Gibson Walter B. & Elliott, Bruce: Phoenix 51 - 100
©? Louis Tannen Inc.
Hardbound, 207 pages

The Phoenix 5 Volumes - A Rare Collector's Package - Lots of Magic!

Hardbound - Dark Red Volumes (no phoenix picture on book, photo just for show) - Louis Tannen with Rabbit in hat on spine! Excellent condition

The Phoenix Vol 1 - 50
The Phoenix Vol 51 - 100
The Phoenix Vol 101-150
The Phoenix Vol 201 - 250
The Phoenix Vol 251 - 300

The Phoenix brought 3 to 5 well versed, practical tricks on a biweekly basis from 1942 to 1954. The most talented magicians of the time contributed their best ideas to The Phoenix; effects that fooled magicians and lay people alike.

Each volume contains 50 issues! Each 4 page issue brought 3 to 5 well versed, practical tricks on a biweekly basis and never accepted advertising. In January of 1942, Walter B. Gibson and Assistant Editor Bruce Elliott launched the periodical that became lovingly referred to as “The Bird.” Gibson and Elliott shared the editorial duties of The Phoenix until December 1944. Gibson's name vanished from the masthead with issue 74, and from issue 75 through 300, Feb. 19, 1954, a period of nearly a decade, Bruce Elliott served as sole editor of one of magic's greatest publications.

It is in Elliott's piece in The Phoenix called “The Back Room” that we learned about all his goings on. His jottings in “The Back Room” were as varied as his other works; he never followed a pattern. Elliott shared his personal news (and plugs), magic news, reviews, newspaper clippings, tips on tricks, even complete tricks were described. Sometimes he would publish a letter he received, or he would regale his readers with the events of the latest “Friday Night Sodality” that usually took place at his home. The list of attendees to those events usually read like a “who's who of magic,” but sometimes a “who's that?” And his occasional jabs taken at Frank Joglar (usually return volleys) – a columnist (and trivia question) in Hugard's Magic Monthly – were always fun to read; right up to issue 300. At least one time there was only a cartoon, but usually it was an odd mix of any of these and other tidbits. “The Back Room” was masterful writing by a master of the typewriter. There is little question that The Phoenix is Bruce Elliott's legacy.

The issues cover a wide range of conjuring subjects that encompass a whole variety of the illusionist's techniques, card tricks, mind tricks, rope tricks, number tricks, mental tricks, tricks with props and much more. Includes reviews and press releases. Black & white text illustrations throughout. The most talented magicians of the time specializing in different fields of magic contributed their best ideas to The Phoenix; effects that fooled magicians and lay people alike.

Gibson, Walter and Bruce Elliott, eds.The Phoenix.
Louis Tannen 1942-1954
New York
11.00 x 8.5 inches approx.