The Sorcerer's Library: 15 Books of Magic
Classic Conjuring, Escapology, Mentalism, and the History of Theatrical IllusionBy Albert A. Hopkins, Henry Ridgely Evans, A. Anderson, H. Boaz, Professor Hoffmann, L. H. Branson, Arthur Ainslie, Herbert De Caston, George Arnold, Frank Cahill, Henry Perkins, Chung Ling Soo, Hercat, Hereward Carrington, Harry Houdini
Length81h 1m
About this audiobook
The Sorcerer's Library: 15 Books of Magic assembles a capacious archive of conjuring literature, where practical instruction, theatrical lore, skeptical inquiry, and wonder-working imagination meet. Its selections range from close descriptions of sleights, apparatus, and stage effects to reflections on illusion, psychical claims, and the cultural history of magic. Particularly compelling are the passages that reveal performance as both technical craft and dramatic art, situating the magician's feat within a larger economy of secrecy, spectacle, and belief. The contributors represent a varied community of performers, inventors, journalists, investigators, and popularizers associated with the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century flowering of modern stage magic. Their combined perspectives illuminate the period in which professional conjuring developed new repertoires, commercial venues, and printed manuals, while debates over spiritualism and scientific rationality sharpened public interest in deception and evidence. Together, these voices make magic legible as a transnational cultural practice rather than a mere collection of tricks. This volume is especially recommended for readers of performance history, popular culture, and the history of science, as well as aspiring magicians. It offers an unusual opportunity to compare methods, vocabularies, and competing ideals of illusion within one anthology. Readers will find both educational detail and a rich dialogue between artistry, mechanics, skepticism, and enchantment.
Audiobook details
GenreOther, General Fiction
Length81 hrs 1 min
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMar 4, 2025
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Old and the New Magic
2INTRODUCTION. BY DR. PAUL CARUS.
3HISTORY OF NATURAL MAGIC AND PRESTIDIGITATION.
4THE CHEVALIER PINETTI.
5CAGLIOSTRO—A STUDY IN CHARLATANISM.
Show all chaptersShow less
6GHOST-MAKING EXTRAORDINARY.
7THE ROMANCE OF AUTOMATA.
8ROBERT-HOUDIN—CONJURER, AUTHOR AND AMBASSADOR.
9SOME OLD-TIME CONJURERS.
10THE SECRETS OF SECOND SIGHT.
11THE CONFESSIONS OF AN AMATEUR CONJURER.
12A DAY WITH ALEXANDER THE GREAT.
13A TWENTIETH CENTURY THAUMATURGIST.
14A GENTLEMAN OF THIBET.
15MAGICIANS I HAVE MET.
16THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX.
17TREWEYISM.
18INDEX OF TRICKS AND ILLUSIONS
19The Juggler's Oracle; or, The Whole Art of Legerdemain Laid Open
20The Juggler's Oracle; or, The Whole Art of Legerdemain Laid Open
21THE JUGGLER’S ORACLE.
22LEGERDEMAIN, OR SLEIGHT-OF-HAND,
23TRICKS WITH CARDS.
24CUPS AND BALLS.
25CONVEYANCE OF MONEY, &c.
26TRICKS WITH BOXES, &c.
27EXPERIMENTS WITH FIRE.
28TRICKS WITH STRINGS, KNOTS, &c.
29OPTICAL ILLUSIONS.
30CHEMICAL CHANGES.
31MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS AND EXPERIMENTS.
32The Magician's Own Book, or, the Whole Art of Conjuring
33PREFACE.
34THE YOUNG CONJUROR.
35TRICKS WITH CARDS.
36THE MAGIC OF CHEMISTRY.
37AMUSEMENTS IN ELECTRICITY, GALVANISM AND MAGNETISM.
38THE MAGIC OF PNEUMATICS AND AËROSTATICS.
39TRICKS IN MECHANICS.
40TRICKS IN HYDRAULICS. (pt. 1)
41TRICKS IN HYDRAULICS. (pt. 2)
42TRICKS IN GEOMETRY.
43PRACTICAL PARADOXES AND PUZZLES.
44ANSWERS TO PRACTICAL PUZZLES.
45SECRET WRITING.
46THE MAGIC OF STRENGTH.
47INQUIRE WITHIN
48Parlour Magic
49Parlour Magic
50PREFACE.
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