Maskelyne's Book of Magic

Maskelyne's Book of Magic PDF Author: Jasper Maskelyne
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486154262
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
A charming glimpse of stage magic in the early twentieth century, this engaging manual's time-honored tricks range from sleight of hand with coins, cards, and rope to thought-reading and juggling. Written by a famous magician, its tried-and-true feats and performance tips are illustrated by sixty figures and thirteen vintage photographs. A British stage magician of the 1930s and '40s, Jasper Maskelyne was a third-generation performer in a well-known family of illusionists. During World War II, Maskelyne assembled a squad known as the “Magic Gang” to misdirect Axis bombers and camouflage the activities of the Allied forces with illusions of tanks, battleships, and armies. This new edition of his captivating classic features an introduction by magic historian and author Edwin A. Dawes that recounts Maskelyne's larger-than-life career and exploits.

Maskelyne's Book of Magic

Maskelyne's Book of Magic PDF Author: Jasper Maskelyne
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486154262
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Get Book

Book Description
A charming glimpse of stage magic in the early twentieth century, this engaging manual's time-honored tricks range from sleight of hand with coins, cards, and rope to thought-reading and juggling. Written by a famous magician, its tried-and-true feats and performance tips are illustrated by sixty figures and thirteen vintage photographs. A British stage magician of the 1930s and '40s, Jasper Maskelyne was a third-generation performer in a well-known family of illusionists. During World War II, Maskelyne assembled a squad known as the “Magic Gang” to misdirect Axis bombers and camouflage the activities of the Allied forces with illusions of tanks, battleships, and armies. This new edition of his captivating classic features an introduction by magic historian and author Edwin A. Dawes that recounts Maskelyne's larger-than-life career and exploits.

Our Magic

Our Magic PDF Author: Nevil Maskelyne
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781724875426
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 504

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Book Description
Books like this contain what may be called the raw material of the art, the processes which the magician can employ at will in building up his larger experiments in magic, each of which should be a complete play in itself. Then, when the student has found out how tricks can be done, he would do well to turn his attention to Our Magic, by Mr. Maskelyne and his associate, Mr. David Devant. And from this logical treatise he can learn how experiments in magic ought to be composed. It is from this admirable discussion of the basic principles of modern magic that more than one of the points made in this paper have been borrowed. Mr. Devant calls attention to the fact that new tricks are common, new manipulative devices, new examples of dexterity and new applications of science, whereas new plots, new ideas for effective presentation, are rare. He describes a series of experiments of his own, some of which utilize again but in a novel manner devices long familiar, while others are new both in idea and in many of the subsidiary methods of execution. One of the most hackneyed and yet one of the most effective illusions in the repertory of the conjurer is that known as the Rising Cards. The performer brings forward a pack of cards, several of which are drawn by members of the audience and returned to the pack, whereupon at the command of the magician they rise out of the pack one after the other in the order in which they were drawn. In the oldest form in which this illusion is described in the books on the art, the pack is placed in a case supported by a rod standing on a base, and the secret of the trick lies on this rod and its base. The rod is really a hollow tube and the base is really an empty box. The tube is filled with sand, on the top of which rests a leaden weight, to which is attached a thread so arranged over and under certain cards as to cause the chosen cards to rise when it descends down the tube; and in putting the cards into the case the conjurer released a valve at the bottom of the tube, so that the sand might escape into the box, whereby the weight was lowered, the thread then doing its allotted work, and the cards ascending into view, no matter how far distant the performer might then be standing. It seems likely that the invention of this primitive apparatus may have been due to the fact that some eighteenth century conjurer happened to observe the sand running out of an hour-glass and set about to find some means whereby this escape of sand could be utilized in his art. The hollow rod, the escaping sand, and the descending weight have long since been discarded; but the illusion of the Rising Cards survives and is now performed in an unending variety of ways. The pack may be held in the hand of the performer, without the use of any case, or it may be placed in a glass goblet, or it may be tied together with a ribbon and thus suspended from cords that swing to and from almost over the heads of the spectators; and however they may be isolated the chosen cards rise obediently when they are bidden. The original effect subsists, even though the devices differ.... The Bookman: A Review of Books and Life, Volume 40

The War Magician

The War Magician PDF Author: David Fisher
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 431

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Book Description
Based on an extraordinary true story and soon to be a major film produced by and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, The War Magician is the remarkable tale of the man who used the powers of illusion to fight the Nazis—and created the most remarkable feat of legerdemain since the Trojan Horse. How an Illusionist Changed the Course of World War II When England went to war against Hitler in 1939, it mobilized its entire military and industrial resources. But there was no place in that vast army for legendary stage magician Jasper Maskelyne, whose family was renowned for creating modern theatrical illusions. Maskelyne was determined to fight the Nazis using his only weapon: he intended to apply the techniques of popular magic to the battlefield. Initially ignored and ridiculed by the staid military leadership, he eventually cajoled his way into the Camouflage Section and was sent to the western desert, where he created a new type of warfare. With his small group of artists, the Magic Gang, Maskelyne designed and developed ingenious weapons, then tricked the Desert Fox, General Rommel, and his fabled Afrika Korps into believing there were tanks and battleships where there were none, concealed the Suez Canal, and even successfully “moved” Alexandria harbor. But it required all his skills to pull off perhaps the largest and most complex magic trick in history. As General Bernard Montgomery told Maskelyne on the eve of the Battle of El Alamein, “The entire war will turn on what happens here. What I am about to ask you to do is impossible. It can’t be done, but it must be done. I hope you’ve brought your magic wand with you.” This is the fact-based story of the illusion that won the war in the desert.

White Magic

White Magic PDF Author: Maskelyne Jasper
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780243835461
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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White Magic: The Story of Maskelynes

White Magic: The Story of Maskelynes PDF Author: Jasper Maskelyne
Publisher: Legare Street Press
ISBN: 9781015628946
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The Art of Magic

The Art of Magic PDF Author: Thomas Nelson Downs
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Magic tricks
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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White Magic

White Magic PDF Author: Jasper Maskelyne
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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White Magic

White Magic PDF Author: Jasper Maskelyne
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781440036187
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Excerpt from White Magic: The Story of Maskelynes What is magic? - The Black Arts and the White - A farming family goes to the Devil! - Did Nevil Maskelyne practise witchcraft? - The Maskelyne tradition - "J.N." becomes a watchmaker - Friendship with Cooke - Attending spiritualistic seances - Advent of the Davenports. There are a number of answers to the question "What is magic?." Doubtless some of my readers who have played faro or highball poker with strangers can give one definition. Victims of the three-card trick or the manipulated dice have their own ideas. People who, in these enlightened times, still openly believe in ghosts, spirit manifestations, and wart-charming, can explain yet another form of magic, though they cannot explain it away. For myself, I believe in only one sort of mystification, and that is White Magic. I grant a respectful reservation towards the Black Arts, not because I can practise them myself, but as the result of some rather eerie experiences which I shall detail later. In the main, however, this book, being a history of the Magic House of Maskelyne, deals with the gentle art of illusion only, and the adventures that have befallen three generations of us who have made a living by deluding the public. Other wizards - the share-pushers and gold-brick sellers of our times - have perhaps been even more financially successful, and had more exciting lives. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Maskelyne on the Performance of Magic

Maskelyne on the Performance of Magic PDF Author: Nevil Maskelyne
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780486232386
Category : Magic tricks
Languages : en
Pages : 151

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The Illustrated History of Magic

The Illustrated History of Magic PDF Author: Milbourne Christopher
Publisher: Running PressBook Pub
ISBN: 9780786716883
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 514

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Book Description
Follow the fascinating stories of the world's greatest necromancers, from sorcerer-priests in ancient Egypt to such modern miracle workers as Houdini and David Copperfield.