Mysteriously Joined Handkerchiefs

241 Miscellaneous Tricks
241 The Chinese Rings
249 Coin, Card, and Paper
255 The Mutilated Parasol
266 The Flag Trick
273 The Ring on Stick
275 The Flower Trick
280 The Tambourine Trick

288 Parlour Tricks
288 Two Corks
289 Suspended Knife
289 Safety Reading Lamp
290 To Balance Plate on Needle
290 Bottle Cannon
291 Shark in Fish-pond
292 Novel Soup Tureen Stand
292 Simple Handkerchief Trick
293 Dodge with a Sixpence
293 Experiment with Corks
294 Pins into Glass Full of Water
294 Magnetised Paper
295 A Simple Coin Trick
295 To Pick up Floating Ball
296 Home-made Cinematograph
297 Egg and Bottle Trick
297 Wineglass Puzzle
298 To Pass Yourself through a Playing Card
299 Perpetual Motion
299 Housekeeper’s Weighing Machine
300 A Dangerous Trick
301 Atmospheric Pressure
301 To Lift Three Matches with One
302 Cup of Tea on Knife
302 To Balance a Pencil
303 Brute Force Useless
303 New Umbrella Stand
304 Electricity on the Spot
305 “Try-your-Lung Power”
305 A Cheap Sprayer
306 Cardboard Figure Blows Out and Lights Candle
307 Superior to Spirit-level
307 Objects Suspended without Support
308 To Lift Four Straws with a Fifth
308 A Ludicrous Experiment
309 A Similar Feat
310 Burnt Thread
310 Dancing Bubbles
311 Boring Hole through Halfpenny
312 How Water Deceives
312 Novel Way to Slice a Pear
313 Japanese Ball Trick
314 Magnetised Marionettes
314 Bridge of Matches
315 To Empty Glass of Water with Bottle
315 Boring Hole through a Pin
316 Egg Spinning
317 Suspending Glass of Water
317 A Scissors Puzzle
318 The Travelling Egg
321 Plate Spinning
331 Chapeaugraphy
353 Paper Folding
373 Shadowgraphy

• Publisher: David Kemp & Company
• Pages: 386
• Location: New York, USA
• Dimensions: 5″x8″
• Date: 1937
• Binding: hardbound

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