Minch, Stephen: The Vernon Chronicles Volume 2: More Lost Inner Secrets ©1988 L&L Publishing and Bruce Cervon. Hardcover, 245 pages

Image from Bryan-Keith Taylor

Comments: (Omar Domenech): Illustrations and cover design by Tom Gagnon. This is the second volume of Dai Vernon's magic culled from Bruce Cervon's legendary "Castle Notebooks". Unlike the previous volume, this one is composed almost entirely of effects. Any tips on technique found in this volume are taught as part of effects rather than having their own section as in the previous book. Like the previous volume and the one that followed, this book is filled with candid photographs of The Professor at work and play.

This book is divided into eight chapters, each containing effects that conform to a particular theme. The first chapter deals with card effects that revolve around finding a selected card. The second chapter revolves around tricks in which the final effect varies depending on choices made by the spectator. The third chapter is dedicated to effects that do not involve playing cards. Chapter four is devoted to card transposition effects. Chapter five involves card tricks that make use of counting or numbers. Chapter six involves effects that can't easily be placed in other categories. Chapter seven presents tricks which involve decks that have been prepared in some way. Chapter eight presents previously unpublished effects by some of the magicians Vernon admired.


Contents:

Foreword - Bill Larsen
Introduction - Bruce Cervon
Author's Introduction - Stephen Minch
Vernonana Portfolio - Robin Young

1 Chapter One: Lost and Found Department
1 The Challenge Locations:
1 The Bridge
4 The Dual Crimp
8 The Scrape
10 The Wallet Punch
14 Dual to the Death
18 By Any Other Name
20 The Slap Trick

27 Chapter Two: The Garden of Forking Paths
27 Aces to Order
32 Out of Sight and Mind II
41 Four Options
44 Two-Six-Four Royale

49 Chapter Three: From Silks to Nuts
49 The Tale of the Treasury-Worm
55 The Daivergent Silk
71 The Twirl Link
73 The Threadborne Link
80 The Peripatetic Walnuts

89 Chapter Four: Formal Exchanges
89 The Trick that Cannot be Reconstructed
94 The Loving Couple
98 Al 'n' Dai at the Hop
103 A Reblocking of "The Jumping Jack"
109 Out of Uniform

119 Chapter Five: Card Ciphers
119 The Rendezvous Force
122 Why am I Here?
127 Frisbie Saunders' Location by the Numbers
131 Affinities
134 Packet Calculator

145 Chapter Six: Singular Events
145 The Intelligent Leaper
150 Driven to the Depths
155 The Corsican Climbers
158 Punched in the Face
164 Out of Touch
166 Sans Index
169 Vernon on Edward G. Brown's "Poker Hand Mystery"
173 Aces by Proxy
180 The Third Color
182 Tour Through the Outback
186 The Top-Stock Riffle Reverse
188 Larry Jennings' Eidetic
192 Commanding the Colors
195 It Stands Alone
199 The Silhouette Change
202 A Face in the Night

207 Chapter Seven: Sorted Affairs
207 A Sticky Solution
210 It's a Snap
212 Vernon on Gilbreath
215 Nerves on Edge

219 Chapter Eight: New Wine from Old Bottles
219 Max Malini's Hypnotic Gaze Divination
221 Nate Leipzig's Two-Deck Transposition
224 Leipzig on the Collins Ace Trick
229 Henry Christ's Vanish for the Collins Ace Trick
235 Henry Christ's Spell Detector
242 The Christ Ace Trick

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