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THE ART OF MODERN CONJURING
AND DRAWING ROOM ENTERTAINMENT
London: Ward, Lock & Co., circa 1909
Anonymous First or Early Edition
Complete with 31 Photographic Plates
Approximately 190 Individual Illustrations
Original Pictorial Publisher’s Cloth
Edwardian Sleight of Hand, Parlor Magic and Stage Illusions
A scarce and visually appealing early-20th-century manual of conjuring, sleight of hand, stage magic, and drawing-room entertainment, published in London by Ward, Lock & Co. around 1909.
The book is especially notable for its extensive use of photography. It contains 31 full-page photographic plates incorporating approximately 190 individual images, many arranged in instructional sequences showing the precise hand positions, grips, concealed objects, apparatus, and movements required to perform the tricks.
Complete copies retaining all of the photographic plates and their original pictorial cloth bindings are increasingly difficult to find in attractive condition.
THE EDITION
The work was published anonymously by Ward, Lock & Co.
Institutional catalogues assign the first British issue to 1909, while other bibliographical records describe a 1910 issue with the same 222-page text.
Because some copies were issued without a clearly printed date, the present volume is conservatively dated circa 1909.
This book should not be confused with Henri Garenne’s similarly titled Art of Modern Conjuring, Magic, and Illusions, published by Ward, Lock during the 1880s. The present work is a separate anonymous manual with a different text and an extensive series of photographic illustrations.
Bibliographical details:
Title: The Art of Modern Conjuring and Drawing Room Entertainment
Author: Anonymous
Publisher: Ward, Lock & Co.
Place: London
Date: Circa 1909
Pagination: 222 pages
Format: Small octavo, approximately 7½ × 5 inches
Illustrations: 31 full-page photographic plates containing approximately 190 individual images
Binding: Original pictorial publisher’s cloth
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATES
The 31 photographic plates are the book’s most distinctive feature.
Most earlier popular conjuring manuals relied heavily upon wood engravings, line drawings, or diagrams. This volume uses staged photography to demonstrate the actual physical movements involved in sleight of hand.
The plates include sequences showing:
Card grips and manipulations
False shuffles
Card forcing
Palming and vanishing cards
Coin passes and productions
Handkerchief folds and concealments
Rings, threads, cords, and knots
The use of wands, tables, pockets, pulls, and servantes
Small mechanical apparatus
Stage and parlor performance positions
Each full-page plate contains a group of individual photographs, producing approximately 190 instructional images in total.
The result is both a practical magic manual and a fascinating visual record of Edwardian performance technique.
CONTENTS
The book presents a broad course in amateur and drawing-room conjuring.
Subjects include:
Introductory advice for the performer
Dress, pockets, pulls, and hidden apparatus
Wands, tables, and servantes
Card tricks
False shuffles and card forcing
Card vanishes and productions
Coin tricks and coin manipulation
Handkerchief tricks
Hat tricks
Rings, cords, and knots
Chemical tricks
Magnetic and mesmeric effects
Parlor tricks
Stage apparatus
Advanced tricks and performances
Tricks with matches and numbers
Suggested programs for short and full-evening entertainments
Among the individual effects are:
Fixing a selected card to the ceiling
Forcing a card by “telepathy”
The magnetic aces
Producing a marked coin from a ball of wool
Passing a ring onto a stick
Color-changing handkerchiefs
The mesmerized chair
The magic aquarium
Producing flowers from paper
The changing egg trick
The vanishing bird and cage
The submissive musical box
The bullet-catching illusion
The book concludes with suggested combinations of tricks for quarter-hour, half-hour, and full-evening performances, making it a practical handbook for the Edwardian amateur entertainer.
ORIGINAL PICTORIAL CLOTH
Bound in the original publisher’s pictorial cloth.
The front cover is decorated in black and orange with a bold design of a magician’s hands, playing cards, and conjuring imagery.
The spine carries additional pictorial decoration representing the apparatus and visual language of the stage magician.
Binding features include:
Original pale green-gray cloth
Black and orange stamped decoration
Magician’s hands and playing-card design
Decorated spine
Original title lettering
Unrestored period binding
The pictorial design gives the book particular display appeal and distinguishes it from later plain-cloth or rebound copies.
HISTORICAL INTEREST
Published during the final years of the Edwardian period, the book records a form of entertainment that flourished in private homes, clubs, schools, church halls, and small theatrical venues.
The drawing-room magician was expected to combine technical skill, confident presentation, humor, patter, and a practical understanding of what could be performed within a domestic space.
The book therefore documents more than the secrets of individual tricks. It preserves the performance conventions, apparatus, clothing, hand positions, and visual style of popular British magic immediately before the First World War.
It will be of particular interest to collectors studying the history of:
Sleight of hand
Amateur conjuring
Parlor and drawing-room entertainment
Stage apparatus
Early instructional photography
Edwardian theatrical culture
CONDITION
Good to Very Good antique condition overall.
The volume remains complete and unrestored in its original pictorial cloth binding.
Binding:
The pictorial cloth remains attractive and clearly legible.
There is rubbing and wear to the spine, board edges, and extremities.
The spine ends are frayed.
There is a small split at the rear edge of the spine head.
The corners are bumped and worn.
The boards show light scuffing, handling wear, and age-related discoloration.
The hinges and binding should be handled with appropriate care.
Interior:
The complete text comprises 222 pages.
All 31 photographic plates are present.
The pages show light natural toning and scattered foxing.
There is a small marginal tear to page 207, not affecting the printed text.
The photographic images remain clear and well defined.
No major textual loss or intrusive restoration has been noted.
Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description.
COLLECTOR INTEREST
An attractive copy for collectors of:
Antique magic books
Conjuring and sleight of hand
Card and coin manipulation
Victorian and Edwardian entertainment
Parlor and drawing-room magic
Stage illusions
Early instructional photography
Theatrical and performance history
Pictorial publisher’s cloth
Ward, Lock & Co. publications
A visually distinctive and extensively photographed Edwardian magic manual, complete with approximately 190 instructional images and preserved in its original pictorial cloth binding.
