Sleight-of-hand magic has consistently earned the respect of professional magicians. If you are yet an amateur, this easy-to-follow manual--together with regular practice--is the surest route to professional-level competence. All the test, traditional methods of coin magic are here. You can learn about palms, holds, flips, switches, change-over, cuffing, sleeving, and other techniques.
Professor Louis Hoffmann was born as Angelo John Lewis in London, England on 23 July 1839. He studied law at Oxford University and became a barrister in London.
During the early 1860s he learned magic from a book and became an amateur magician.
In 1876, under the pen name Professor Hoffman, he published Modern Magic to educate the public in how to become a magician, including how to perform sleight of hand tricks, as well as how to dress.
Although Lewis is primarily known for his non-fiction works, especially those on magic, he also wrote a significant amount of fiction.
I read half of this, and finished off the rest on DVD. The DVD is better because you can visualize what is happening. Overall a comprehensive introduction, and I've already befuddled some friends.
This is one of those books that should be on the shelf of any magician, regardless of if they do coin magic normally or not. It is THE reference book to coin magic.
This book is great for beginning to advanced coin magicians, and includes all the fundamental slights, passes, and vanishes you need in order to put together a routine. It also includes routines of it's own, along with the structure of a script for each one. I really enjoyed this book, although I struggle to put in the time needed on some of the slights for one small trick, especially when it seems like I will never get it or never need to use it.
Good material for those interested in coin magic, but a tough slog reading. The book would benefit immensely from an update to modern language usage and additional illustrations. Each trick required a half-dozen read-throughs to figure out the instructions. A few remained indecipherable. I ended up purchasing the DVD set to help with the material.
With the videos and online instruction currently available, I fear this book is destined for the out of print category.
The #1 book on learning coin magic. In fact, it is the book I would recommend above all others to give a beginning magician the tools he needs to become proficient in coin magic.