Magic: Stage illusions, special effects, and trick photography

by Albert Allis Hopkins

Standard work on classic stage illusions performed by Robert-Houdin, Bautier de Kolta, Maskelyne and others. Detailed descriptions of techniques of fire eaters, sword swallowers, jugglers, acrobats, etc. Also ancient magic, automatons, magic photography, much more. Over 400 exceptional illustrations. Introduction. Bibliography.

Genres: Magic, Nonfiction

556 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1897

Reviews

[Ryan Jones]

easy read but kind of drags to the end.

[Douglas Summers-Stay]

This is a great book, published around 1900 and detailing the workings of all kinds of big stage magic tricks. The author is especially fascinated by gadgetry, so there are detailed descriptions of how all kinds of machines built for illusions work. Nearly every page has an etching, showing ghostly apparitions, cutaway stagecraft, people eating while balanced on their heads, horses on treadmills, lightning duels, and on and on, all in a straightforward fashion. One fascinating aspect of the book is that you can see clearly how all of this would evolve in very short order into movie special effects-- literally movie magic.