In my opinion the older books will always contain more of interest...Most of us know what is happening in the modern world, and some are lucky enough to have the chance to go to lectures and conventions to keep up with the times...What is not offered to many is a chance to go back in time...Where magic was far more secretive and more popular (in a way).
In the days of Devant there were few books, but those that were written contained good material which had most likely been in some magicians repertoire...Unlike todays books which are often padded out with impracticle "pipe dreams"...Books such as "Our Magic", "The Modern Conjuror" and "Expert at the Card Table", are in my opinion still essential to my fully understanding magic, they have all furthered my knowledge and therefore my enjoyment of my magic...

On the other hand I still think that it is important for us to read what is new...Even though it is harder to move forward without a knowledge of the past, it is harder for us to move forward without a knowledge of the present...
Owen

In another post on this site, I quoted somebody as saying something like, "When I want to read something new, I pick up an old book."

I like your philosophy about being familiar with the older books and agree that such familiarity is more or less "essential" to a thorough understanding of our art.

I might, however, respectfully suggest that there were indeed many books which existed in Devant's time, though it might be correct to assert that there were relatively fewer books available in Devant's time?

One of the problems with "older" books, is that much of the material was LIFTED from other books of the same period.

Pete, you know more about this than I do, but I wonder if anything has really changed since then...

The nice thing is whenever I pick up a very old book , I mean early 20th century , you see the old school of magic in there , most of the tricks require the help of a hidden assistant back stage , or traps in the stage floor.

There are exceptions. The magic of Karl Germain is just as workable today as when in was done in 1914. Stuart Cramer's work was incredible to document this great performer. I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. Cramer and buy the books directly from him and have them signed. I also just bought the new revised edition.

If you want to see the old magic work, see David Ben. David understood the pychology of Germain and makes it work today. It is a very good show.

As you say Pete, there is indeed a lot of Overlap...But other wise these books are brilliant.

Clay,
Similar to the quote you gave is a quote from John Carney's "The Book of Secrets":
Next time you go to the magic shop...Instead of asking what's new...Try What's old.

I think this is great advise...
I hope to get a copy of the Germain book in the near future, and look forward to reading and possibly learning the magic of this past master... I thoroughly enjoyed the excerts from Genii Magazine last year...
owen

You need to pick up more books! Nothing in The Modern Conjurer by C. Lang Neil requires hidden assistants or stage traps. In fact, very little in the Hoffmann books requires anything more than the performer, himself. There are a few items that use these things, but I would say they amount to less than 10% of the material.

One of the greatest things I find about reading "The Modern Conjuror" (which seems to be quite a commonly mentioned book), is the pictures. Some of the photos are brilliant...Especially those in the chapter about Chapeaugraphy! The routines in these books are all great and I think there is a lot still to be learnt from these old books. Another example is the printing of the two books at the back of "Stanley Collins: Collector, Conjuror, Inconoclast", although these books have not been previously released, they were written a long time ago and the style of the routine and the ruse or method is very particular to that time.
The way books were written in those days is often another amusing thing. For example when reading Proffesor Hoffman's lesser known work "Card Tricks Without Apparatus", he often refers to the motion of making a pass...And the fact that there are several different versions taught in this book. Now we just call it "The Pass"! Whilst on the topic of "The Pass" in this chapter of the previously mentioned Hoffman book, some of the techniques taught seem highly impractacle, with diagrams depicting the moves...One of these diagrams from this book can be seen in John Carney's "Book of Secrets", and it seems like a pretty rediculous position!

Owen

I shall quote this from a particular magic book of my collection.

I dedicate this story of a strange and wondrous man, who has haunted my imagination ever since I was nine years old and picked from the shelves of Whitehaven Public Library a book about him. I noticed the book because it was the most tattered volume on the shelves. The pages were dirty, greasy, and thumb-marked. I borrowed the book reasoning that if so many people had read it there must be something of interest in it... there was.

From Death & The Magician, by Raymund Fitzimons

How very true


Tom

Quoting Bob Marley, "We know where we're going, uh!
We know where we're from."

Looking to the past is essential if you want to understand the course you are taking. To only know the result of magic's evolution is akin to reading a book by starting in the middle.

Quoting Meatloaf, "And objects in the rearview mirror may appear closer than they are."

To live in the past is equally detrimental. One must be aware of the evolutionary process lest one be left behind.

However, forward motion is not always progress, any more than going back all the time, or taking every side track or fork you encounter. A 360 degree perspective is crucial.

Old books, while most assuredly containing forgotten tricks, are more likely to contain the epicenter effects that many modern magic tricks are based upon. Newer books, providing you gain the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff, may contain honest improvements or technological advances.

Modern studies of historical magic can in many cases throw more light upon the subject than the books written during the period in question. To name a few, Cramer's work on Germain, Fechner's work on Houdin, Magic Christian's work on Hofzinser are all important studies for anyone wishing to better understand the magic from those particular times.

Bottom line: Fill your toolbelt from every source you can find.

When I was working on my show, "The Wizard of Edinburgh: Professor Richard Wentworth Barclay", these were exactly the books that I went through looking for material. Now, I can honestly tell you that I'm performing newer versions of these older routines, but I wouldn't even have known what to put in the act were it not for the older volumes. I also utilized the "Programs of Magicians" by J.F. Burroughs at the Learned Pig website. These have been a treasure trove to me.

Rick

I think the Burrows book may be the earliest one to document shows in this kind of format, followed by Holden and then Furst. A nifty resource indeed!

If memory serves, Burrows' book was expanded in the second edition - I'm not sure which edition is on The Learned Pig website.

If anybody knows of any earlier books like the Burrows book (first published circa 1906, I think), please let us know.

Some people will tell you that learning anything is like peeling an onion. That is that you pull way at the outer shells and layers to get to the center. And that core is expected to be the essence of whatever. Others see that as backwards because you learn the latest first and miss the evolution of topic. They value the sequence of change.

I’ve tried teaching both ways in the same semester. One class, I started with current events and went backwards to World War I. In the other section, we started at World War I and came forward. The tools learned were very different. One group finally explained things in terms of because this happened, this also happened, and because of this, this happened. The other group seemed to understand that in many cases nothing new happened very often. The names, dates, and places changed. But they all played the same tune. The students in both groups had the same facts. Only about 10% learned what I had hoped I was teaching. That is that we only have the tools in our inventory that we think we have. Most resources go ignored and never become inputs. Some even become obstacles.

Recognition of resources is what gives us alternatives for decisions. “The answer” can become very crippling. It can put permanent limits on our future alternatives. Therefore, if we really wanted to make informed decisions, our efforts would be invested in learning the alternatives.

But then reality sets in. Time researching for alternatives robs us of time to rehearse. Magic is a very unique field of endeavor. In many fields just knowing what could have been done and how it is done is something we share with those served. In magic, the results are expected without any explanation.

Failure to get the result is total and immediate failure. There is no second try for that audience. The bird simply did not vanish. It would have taken a magician to do that. Obviously we needed a magician that was not here. Think of it as a fire tuck at the wrong house. There is no recovery but there is salvage. That is another major use for the inventory of alternatives. Research time is limited. Opportunities abound! (The Amazed Wiz did not pick up the handle from Plan A being perfect! Plan B has to be amazing. Both come from alternatives. The audience may not know one from the other.)

Something I have not seen defended is finding authors who best get things into terms useful to you. Being the inventor is commendable. Transferring the skill to you is imperative. Often those are two entirely different skills.

For a couple years I played guitar for a studio professional named Felton Jarvis from Tupelo, Mississippi. Our managers put us together in Atlanta for Paramount. A few people knew Felton as a performer and recording artist. Not enough knew him at RCA Records where his real talent was matching recording artists with material. There are many of us who firmly believe that he was absolutely the real secret behind Elvis Presley. Felton’s inventory of resources was astonishing. He would also carefully teach the material to the musicians and vocalists who perhaps never knew Felton could not play. Felton could see sheet music and hear. That was talent beyond belief. With Felton creating million sellers were just another day at the office. When you asked Felton what he did for a living, he would tell you he spent his time in airplanes and restaurants. (At least he didn’t admit how many skating rinks we played in the beginning.)

If your show is your bread and butter, finding your interpreter is key to better use of your time. If you are lucky, that might be you. If you are like many others, search like your life depended on it. Read, watch, listen, and scheme. Build alternatives. Most of all, build a personal filing and recall system that works for you. That may mean hiring someone else. Pros do that. There is no stigma attached. The biggest name dove magician from the movies was the coached output of many other professionals. Even if you only do magic for relatives’ birthdays or your church, you probably have more personal appearances behind you than he does. Don’t sell yourself short.

Do the best sources come from old or new authors? They can only come from the ones you study. Which communicates best with you? Old books become old books with time. My autographed books by Bobo, Slydini, Harold Rice, Garcia, etc., I bought when they were new books. Yes, I like them best because I know them best. Rarely do I see a trick or routine I can’t trace back to them. Do I still buy new books? You bet! This is my 43rd year in magic. And people tell me I am middle-aged. Monday night I learned that John Calvert is too. He is ninety-three. We have things to do!

The last two lectures I attended in the last few weeks were Aldo Colombini and John Calvert. I learned something new from both. Aldo taught me something about slipknots I should have been using for years. John Calvert taught me something about having crossed hands tied from behind that I never understood from books. That makes it new magic to me!

I agree with Michael Baker. Load your tool belt!

Bob
The Amazed Wiz
Magic by Sander

Here is something else to think about when looking at the older books. Before the advent of desktop publishing, producing a book was a far more complex matter than it is now. First, the author wrote a manuscript, then he submitted it to a publisher, who had an editor work on it. Then the editor returned it to the author as "galley proofs." The author looked at these proofs, checked for errors, and returned them to the editor and publisher. The editor re-read everything, had it looked over by a PROFESSIONAL proofreader, and then it was finally published. The people who did the layout and the graphics were professionals. They understood their art from a standpoint of doing it day in and day out. And the publishers were generally better informed about what was correct and what wasn't in their field of expertise.

Today, anyone with a computer can publish a book. There are dozens of print houses out there who are willing to run off a run of as few as 100 copies or as many as you want.

And if you consider all of the e-books that you can download from the internet -- these have no "filters" at all.

Great point Bill. As you point out, desktop publishing allows all of us to publish despite little experience - and for a relatively small outlay.

Fortunately, as with everything in life I guess, despite the "negative" of a sometimes less-than-polished product, there is a positive: there is some wonderful (and accurate) information out there that may never have seen the printed page were it not for desktop publishing.

There are not so many old tomes in our list of classics. From Discoverie and Hocus Pocus jr, to the Robert-Houdin book, to Our Magic, The Modern Conjurer, Greater Magic, Art of Magic..., in all about six months spare time reading for us adults, and a few weeks work for students.

Now we come to the BIG question:

How to become the modern conjurer and bring the clever niceties of Hofzinser and Germaine to the Hip-Hop crowd?

There lies the challenge. How to establish rapport with the yahoos and pace the ADD addled so we can share our history and stories with todays audiences.

As Bill posted above, but this time in sharp prose: Reading is fundamental and writing is a more advanced topic. It helps to be able to read the classics before attempting to write one, as all writings are held up to the standards set by the classics.

Jonathan makes some good points. But, even assuming that all of the "classics" could be identified and that there may be some who could read every word in them in six months or even two weeks, let me be the first to concede that I couldn't possibly digest (i.e., "read for understanding," which itself I would argue is just as difficult as writing with clarity) all that has been written in those books in such a time period. IMHO, I believe that takes years, decades - even a lifetime - not months or weeks.

That's not to detract in any way from the message I draw from Jonathan's post: pay attention to your heritage and be conscious of it, because it's gonna be a part of how and what you perform regardless of whether or not you understand it.

I acquired some video demonstrating several props from the great magicians and WOW, some of the props, though obviously mechanical were just simply amazing. There is not a lot today that even compares.

Clifford, it is likely those on the video were the inventors. Such people are rare to begin with and not very well treated by this community. Robert Harbin wrote a book about how to build his illusions. Did Del Ray leave this community with such a legacy? Did Fred Kaps leave us a book on how to perform? Did Slydini leave us any thoughts on how to find one's personal style? Did Peter Kane leave us any notes about how to develop a nice card trick? Nope, and we're still waiting for the latest reconstructions of Hofzinser's works. As mentioned above, Karl Germain's known tricks are still workable.

So when you see those old film clips, please remember that those guys were about as few and far between back then as they are today. And today... there is much less motivation to share.