Anderson, A.: How to Do Sleight of Hand ©1898 Frank Tousey, NY Softcover, stapled, 4.5x6.5", 64 pages

Image courtesy Villanova Digital Library

Comments: Part of the Frank Tousey Ten Cent Hand Books. Number 69. "Containing over fifty of the latest and best Tricks used by Maigicans. Also containing the secret of Second Sight." Some tricks are sutibly explained, some are mere exposures of the general method, and some have very incomplete instructions, such as this one from The Egg and Bag Trick, "Saying this, you break the egg in a saucer with your right hand, and while the people are occupied with it, you drop the bag behind your table, or hang it on a hook out of sight, and take up another exactly like it, into which you have put a hen."

Contents (from digital edition at Villanova):

3 Sleight of Hand: history
5 The Flying Coin: from one handkerchief to anothe
6 Another Method: with a marked coin
6 The Beads and Strings: a version of "grandmother's necklace"
7 To Get a Ring Out of a Handkerchief: using a wire ring
8 The Three Cups: a basic cups and balls routine
9 The Old Man and His Chair: a string tying story
11 The Handcuffs: a simple rope release
12 The Gordian Knot: magician unties a handkerchief knot that the spectator cannot
13 To Pull a String Through Your Button-Hole
13 The Falling Knot: knot vanishes from a silk
14 To Crack Walnuts in Your Elbow: apparently
15 To Put Nuts Into Your Ear: one nut seems to vanish from the mouth to the ear
15 The Knotted Handkerchief: vanishing knots
16 The Sweet Shower: utility bag to produce candy
17 The Erratis Egg: stunt of getting an eggs to move from one Egg Cup to another
18 The Obedient Coin: removing a coin under a glass, must be on a tablecloth
18 The Prisoner Released: stunt to remove a small coin under a larger in a glass
19 Advantageous Wager: comedy wager
19 New Perpetual Rotary Motion: quart cut in a the right form spins a long time on an incline
20 The Miraculous Apple: divide an apple without breaking the skin
21 To Cook an Omelet in a Hat: using fake eggs
21 The Magic Stick: adheres to the palm
23 The Vanishing Dime: using a pull
23 Another Method: another method
24 The Penetrating Pennies: the cap and pence, or cylinder and coins effect described
25 The Doll Trick: head vanishes from a doll
27 The Gold Fish and Ink Trick: bowl of ink to water with fish - brief description
27 The Magic Rings: brief description of the linking rings
28 The Cannon Balls: balls appear under borrowed hats
29 The Coin in the Ball of Cotton: coin vanished to be found in ball
29 The Egg and Bag Trick: seven eggs produced from a bag, and finally a hen
30 The Dancing Egg: using a gimmicked egg
30 The Fire Eater: using saltpetre and tow, seems a bit dangerous
31 The Burned Handkerchief Restored: using a special canister
32 Coffee and Handkerchief Tricks: vase described to exchange handkerchiefs for flowers or coffee, and the handkerchiefs later produced
35 The Magic Bottle: a variety of liquids from the same bottle; a chemical trick
37 The Bottle Trick: a mechanical method
38 To Change a Dime to a Half-Dollar: a sort-of Buddha papers for exchanging coins
40 The Great Gun Trick: catching a bullet in your teeth; don't try this one
40 The Magic Fluids: wine and water mixed and separated, using an apparatus
41 The Fakir's Egg Bag: general description
42 The Watch In the Loaf: using a special box
44 Satisfying But Not Nutritious: magician eats paper and brings out ribbons
45 Destroyed to be Restored: borrowed handkerchief
46 The Watch and Mortar Trick: a borrowed watch is apparently crushed, but restored
46 Smelting in a Nutshell: melting metal using nitre, sulphur and sawdust
47 The Magic Bottle: experiment in which water exchanges with wine
47 The Wine Trick: a puzzle
48 Guessing a Number: an exercise in even and odd number principles
48 The Mysterious Flask: chemical experiment to turn a blue color clear and back
48 The Wizard's Formula: using math to determine who's wearing a ring and on what finger and what joint
49 Dandy Dick's Head Off: a two person illusion

51 Second Sight Explained
51 Robert Heller and Hellerism: introduction
52 The Code Described: using a confederate
53 Number Codes
53 Color Codes
54 What Are the Sets?: how to order the questions
55 Example: a lady's gold watch, serial number, and initials on it, etc.
56 Playing Cards: codes
56 Revealing a Coin
57 Other Examples
59 Appendix and Keys: to page 64