Gibson, Walter B: Professional Magic for Amateurs
©1947 Prentice Hall
©1989 Dover Publications Reprint
Hardcover (original), Paper Perfect-bound (reprint), 223 pages
ISBN: 0486230120
Comments (Dover): 50 easy, effective tricks used by professionals — cards, handkerchiefs, mental magic, more. 63 illustrations. More good introductory magic from Walter Gibson.
Contents: (numbers are not page numbers)
1 Chapter One - Close Up Magic
1 The Automatic Knot: A simple snap of a handkerchief and a genuine knot appears instantly!
2 The Magnetic Mark: Inscribed on the back of the hand, then rubbed away, this mark is found upon the magician's palm.
3 The Twisty Corks: Gripped between thumbs and fingers, two corks are twisted through each other under the very eyes of all observers.
4 The Doubled String: Turning two strings into one is easy, but only for those who know how?as other learn when they try and fail.
5 Pop-Up Match: Needed for a trick, this match obligingly lifts itself from the box in magical fashion.
6 The Rising Cigarette: Mysteriously, a cigarette rises from a pack at the magician's command. Done anywhere, any time, with any pack of cigarettes.
7 The Chameleon Match: Paper matches come with heads of different colors, as this one proves when its head changes from red to blue.
8 Rise-A-String: A candy mint, threaded on a string, is magically removed from the cord while spectators hold the ends.
9 Loop The Loop: A series of baffling maneuvers that visibly cause a ring to drop from a double loop of string.
10 Chapter Two - Simplified Card Tricks
10 Faces Up!: The performer and a spectator each select a card. Replaced in the pack, those cards mysteriously turn face upward.
11 The Wandering Colors: Separating the red cards from the black, the magician transposes two cards and all the rest change colors.
12 The Names Tell: A phenomenal mystery wherein the spectators themselves discover a chosen card through a magical coincidence.
13 Predicted Colors: Gathering pairs of red and black cards from a shuffled pack, a spectator is amazed to discover that the magician knows the result beforehand.
14 Slip-Slap: Take a card, mix the pack faces up and faces down, all come back to normal except the chosen card, which reveals itself face up.
15 The Magic Deal: Wherein a spectator keeps guessing where his card has gone, only to have the magician produce it automatically!
16 Chapter Three - Card-Table Magic
16 The Even Heap: A neat perplexity with a clever twist that makes it a constant baffler.
17 The Card That Finds Itself: Discovering a chosen card which a person has picked and shuffled into the pack before the magician even touches it.
18 The Honest Gambler: In which the magician proves he can deal himself four kings or better!
19 The Triple Climax: A series of surprises beginning with the revelation of a chosen card, only to produce a threeway climax and a sequel.
20 Just One Chance: That's all the magician has, just one chance to discover a selected card?and it is all he needs.
21 Chapter Four - After-Dinner Magic
21 Count the Sugar: A puzzling stunt that works for the performer but perplexes anyone who tries it.
22 Three Tricky Tumblers: Twisty maneuvers with a trio of tumblers that become trickier and trickier as people attempt to duplicate the stunt.
23 Find the Blue: Nifty necromancy with paper napkins - two with a red design, one with blue. Roll them up and find the blue if you ever can!
24 Through the Table: The riddle of the glass that penetrates a solid table, leaving both undamaged.
25 The Match Twister: Here's where the spectators try to fool the magician, but find they never can.
26 String a Ring: A borrowed finger ring arrives magically upon the center of a string, with no clue to the mystery.
27 The Dissolving Coin: Dropped in a glass of water and actually shown there, a coin dissolved itself without a trace.
28 Dime, Wool, and Match Box: A simplified version of one of magic's most astounding close-range mysteries.
29 Chapter Five - Party Magic
29 Homing Colors: Two paper slips bearing messages in red and blue respectively, magically transpose themselves from one glass tube to another.
30 Sticky Water: Gravity is defied by the mysterious bottle which refuses to pour until the magician commands it.
31 The Baffled Farmer: Seven paper balls and two hats form the equipment for this surprising demonstration of what happened to two thieves and five stolen sheep.
32 Sawing Through A Rope: An impossibility with a knotted handkerchief that cuts itself clear of a rope without injuring it.
33 The Weird Tube: A simple tube of paper, shown clear through, captures a quota of water and provides a glass to hold it.
34 The Triple Knots: Three knots, tied on a string, dissolve themselves and are found upon another cord.
35 Double Double: The amazing riddle of the knot that is plucked from a rope and thrown back on it, not just once, but twice.
36 The Tri-Cut Rope: An ordinary rope, cut in three pieces, restores itself to its original condition.
37 The Penetrating Knot: The incredible becomes a reality when a knot jumps from one handkerchief to another through a solid tray.
38 Chapter Six - Mental Magic
38 It's A Date: A surprising divination involving various dates selected from any month of the calendar.
39 The Telltale Card: On a playing card, the wizard writes the name of another card that a person is sure to select no matter what card he takes from the pack!
40 Lucky Number Seven: You just can't be anything but lucky with this baffling stunt that works itself.
41 A State Of Mind: Any state of the union is mentally chosen by a spectator, only to have the magician discover it by mere concentration.
42 Suit Yourself: Random spot cards are taken from a pack; their suits are named, but not their values. Yet the magician gives the total of all the spots on those cards.
43 Mental Telegraphy: A number is chosen between one and twenty-five. Opening a sealed telegram, spectators concentrate on the word found at that number. The magician instantly names the mental word.
44 Color Sense: Wherein the mental wizard demonstrates an unfailing ability at discovering a hidden color, no matter how often the test is repeated.
45 Chapter Seven - Famous Stage Illusions
45 Sawing A Woman In Half: The most famous stage illusion ever produced, that of dividing a girl in two parts without injuring her.
46 Vanishing A Girl And Piano: A double mystery of the young lady who disappears while playing a piano, which also dissolves into the same thin air.
47 The Invisible Flight: Fired from a giant cannon, a girl arrives within a nest of three boxes that are hanging from the dome of the theater.
48 The Bangkok Bungalow: An astonishing illusion with a more astonishing explanation, representing the height of magical ingenuity.
49 Walking Through A Brick Wall: A celebrated and sensational mystery, featured by Houdini as the star attraction at the New York Hippodrome.
50 The Vanishing Automobile: The largest and most rapid disappearance even performed upon any stage.
| Cover Price |
$7.95 |
| No. of Pages |
223 |
|
| Read It |
Yes |
| Location |
Magic Library (Home) Shelf I |
| Condition |
Very Fine |
| Owner |
Bryan-Keith Taylor |
|
|
Gibson, Walter Brown
(1897-1985)
Gibson, already interested in magic as a child, joined the Society of American Magicians at the age of 22. He knew a great many celebrated magicians personally,such as Thurston, Houdini, Blackstone, Dunninger, and Kreskin for whom he worked as a Ghost writer. He also wrote: The Complete Illustrated Book of Card Magic (1969), Popular Card Tricks (1972), Secrets of Magic (1973), New Magician's Manual (1975), The Book of Magic (1978), Walter Gibson's Big Book of Magic (1980), The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy.
More than just a magic writer, Gibson authored hundreds of other types of books and novels, including "The Shadow" (both in book form and in comic book form), novellettes about "Norgil the Magician," true crime stores for mystery and detective magazines.
Invented: Thumb Cuffs,
In 1971 The Academy of Magical Arts awarded Walter a Literary Fellowship. In 1979 he was awarded the Masters Fellowship.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter B. Gibson bibliography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a complete list of books by Walter B. Gibson published during his lifetime and after his death.
Contents
1 Magic
2 Occult
3 Games
4 Other
5 The Shadow
5.1 Novels
5.2 Short stories
6 Biff Brewster series
Magic
Houdini's Escapes
Houdini's Magic
Houdini's Fabulous Magic
The Book of Secrets
The World's Best Book of Magic
Professional Magic for Amateurs
Blackstone's Secrets of Magic
Blackstone's Modern Card Tricks
Thurston's 200 Tricks You Can Do (1926)
Thurston's 200 More Tricks You Can Do (1927)
Fooling the World (1928)
The Thurston Magic Lessons (1928)
The Official Know-It-All Guide Magic for Beginners: Your Absolute, Quintessential, All You Wanted to Know, Complete Guide, with Walter Gibson and Mike Shelley (2000)
The Bunco Book (1928)
The Magician's Manual (1933)
The New Magician's Manual (1936)
Magic Explained (1949)
What's New in Magic (1956)
The Original Houdini Scrapbook (1976)
Magic for Beginners (Fell's Official Know-It-All Guides)
Advanced Magic (Fell's Official Know-It-All Guides)
Walter Gibson's Big Book of Magic for All Ages
Magic With Science (1975)
Mastering Magic: 100 Secrets of the Great Magicians
Junior magic: Easy-to-learn tricks or magic made simple
Complete Illustrated Book of Card Magic
Professional Magic for Amateurs
The Great Houdini's Book of Magic Tricks, Puzzles and Stunts
Occult
The Complete Illustrated Book of the Psychic Sciences, a History, A Modern Survey, and How-to Instructions, Over 100 Illustrations, with Litzka R. Gibson
Complete Illustrated Book of The Psychic Sciences, with Litzka R. Gibson
Complete Illustrated Book of Divination & Prophecy, with Litzka R. Gibson
The Mystic and Occult Arts - A Guide to Their Use in Daily Living (by the author of The Shadow), with Litzka R. Gibson
Encyclopaedia of Prophecy, with Litzka R. Gibson
Science of Numerology or What Numbers Mean to You
Witchcraft: A History of the Black Art
Hypnotism through the ages
Hypnotism
The key to hypnotism
Dreams, Dreams, Dreams, Dreams, Dreams
Games
Backgammon (A 'Golden Hands' book)
Hoyle's modern encyclopedia of card games: rules of all the basic games and popular variations (1974)
Pinochle Is the Name of the Game (1975)
Poker is the Name of the Game
Poker: How to Play - How to Win
Hoyle's Simplified Guide to the Popular Card Games
Family Games America Plays
150 solitaire games
Other
Knots and How to Tie Them (1993)
Fell's Super Power Memory: A Fell's Official Know-It-All Guide, with Harry Lorayne
Rod Serling's Twilight Zone (1990 adaptation)
Rod Serling's Twilight Zone Revisited
Fell's guide to papercraft tricks, games, and puzzles
The Key to Space Travel
The Key to Astronomy
The Shadow Novels
The Living Shadow (1931)
Eyes of The Shadow (1931)
The Shadow Laughs (1931)
The Red Menace (1931)
Gangdom's Doom (1931)
The Death Tower (1932)
The Silent Seven (1932)
The Black Master (1932)
Mobsmen on the Spot (1932)
Hands in the Dark (1932)
Double Z (1932)
The Crime Cult (1932)
The Blackmail Ring (1932)
Hidden Death (1932)
Green Eyes (1932)
The Ghost Makers (1932)
The Five Chameleons (1932)
Dead Men Live (1932)
The Romanoff Jewels (1932)
Kings of Crime (1932)
Shadowed Millions (1933)
The Creeping Death (1933)
The Shadow's Shadow (1933)
Six Men of Evil (1933)
Fingers of Death (1933)
Murder Trail (1933)
The Silent Death (1933)
The Shadow's Justice (1933)
The Golden Grotto (1933)
The Death Giver (1933)
The Red Blot (1933)
The Ghost of the Manor (1933)
The Living Joss (1933)
The Silver Scourge (1933)
The Black Hush (1933)
The Isle of Doubt (1933)
The Grove of Doom (1933)
Master of Death (1933)
Road of Crime (1933)
The Death Triangle (1933)
The Killer (1933)
Mox (1933)
The Crime Clinic (1933)
Treasures of Death (1933)
The Embassy Murders (1934)
The Wealth Seeker (1934)
The Black Falcon (1934)
Gray Fist (1934)
The Circle of Death (1934)
The Green Box (1934)
The Cobra (1934)
Crime Circus (1934)
Tower of Death (1934)
Death Clew (1934)
The Key (1934)
The Crime Crypt (1934)
Charg, Monster (1934)
Chain of Death (1934)
The Crime Master (1934)
Gypsy Vengeance (1934)
Spoils of The Shadow (1934)
The Garaucan Swindle (1934)
Murder Marsh (1934)
The Death Sleep (1934)
The Chinese Disks (1934)
Doom on the Hill (1934)
The Unseen Killer (1934)
Cyro (1934)
The Four Signets (1935)
The Blue Sphinx (1935)
The Plot Master (1935)
The Dark Death (1935)
Crooks Go Straight (1935)
Bells of Doom (1935)
Lingo (1935)
The Triple Trail (1935)
The Golden Quest (1935)
The Third Skull (1935)
Murder Every House (1935)
The Condor (1935)
The Fate Joss (1935)
Atoms of Death (1935)
The Man from Scotland Yard (1935)
The Creeper (1935)
Mardi Gras Mystery (1935)
The London Crimes (1935)
The Ribbon Clues (1935)
The House That Vanished (1935)
The Chinese Tapestry (1935)
The Python (1935)
Zemba (1935)
The Case of Congressman Coyd (1935)
The Ghost Murders (1936)
Castle of Doom (1936)
Death Rides the Skyway (1936)
The North Woods Mystery (1936)
The Voodoo Master (1936)
The Third Shadow (1936)
The Salamanders (1936)
The Man from Shanghai (1936)
The Gray Ghost (1936)
City of Doom (1936)
The Crime Oracle (1936)
Murder Town (1936)
The Yellow Door (1936)
The Broken Napoleons (1936)
The Sledge-Hammer Crimes (1936)
Terror Island (1936)
The Golden Masks (1936)
Jibaro Death (1936)
City of Crime (1936)
Death by Proxy (1936)
The Strange Disappearance of Joe Cardona (1936)
The Seven Drops of Blood (1936)
Intimidation, Inc. (1936)
Vengeance Is Mine! (1937)
Loot of Death (1937)
Quetzel (1937)
Death Token (1937)
Murder House (1937)
Washington Crime (1937)
The Masked Headsman (1937)
Treasure Trail (1937)
Brothers of Doom (1937)
The Shadow's Rival (1937)
Crime, Insured (1937)
House of Silence (1937)
The Shadow Unmasks (1937)
The Yellow Band (1937)
Buried Evidence (1937)
The Radium Murders (1937)
The Keepers Gold (1937)
Death Turrets (1937)
Teeth of the Dragon (1937)
The Sealed Box (1937)
Racket Town (1937)
The Crystal Buddha (1938)
Hills of Death (1938)
The Murder Master (1938)
The Golden Pagoda (1938)
Face of Doom (1938)
Serpents of Siva (1938)
Cards of Death (1938)
The Hand (1938)
Voodoo Trail (1938)
The Rackets King (1938)
Murder for Sale (1938)
Death Jewels (1938)
The Green Hoods (1938)
Crime Over Boston (1938)
The Dead Who Lived (1938)
Vanished Treasure (1938)
The Voice (1938)
Chicago Crime (1938)
Shadow Over Alcatraz (1938)
Silver Skull (1939)
Crime Rides the Sea (1939)
Realm of Doom (1939)
The Lone Tiger (1939)
The Vindicator (1939)
Death Ship (1939)
Valley of Greed (1939)
The Three Brothers (1939)
Smugglers of Death (1939)
City of Shadows (1939)
Death from Nowhere (1939)
The Isle of Gold (1939)
Wizard of Crime (1939)
The Crime Ray (1939)
The Golden Master (1939)
Castle of Crime (1939)
The Masked Lady (1939)
Ships of Doom (1939)
City of Ghosts (1939)
Shiwan Khan Returns (1939)
House of Shadows (1939)
Death Premium (1940)
The Hooded Circle (1940)
The Getaway Ring (1940)
Voice of Death (1940)
The Invincible Shiwan Khan (1940)
The Veiled Prophet (1940)
The Spy Ring (1940)
Death in the Stars (1940)
Masters of Death (1940)
Scent of Death (1940)
Q (1940)
Gems of Doom (1940)
Crime at Seven Oaks (1940)
The Fifth Face (1940)
Crime County (1940)
The Wasp (1940)
Crime Over Miami (1940)
Xitli, God of Fire (1940)
The Shadow, The Hawk, and The Skull (1940)
Forgotten Gold (1941)
The Wasp Returns (1941)
The Chinese Primrose (1941)
Mansion of Crime (1941)
The Time Master (1941)
The House on the Ledge (1941)
The League of Death (1941)
Crime Under Cover (1941)
The Thunder King (1941)
The Star of Delhi (1941)
The Blur (1941)
The Shadow Meets the Mask (1941)
The Devil Master (1941)
Garden of Death (1941)
Dictator of Crime (1941)
The Blackmail King (1941)
Temple of Crime (1941)
Murder Mansion (1941)
Crime's Stronghold (1941)
Alibi Trail (1942)
The Book of Death (1942)
Death Diamonds (1942)
Vengeance Bay (1942)
Formula for Crime (1942)
Room of Doom (1942)
The Jade Dragon (1942)
The Northdale Mystery (1942)
Twins of Crime (1942)
The Devil's Feud (1942)
Five Ivory Boxes (1942)
Death About Town (1942)
Legacy of Death (1942)
Judge Lawless (1942)
The Vampire Murders (1942)
Clue for Clue (1942)
Trail of Vengeance (1942)
The Murdering Ghost (1942)
The Hydra (1942)
The Money Master (1942)
The Museum Murders (1943)
Death's Masquerade (1943)
The Devil Monsters (1943)
Wizard of Crime (1943)
The Black Dragon (1943)
The Robot Master (1943)
Murder Lake (1943)
Messenger of Death (1943)
House of Ghosts (1943)
King of the Black Market (1943)
The Muggers (1943)
Murder by Moonlight (1943)
The Crystal Skull (1944)
Syndicate of Death (1944)
Toll of Death (1944)
Crime Caravan (1944)
Freak Show Murders (1944)
Voodoo Death (1944)
Town of Hate (1944)
Death in the Crystal (1944)
The Chest of Chu-Chan (1944)
The Shadow Meets The Mask (1944)
Fountain of Death (1944)
No Time for Murder (1944)
Guardian of Death (1945)
Merry Mrs. MacBeth (1945)
Five Keys to Crime (1945)
Death has Gray Eyes (1945)
Tear-drops of Buddha (1945)
Three Stamps of Death (1945)
The Mask of Mephisto (1945)
Murder by Magic (1945)
The Taiwan Joss (1945)
A Quarter of Eight (1945)
The White Skulls (1945)
The Stars Promise Death (1945)
The Banshee Murders (1946)
Crime Out of Mind (1946)
Mother Goose Murders (1946)
Crime Over Casco (1946)
The Curse of Thoth (1946)
Alibi Trail (1946)
Malmordo (1946)
Jade Dragon (1948)
Dead Man's Chest (1948)
The Magigal's Mystery (1949)
The Black Circle (1949)
The Whispering Eyes (1949)
Return of The Shadow (1963)
Short stories
"Riddle of the Rangoon Ruby" (1979)
"Blackmail Bay" (1980)
[edit] Biff Brewster series
Brazilian Gold Mine Mystery (1960)
Mystery of the Mexican Treasure (1961)
Mystery of the Ambush in India (1962)
Egyptian Scarab Mystery (1963)
Mystery of the Alpine Pass (1965)
