A vaudeville favorite for 35 years, Jean Hugard-born John Gerard Rodney Boyce (1873-1959)-was not only a stunning success as a stage magician but was also one of the most prolific and illuminating of writers about magic. In this classic manual-the first he wrote for people outside the inner circle of magic performers-he reveals the secrets of a host of mystifying tricks.

In “The Lemon and Note Trick,” three dollar bills disappear from the handkerchief they were wrapped in and turn up in the middle of a lemon when it is sliced in half. In “The Miser’s Dream,” the magician manages to pluck eight coins from the open air or from spectators’ ears, hair, or collars. And in “The Watch in the Loaf of Bread,” the magician “inadvertently” smashes the watch he borrowed from a spectator-but then discovers it, intact and still ticking, inside a fresh-baked loaf. Other mind-boggling feats the reader will learn to master are swallowing a watch, transforming a cigarette into a silk handkerchief, producing bouquets of real flowers from a borrowed hat and distributing them to the spectators-and even pulling a live rabbit (or guinea pig) out of a hat. Clear, comprehensive, and enhanced with 240 detailed diagrams and illustrations, this indispensable resource belongs in the library of every would-be magician or magic lover.