Preston, Paul (editor): The Fireside Magician ©1879 Dick & Fitzgerald, Publishers, NY Hardcover, 132 pages plus ads

Image courtesy eBay seller Imagi-Inc

Comments: "or the Art of Natural Magic Made Easy. Being a Familiar and scientific explanation of legerdemain, physical amusement recreative chemistry, diversions with cards, and of all the minor mysteries of mechanical magic, with feats. As performed in public by Herr Alexander, Robert-Houdin, The Wizard of the North, and Distinguished Conjurors of all ages and Nations. Comprising over one thousand interesting mental and physical recreations, with expanatory engravings."

Contents (from book):

3 Publisher's Announcement
5 Preliminary Instruction

7 Minor Tricks for Social Company

7 Section First Arithmetical Ingenuities
7 How to Divine the Numbers Remaining in a Sum Which Some Person Has Thought Of
7 How to Find 6 Times 18 in 12
7 A Comic Dilemma
8 Singluar Addition, or How to set Down the Total of a Sum Withoug Putting Down a Cipher
9 The Dishonest Servant
9 An Embarrassing Question
10 Pleasant Subtraction
10 The Sevens are Trumps
11 The Twenty Cards
11 A Numerical Trick of Cards
12 To Guess In Which Hand, Holding Counters, Can be Found the Odd or Even Number
12 Table of Permutation
13 A Pleasantry in Trading
13 Gold In One Hand, Silver in Another, in Which Hand is Either to be Found?
13 Curious Properties of the Numbers 37 and 73
14 Two Dice Thrown on a Table, to Guess Their Points Without Seeing Them
14 Piquet on Horseback
15 Three Dice Thrown Upon a Table and Ranged in Order to Guess the Points Upon Each
15 A Sum Divided By Two, and Nothing Remains
15 A Simple and Pleasing Card Trick
16 Challenge as to Who Shall Count 31 First With a Single Dice, and to Be Sure to Win
16 The Trick With Counters
17 A Person Having So Many Counters in One Hand and So Many in Another, to Guess How Many He Has in Both

18 The Rudiments of White Magic
18 To Make Liquid Steel: chemical reaction
18 The Landlady and Her Guest: card trick
18 To Change the Color of a Bird or Flower: chemical trick
19 Magic Pictures Alternately Representing Summern and Winter: chemical magic
19 To Split a Piece From Off a Coin: with sulphur
19 The Magic Flask: chemical magic
20 A Piece of Coin Upon a Plate to Appear Like Two - One Larger Than Another: optical illusion
20 The Magical Portrait: picture vanishes under heat
20 Magic Writing Upon Glass: chemical trick
20 A Changeable Rose: chemical magic
21 A Self-Acting Pump: science stunt
21 Self-Turning Cross: drop of water makes a cross turn
21 The Sign of the Cross: cross appears in the hand
21 To Take Away Any Middle Object Without Touching It: gag
21 Candles Extinguished and Lighted by Pistol Shots: science trick
21 A Shot at Long Range: trick shot
22 A Trick Upon Ladies: mental trick
22 Columbus Outdone: make an egg stand on end
22 Incombustable Paper: chemical trick
22 To Change a Knife Blade from Steel to Copper: chemical trick
22 The Faces on the Wall: comedy chemical trick
23 A Leaky Vessel: comedy bottle
23 The Magic Bouquets: color changing artificial flowers
23 Sympathetic Inks: chemical magic
23 How to Eat a Candle End: they burn yet you can eat them
23 A Amusing Pleasantry: physical stunt
24 The Inexplicable Foundry: lead melts but paper does not burn
24 A Liquid Which Shines in the Dark: using phosphorous
24 How to Turn Over a Glass Filled With Any Liquid Without Letting Any of it Run Out: science trick
24 How Contraries Can be Mingled: wax and salt
25 A Chamber of Horrors: burning chemical makes spectator's face look green
25 A Modern Miracle: water and wine exchange science trick
25 The Four Elements - Earth, Water, Fire, Air: substances representing each are placed into a test tube and mixed, and settle in the four elements represented
26 Rings and Double Ribbons - A Japanese Trick: rings removed from two ribbons
26 Lightning Without Thunder or Rain: a somewhat dangerous chemical trick
26 A Man Always Upright: a wobble doll
26 The Magic Oracle: answers to questions mysteriously appear on blank papers - using Sympathetic Ink
27 To Pour Wine and Water Into the Same Glass Without Their Mixing: science trick
27 To Shoot a Small Bird and Bring It To Life Again: using mercury
27 To Take a Shirt From One's Back Withotu Undressing: stunt
27 The Pocket Letter-Writer: using gold sympathetic ink
28 Class Cutting By Fire and Water: with sulphur
28 To Break a Stick Placed Upon Two Glasses Filled With Water Without Breaking Them or Spilling the Water
28 To Raise a Bottle Full or Empty By a Straw
28 To Make a Lighted Candle Stay in Water: with lead
28 To Divide Eight Pints of Wine Among Three Vases Containing Eight, Five, and Three Pints: puzzle
29 To Balance a Stick In Perpetual Equilibrium: science trick
29 A Treacherous Balance: science trick
29 An Inextinguishable Lamp: lamp can't be tilted
29 To Change Colors of Liquids in a Number of Vases: chemical magic
30 To Cause Worms to Appear in a Bottle After Having Placed
30 The Living Stone: chemical trick
30 To Imitate Birds: bird call using a leek leaf
30 The Tree of Mars: visual chemical trick
31 To Make Flowers Bloom in Winter: a science experiment
31 Inflammable Ice: chemical trick
31 The Magic Coffer: flowers change to birds
32 To Change the Color of a Liquid in a Glass Several Different Times: chemical trick
32 To Put a String Into the Fire Without Burning It: science trick
32 To Cut an Apple Into Quarters Without Damaging the Peel: with needle & thread
32 To Pierce a Plank With the End of a Candle: using a gun
32 To Make Ice in Summer: chemical trick
32 To Make a Liquid Boil Without Fire: chemical magic
33 The Blasing Bottle of Wine: fireworks from a bottle with gimmicked table
33 To Burn Liquid on Your Hand Harmlessly: chemical trick
33 To Make a Colored Liquid From Two Colorless Ones: chemical trick
33 The Tree of Diana: a chemical mixture with mercury makes a visual display
33 To Make a Penknife Come Out of a Goblet: a knife springs out of a cup - clever!
34 An After-Dinner Feat: bet to drink wine without touching glass with your hands
34 To Take a Dollar Piece Out of a Vase of Water Without Wetting Your Hands: using licopodium
34 To Change a Watch Into a Buck's Tail: a simple switch
34 The Dancing Egg: using invisible threat
35 To Cook an Omelette in a Hat: trick
35 The Magic Snuff-Box: coin penetrates a snuff-box
35 A Self-Working Turnspit: science experiment
35 An Explosive Bottle: using iron filings and oil of vitriol
36 A Card Torn and Mended: using a gimmicked snuff-box
36 A Novel Card Press: selected card becomes imprinted on a handkerchief
36 Sportsman and Cook: shooting a bird to remove the feathers
37 The Charmed Bullet: shooting at a man without harm
37 The Faithful Bird: a bird is shot at with a gun loaded with a spectator's ring and it is found on a ribbon around the bird's neck

38 Legerdemain and Jugglery
38 General Observations

38 Jugglery with Cups and Balls
39 How to Smuggle the Joker: handling the ball
41 General Instructions
41 To Place a Ball Under Each Cupl land Withdraw Them With a Single Ball
42 To Pass a Ball Through Each of the Cups, and To Draw It from the Same
43 To Withdraw a Ball Through Two or Three Cups
43 To Pass the Same Ball From Cup to Cup
43 The Cups Being Covered to Cause a Ball to Pas From One to the Other Without Raising Them
44 To Pass a Ball Through the Table and Two Cups
44 To Withdraw the Ball From One Cup and Cause It To Pass Through Two Others With the Same Ball
44 Interlude - With the Same Ball and a 25 Cent Piece
45 To Pass Under One Cup the Two Balls Put Under Others
45 Two Balls Placed Under Two Cups to Cause Them to Pass Beneath Two Others
45 To Pass Three Balls Beneath the Same Cup
46 To Pass Two Balls From One Cup to Another Without Touching Anyk of the Cups
46 To Pass Beneath One Cup the Balls Placed Beneath the Other
47 Multiplication of Balls
47 To Pass a Ball Under Each of the Cups
48 To Withdraw Two Balls Across the Same Cup
48 To Pass a Ball Successively Through Three Cups
48 To Pass Beneath One Cup the Balls Placed Beneath Two Others Without Raising These Last
49 To Pass Separately the Three Balls Across Each Cup
49 Placing the Balls In the Bag, to Refind Them Under The Cups
49 To Pass The Balls Across Two Cups
50 To Withdraw Three Balls Out of Two Cups
50 To Pass Three Balls Simultaneously Across a Cup
50 To Pass The Three Balls of One Cup Into Another
51 To Change the Color of the Balls
51 To Change the Balls As to Size
52 To Pass Larger Sized Balls From One Cup to Another
52 To Pretend to Draw a Ball From the End of the Rod
53 To Make a Ball Disappear
54 To Find a Ball Beneath a Cup Where There Was Nothing Before
55 To Cause a Person to Believe There is Not a Ball Beneath a Cup Where There Are Several
55 To Pass One Cup Into Another
56 How to Make Balls Beneath a Cup Disappear Without Touching Them
57 To Find a Large Ball Beneath a Cup
58 To Lead a Person to Believe There is Nothing Beneath the Cups, When there are Large Balls Beneath Them
58 Change of Large Balls Into Sponges, Wigs and Nightcaps

59 Tricks of Simple Jugglery
59 The Sack of Eggs: brief description of an egg bag
59 A Handkerchief, Marked, Cut, Torn and Mended
60 A Watch Pulverized in a Mortar
61 A Patent Egg-Box: the ball vase for eggs described
61 To Cut Off a Chicken's Head Without Killing It
62 To Pierce an Arm With a Knife Without Doing Any Injury: gimmicked knife
63 The Convenient Funnel: a comedy funnel
63 Another Experiment with the Funnel
64 The Awl Which Does No Harm: blade goes into handle
64 A Two-Shilling Piece Changed Into a Two-Cent One and Vice Versa: with a gimmicked coin
65 The Magic Boxes: borrowed ring is vanished and found in a next of boxes
66 The Grain Box: construction described
67 Another Explanation of the Same Feat
68 How to Make a Ring Change From a Hand, and to Cause it to Go Upon Any Finger of an Opposite Hand
68 So That a Person Cannot Alter the Place of a Glass Filled With Water Without Spilling It: gag
69 The Devil's Ducats: an early cylinder and coins
70 How to Undo a Double Knot Without Touching It: with a silk
71 A Palpable Hit Agains the Door: comedy bit

73 Diversions With Playing Cards

73 Particular Principles
73 To Jump the Cut With Two Hands
75 To Jump the Cut With a Single Hand
76 False Shuffles Can be Divided Into Four Varieties
77 To Smuggle a Card
78 To Slip a Card
80 To Carry Away a Card
80 To Place a Card
81 To Tell In Advance a Card Selected by Any One: using a key card
81 To Cause A Card To Be Drawn By Chance And Mixed With The Others By One Of The Company, And To Cause It To Be Found, Either At The Top Or In The Middle Of The Pack, As The Audience May Desire
83 To Cause A Card To Be Drawn By Chance, And After Having Divided The Pack Into Four Packages, To Cause It To Be Invariably Found In That One Selected Freely By The Audience
84 To Foresee The Thought Of A Person In Placing, In Advance, Into The Pack A Card Chosen By Chance, In The Rank And Order Which That Person May Designate Afterwards
85 To Cause A Card To Be Drawn And Mixed With The Others, And After Showing That It Is Neither At The Top Nor The Bottom, To Cause It To Remain Alone In The Left Hand, While The Others Fall To The Ground From A Blow Of The Right Hand
86 To Find Four Kings In The Middle Of The Pack, After Having Placed Them In Separate Places
87 The Danger of Gambling With a Magician
88 To Guess a Card Thought Of
90 To Change a King of Hearts Into an Ace of Spades And Change them Back Again
90 To Name a Card a Person Draws From the Pack: using a long card
90 To Find in a Pack of Cards or Through a Handkerchief, Any Card Drawn from the Pack
91 To Find In A Pack Placed In A Pocket, Several Cards Different Person's Have Drawn Freely
91 The Chameleon Card
92 Another Way to Do This Recreation Without Employing the Long Card
92 To Cause To Be Drawn Cards By Several Persons, Who Place Them Themselves In The Pack, And Refind The Cards Which They Had Drawn
93 To Guess Many Cards Which Two Persons Have Taken From the Pack
93 After Having Made Three Piles Of A Pack From Which A Card Has Been Drawn, To Cause It To Be Found In That Of The Others, As May Be Desired
93 A Card Thought Of By Number
94 To Guess the Spots of Cards Beneath Three Files Made By Any One
94 The Card in a Ring
95 To Cause to Appear in a Lunette, or Spy-Glass, Many Cards Drawn From a Pack
95 To Find On The Point Of A Sword, With The Eyes Blind Folded, A Card Drawn From The Pack
96 A Card Changing Beneath Your Fingers
96 To Reproduce a Burned Card in a Watch
97 To Make a Mouse or Other Object Come Out of a Pack of Cards
97 To Guess a Card Thought of By Some Person, Through Writing Some Number in Advance
98 To Change a Card in the Hand of a Person While Rcommending Him to Cover It Well
99 To Make a Card Pass From One Hand to Another

101 The Apprentice in White Magic
101 A Dancing Coin: in a glass
102 The Invisible Piece: a coin vanish
102 The Magic Handkerchief: another coin vanish
103 The Knife in the Decanter: physical stunt
104 Blind Man's Bluff at Dominoes
105 A Coin Melting In Your Hands: another coin vanish
106 A Dollar Coin in a Wine Glass: blowing a coin out
107 Dominoes Seen and Counted in Spite of Obstacles: another domino trick
108 A Glass of Wine Changed Into a Shower of Rose Leaves
109 The Land Mark or Ten Pin: a block covered by a paper cone vanishes
110 An Improvement Upon Heads or Tails: variation on above
110 The Extremes: magician determines end domino values
111 A Marvelous Excuse for Awkwardness: balls transpose from under one plate to another
112 The Coffee-Cups: the above trick done with cups
113 Backgammon Out of Date: faces of a pair of dice change

116 Electrical Diversions: experiments with electricity
116 To Attract a Light Body Floating Upon Water
117 Luminous Rain: constructing a copper filing rain shower
117 The Electrical Dance: paper figures dance between two metal plates
118 The Electric Chimes: bell ringing
119 Electrical Race Course: miniature pasteboard horses race on a platform
120 To Inflame Spirits of Wine By an Electric Spark: cause flames with your finger
120 Luminous Water Jet: electrified water stream
120 To Draw Fire From All Parts of a Person's Body: a human conductor
121 A Stunning Door Knocker: shocking a person with a doorknob
122 The Electrical Spider: a cork spider moves about between two posts
122 To Extract Fire From Water in a Glass Vase: creating a spark or shock from water
123 Sporting By Electricity: an electrified figure appears to shoot a metal bird
124 Luminous Bouquet: electricity lights up a painted bouquet
124 Electrical Cascade: creating a cascade of liquid fire with mercury
125 Pocket Electicity: a small static electricity machine
125 House on Fire: making a small house look like it's on fire

127 Table of Contents: To page 132

133 Dick & Fitzgerald Publishers: Catalog to page 174