Gibson, Walter B: Professional Magic for Amateurs ©1947 Prentice Hall Hardcover, 225 pages ©1952 Nicholas Kay Hardcover, 5x7.5", 213 pages ©1974 Dover Publications Softcover, perfect-bound, 223 pages ISBN: 0486230120

Image courtesy eBay seller CosanostraMagic

1952 Nicholas Kay Edition Image courtesy eBay seller MYMagic

Dover Edition Image from Dover Publications

Comments: 50 easy, effective tricks used by professionals — cards, handkerchiefs, mental magic, more. 63 illustrations. More good introductory magic from Walter Gibson.

Contents:

1 Chapter One - Close Up Magic
5 The Automatic Knot: A simple snap of a handkerchief and a genuine knot appears instantly!
7 The Magnetic Mark: Inscribed on the back of the hand, then rubbed away, this mark is found upon the magician's palm.
9 The Twisty Corks: Gripped between thumbs and fingers, two corks are twisted through each other under the very eyes of all observers.
11 The Doubled String: Turning two strings into one is easy, but only for those who know how?as other learn when they try and fail.
14 Pop-Up Match: Needed for a trick, this match obligingly lifts itself from the box in magical fashion.
16 The Rising Cigarette: Mysteriously, a cigarette rises from a pack at the magician's command. Done anywhere, any time, with any pack of cigarettes.
19 The Chameleon Match: Paper matches come with heads of different colors, as this one proves when its head changes from red to blue.
23 Rise-A-String: A candy mint, threaded on a string, is magically removed from the cord while spectators hold the ends.
26 Loop The Loop: A series of baffling maneuvers that visibly cause a ring to drop from a double loop of string.

29 Chapter Two - Simplified Card Tricks
32 Faces Up!: The performer and a spectator each select a card. Replaced in the pack, those cards mysteriously turn face upward.
36 The Wandering Colors: Separating the red cards from the black, the magician transposes two cards and all the rest change colors.
41 The Names Tell: A phenomenal mystery wherein the spectators themselves discover a chosen card through a magical coincidence.
46 Predicted Colors: Gathering pairs of red and black cards from a shuffled pack, a spectator is amazed to discover that the magician knows the result beforehand.
49 Slip-Slap: Take a card, mix the pack faces up and faces down, all come back to normal except the chosen card, which reveals itself face up.
53 The Magic Deal: Wherein a spectator keeps guessing where his card has gone, only to have the magician produce it automatically!

56 Chapter Three - Card-Table Magic
59 The Even Heap: A neat perplexity with a clever twist that makes it a constant baffler.
62 The Card That Finds Itself: Discovering a chosen card which a person has picked and shuffled into the pack before the magician even touches it.
66 The Honest Gambler: In which the magician proves he can deal himself four kings or better!
70 The Triple Climax: A series of surprises beginning with the revelation of a chosen card, only to produce a threeway climax and a sequel.
74 Just One Chance: That's all the magician has, just one chance to discover a selected card?and it is all he needs.

79 Chapter Four - After-Dinner Magic
82 Count the Sugar: A puzzling stunt that works for the performer but perplexes anyone who tries it.
85 Three Tricky Tumblers: Twisty maneuvers with a trio of tumblers that become trickier and trickier as people attempt to duplicate the stunt.
88 Find the Blue: Nifty necromancy with paper napkins - two with a red design, one with blue. Roll them up and find the blue if you ever can!
91 Through the Table: The riddle of the glass that penetrates a solid table, leaving both undamaged.
94 The Match Twister: Here's where the spectators try to fool the magician, but find they never can.
97 String a Ring: A borrowed finger ring arrives magically upon the center of a string, with no clue to the mystery.
100 The Dissolving Coin: Dropped in a glass of water and actually shown there, a coin dissolved itself without a trace.
103 Dime, Wool, and Match Box: A simplified version of one of magic's most astounding close-range mysteries.

106 Chapter Five - Party Magic
109 Homing Colors: Two paper slips bearing messages in red and blue respectively, magically transpose themselves from one glass tube to another.
113 Sticky Water: Gravity is defied by the mysterious bottle which refuses to pour until the magician commands it.
116 The Baffled Farmer: Seven paper balls and two hats form the equipment for this surprising demonstration of what happened to two thieves and five stolen sheep.
121 Sawing Through A Rope: An impossibility with a knotted handkerchief that cuts itself clear of a rope without injuring it.
125 The Weird Tube: A simple tube of paper, shown clear through, captures a quota of water and provides a glass to hold it.
131 The Triple Knots: Three knots, tied on a string, dissolve themselves and are found upon another cord.
135 Double Double: The amazing riddle of the knot that is plucked from a rope and thrown back on it, not just once, but twice.
139 The Tri-Cut Rope: An ordinary rope, cut in three pieces, restores itself to its original condition.
143 The Penetrating Knot: The incredible becomes a reality when a knot jumps from one handkerchief to another through a solid tray.

151 Chapter Six - Mental Magic
154 It's A Date: A surprising divination involving various dates selected from any month of the calendar.
157 The Telltale Card: On a playing card, the wizard writes the name of another card that a person is sure to select no matter what card he takes from the pack!
162 Lucky Number Seven: You just can't be anything but lucky with this baffling stunt that works itself.
165 A State Of Mind: Any state of the union is mentally chosen by a spectator, only to have the magician discover it by mere concentration.
167 Suit Yourself: Random spot cards are taken from a pack; their suits are named, but not their values. Yet the magician gives the total of all the spots on those cards.
171 Mental Telegraphy: A number is chosen between one and twenty-five. Opening a sealed telegram, spectators concentrate on the word found at that number. The magician instantly names the mental word.
177 Color Sense: Wherein the mental wizard demonstrates an unfailing ability at discovering a hidden color, no matter how often the test is repeated.

181 Chapter Seven - Famous Stage Illusions
183 Sawing A Woman In Half: The most famous stage illusion ever produced, that of dividing a girl in two parts without injuring her.
188 Vanishing A Girl And Piano: A double mystery of the young lady who disappears while playing a piano, which also dissolves into the same thin air.
192 The Invisible Flight: Fired from a giant cannon, a girl arrives within a nest of three boxes that are hanging from the dome of the theater.
196 The Bangkok Bungalow: An astonishing illusion with a more astonishing explanation, representing the height of magical ingenuity.
203 Walking Through A Brick Wall: A celebrated and sensational mystery, featured by Houdini as the star attraction at the New York Hippodrome.
208 The Vanishing Automobile: The largest and most rapid disappearance even performed upon any stage.