I am curious about the relationship between the "Stewart James Encyclopedia of Rope Magic" and "Abbotts Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks for Magicians", which he also authored, and which has been out in a Dover reprint for years.
Was the Abbotts book just an early revision of the later book? I know it doesn't have nearly as much material in it, was the later book in any way based on it?

The Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks currently being offered in hardcover includes all three volumes published by Abbott's and edited/compiled by Stewart James. The current (three volumes in one) edition was released by Squash Publishing, which purchased the rights from Abbott's to the books.

The Dover reprint is of Volume 1 only, which they took from Abbott's without asking permission. But, since there was no copyright on the Abbott book when it was released in the 1940s, Dover did not break the law in reprinting the book.

Thanks, that clears it up for me.