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
Length80h 46m
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
Length80 hrs 46 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMar 4, 2025
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Old and the New Magic
2The Old and the New Magic
3INTRODUCTION. BY DR. PAUL CARUS.
4HISTORY OF NATURAL MAGIC AND PRESTIDIGITATION.
5THE CHEVALIER PINETTI.
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6CAGLIOSTRO—A STUDY IN CHARLATANISM.
7GHOST-MAKING EXTRAORDINARY.
8THE ROMANCE OF AUTOMATA.
9ROBERT-HOUDIN—CONJURER, AUTHOR AND AMBASSADOR.
10SOME OLD-TIME CONJURERS.
11THE SECRETS OF SECOND SIGHT.
12THE CONFESSIONS OF AN AMATEUR CONJURER.
13A DAY WITH ALEXANDER THE GREAT.
14A TWENTIETH CENTURY THAUMATURGIST.
15A GENTLEMAN OF THIBET.
16MAGICIANS I HAVE MET.
17THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX.
18TREWEYISM.
19INDEX OF TRICKS AND ILLUSIONS
20The Juggler's Oracle; or, The Whole Art of Legerdemain Laid Open
21The Juggler's Oracle; or, The Whole Art of Legerdemain Laid Open
22THE JUGGLER’S ORACLE.
23LEGERDEMAIN, OR SLEIGHT-OF-HAND,
24TRICKS WITH CARDS.
25CUPS AND BALLS.
26CONVEYANCE OF MONEY, &c.
27TRICKS WITH BOXES, &c.
28EXPERIMENTS WITH FIRE.
29TRICKS WITH STRINGS, KNOTS, &c.
30OPTICAL ILLUSIONS.
31CHEMICAL CHANGES.
32MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS AND EXPERIMENTS.
33The Magician's Own Book, or, the Whole Art of Conjuring
34The Magician's Own Book, or, the Whole Art of Conjuring
35PREFACE.
36THE YOUNG CONJUROR.
37TRICKS WITH CARDS.
38THE MAGIC OF CHEMISTRY.
39AMUSEMENTS IN ELECTRICITY, GALVANISM AND MAGNETISM.
40THE MAGIC OF PNEUMATICS AND AËROSTATICS.
41TRICKS IN MECHANICS.
42TRICKS IN HYDRAULICS.
43TRICKS IN GEOMETRY.
44PRACTICAL PARADOXES AND PUZZLES.
45ANSWERS TO PRACTICAL PUZZLES.
46SECRET WRITING.
47THE MAGIC OF STRENGTH.
48INQUIRE WITHIN
49Parlour Magic
50Parlour Magic
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