Page, Patrick: The Big Book of Magic
(c)1976 Doubleday
Hardcover, 304 pages
(c)1976 The Dail Press
Hardcover, 235 pages

Comments (Lybrary.com): This is a wonderful magic book from Patrick Page an accomplished master magician and illustrated beautifully by Eric Mason.

Contents:

4 Contents

8 Chapter One A Short History Of Conjuring

10 Chapter Two Standard Accessories
10 The Wand
10 The Vanishing Wand
11 The Handkerchief Wand
12 The Rising Wand
13 The Breakaway Wand
14 The Balancing Wand
15 The Table
15 The Black Art Table
17 A Tricky Top Hat

19 Chapter Three Manipulation Versus Apparatus
20 Illusionist Managers
20 The Present Day

23 Chapter Four Coin And Ring Manipulation
23 The Miser's Dream
24 The Classic Palm
24 The Finger Palm
25 The Front Palm
25 The Back Palm
25 The Thumb Palm
25 The Back Clip
26 The Nelson Downs Palm
26 The Back And Front Palm
33 The Presentation Of The Miser's Dream
35 The Chinese Rings

42 Chapter Five Card Manipulation
42 Preparing The Cards
43 Back And Front Palm
46 Before An Audience
47 Keeping A Straight Arm
49 The Standard Method
50 The Cardini Method
51 Producing Fans
51 The Split Fan Production
54 Deceiving The Audience
54 Reloading Cards Into The Back Palm Position
57 The Body Steal
59 The Jacket Clip
60 Vanish From The Left Hand
60 The Tenkai Palm
61 Screens And Music
62 The Unexpected
62 Discard Container
63 The Stacked Deck
64 The Reversed Card
65 Stabatwin
65 Calling The Cards
66 The Six Card Repeat
68 Three Cards Across
70 The Cards To Pocket
72 The Stripper Deck
73 Four Ace Trick
74 The Reds And Blacks
74 The Svengali Deck
75 The Fourteen Fifteen Deck
76 Spectacular Card Effects
76 The Card Sword
78 The Card In Balloon
80 The Card Star
81 The Card Stab
83 The Jumbo Four Ace Trick

85 Chapter Six Ball Manipulation
85 The Multiplying Billiard Balls
86 One To Four Multiplication
90 One To Eight Multiplication
92 The Sponge Ball Effect
93 The Pinch Vanish
94 The Pull Out Vanish
95 The Perfect Sponge Ball Vanish
96 The Addition
97 Sponge Ball Routine No 2
99 The Cups And Balls

107 Chapter Seven Rope Tricks
107 The Appearing Knot
108 The Fake Appearing Knot
109 The Impossible Appearing Knot
111 The Blondini Ball
111 The String And The Straw
112 Spirit Knots
114 The Enchanted Bottle
115 The Cut And Restored Rope Effect

119 Chapter Eight Thimble Manipulation

125 Chapter Nine Tricks With Liquids
125 The Vanishing Bowl Of Water
126 The Evaporating Liquid
127 The Glass Of Wine Production

130 Chapter Ten Pocket Tricks
130 The Paddle Move
131 Spot The Spots
132 The Salt On The Knife
133 The Chinese Compass
133 The Thumb Tip
134 The Vanishing Cigarette
135 The Vanishing Match
136 The Handkerchief Penetration
136 The Burnt Handkerchief
137 The Ring On Stick
138 The Flying Ring
140 The Three Shell Game

144 Chapter Eleven Tricks With Paper
144 The Paper Tree
145 The Paper Ladder
146 The Scotsman's Kilt
146 The Plaid
146 Clippit
147 The Torn And Restored Newspaper
148 The Ten Second Paper Tear
152 The Burnt And Restored Strip

154 Chapter Twelve Livestock And Platform Effects
154 The Vanishing Bunny
155 A Rabbit From A Hat
158 The Dog Kennel
159 The Dove Pan
160 The Rabbit Cage
161 Dove From Streamer
162 The Vanishing Cage Of Doves
164 Dove From Silk
167 The Rings On Rod Illusion
168 The Colour Changing Fan
169 The Passe Bottle And Glass
171 The Vanishing Birdcage
172 The Drawer Box
172 The Organ Pipes
173 The Square Circle Production Box
176 Flower Productions
176 The Oriental Shawl
177 The Bare Hand Flower Production
180 The Ghost Tube
182 The Aquarius Tube
184 The Nest Of Boxes
186 The Inexhaustible Box
188 The Sliding Die Box
190 The Twentieth Century Silk Trick
191 The Handkerchief Pull
192 The Lamp Chimney Vanish
194 The Japanese Production Box
195 The Changing Bag
197 The Vanishing Walking Stick
200 The Appearing Walking Stick
202 The Stick To Parasol

204 Chapter Thirteen Magic Spectaculars
205 Sawing A Woman In Half
209 The Levitation
212 The Sword Cabinet
215 The Substitution Trunk
217 The Three Swords Suspension
219 The Cremation Illusion
221 The Doll's House Illusion
224 The Vanishing Motor Car
225 The Indian Basket Illusion
227 The Step Ladder Illusion
228 The Guillotine Illusion
231 The Crinoline Illusion
233 The Chair Suspension
234 The Sack Escape
235 The Straitjacket Escape
236 The Jacoby Tie
238 Behind The Back Wrist Tie
239 The Thumb Tie
240 The Double Rope Tie
241 The Chain Gang Escape
242 The Handkerchief Tie

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This is a wonderful magic book from Patrick Page an accomplished master magician and illustrated beautifully by Eric Mason. In fact the book is so good that Patrick Page was expelled from the IBM (International Brotherhood of Magicians) as well as The Magic Circle because some felt that too many secrets were exposed. He was later reinstated once people realized that writing good magic books is really in the interest of all.

What was so unique about this book was how comprehensive it was on the full spectrum of magic from sleight of hand to large scale illusions. It had numerous pictures and exposed some of the most guarded secrets of the time. It included explanations on all the common secrets such as the thumb tip, appearing and disappearing wands, square circle, dove productions from body loads, sword suspension, etc. It was rare that such a book was available to the public,