For just $35 for a digital subscription to Genii (or $58 for paper and digital), this month you’ll learn who S.W. Erdnase really was, be able to make a reservation at The Magic Castle, and read every back issue of Genii and MAGIC magazines. All at www.geniimagazine.com
The Expert at the Card Table has been widely acclaimed by the geniuses in our field as the finest book on sleight of hand with cards ever written. Yet we don’t know who wrote it … but now we have a good deal of evidence that the man on our cover this month is the author, the elusive “S.W. Erdnase.” For those who aren’t aware of the hubbub surrounding the true identity of “E.S. Andrews,” Dr. Richard Evans’s article will give you a lot of the story and then some.
“Artifices” is a failure—a “Push-Through Failure,” that is; so says Roberto Mansilla.
This month Rafael Benatar’s “Thoughts” are those of Howard Hamburg; let the stories commence!
Take David Kaye’s Ethics Exam this month in “The Expert at the Kids Table.”
Demonstrate your mental dexterity with your quizmaster David Britland in “Cardopolis.”
Let’s all sing like the birdies sing, with John Gaughan in “Chamber of Secrets.”
Jon Racherbaumer digs up a lost trick by Alex Elmsley in “Exhumations.”
“Magicana” delivers two tricks this month via Robert Ramirez, one from Joshua Messado (and it does not use the Linking Rings), and a second from Griffin Watts.
In “The Eye,” Vanessa Armstrong delivers some news worth reading (as opposed to the bulk of the news, which is not).”
Shawn McMaster brings us the latest from out west in “Knights at The Magic Castle.”

A fascinating account of the man who wrote 'The Expert at the Card Table." It was so well written, researched and represented with photos and images that it was like reading a detective novel.
He was friends with Houdini!! A photo of him sitting next to Tarbell at a banquet!! Extraordinary.

Thanks Steve for your kind words - I'm glad you enjoyed it. He's a fascinating character and it's difficult to dispute the evidence in his favour.
I'm very grateful to Richard for printing the article and doing such a great job with the layout - it looks fantastic!

Marshall Smith remembered a rather short, and middle aged man in that Chicago hotel room. Smith, who was six feet tall remembered looking down at him. This Andrews fellow doesn't fit that description. He was six feet tall, and young in 1902. He cannot be Erdnase.

That's absolutely correct - but M.D. Smith's testimony is flawed and I think has been given too much credence. He didn't recognise the drawings, thought he'd only done 20 or so rather than 101, said he'd sketched them in person (but then said he'd done them from photographs), had forgotten the name 'Erdnase' but then recalled a different name, etc. etc. I don't think he was necessarily trying to mislead Gardner, but once you start pulling at the thread it's impossible to say how much, if anything, he said was accurate.

Smith's memory was a bit spotty here and there, especially on the illustrations. After forty years it's to be expected, but his memories of the man remained clear. After we forget names, we still remember faces. He distinctly remembered looking down at him, and that he was entering middle age.

In addition, the Andrews name is a red herring. The author has managed to trap everybody looking for an Andrews. There is no Andrews. There never was. If you're writing with a pseudonym, the last one you want to use is the reversed spelling of your real name. Even children can deduce that.

Smith's recollections are the strongest and most direct evidence we have for Erdnase. And he remembered specific details such as Erdnase's soft hands and his general refinement, dress, and demeanor. And crucially, he described Erdnase as being between 40 and 45 years old and about 5'6 tall -- a total mismatch with this candidate (24 years old and 6' tall). It's very unlikely Smith would remember so much else and get the height and age so completely wrong. This is a glaring problem that can't be overcome by the much more tenuous arguments put forward in favor of this candidate.

Smith only remembered doing about 40 drawings. His memory was poor.

Ridiculous. Smith remembered quite a lot after 44 years. For him it was probably a forgettable job to illustrate hands over and over. The fact that he remembered 40 of the drawings after 44 years is pretty darn good. He remembered looking down at Erdnase, and his physical description. He remembered that Erdnase appeared well educated, and did a few card tricks for him. That's pretty darn good after 44 years.