I have 2 little 3 by 6 booklets put out by swift and company that are Thurstons Books of Magic vol 1 and vol 5. I've had them about 20 years in my collection, and I don't know the origin of them. There is no date on them anywhere. The look, style and appearance of them makes them look like they came from the 40's or 50"s maybe?? Anyone familiar with these or where I may find more info on them or their value? The covers are an orange color with black ink, the inside of the booklet contains approx 8 pages of tricks with a swift and company ad in the middle of the booklet. All is in black and white with older style photo illustrations with the description of how to do the various tricks. Just wondering if anyone can shed any light on these. Thanks

From what I remember, there are 5 in a set, they are from the 1930's and sell for about $10.00 a piece. Hope this helps.

Kevin

Be cautious because at one time these were reprinted and the reprints look very much like the "originals". Maybe one of our book experts can clarify this?

I never saw or heard of them being reprinted. They are pretty common to find. There are some on Ebay now for $10.00. You can probaly wait till after the end of the auction to counter offer the seller. Either way, they'll be more listed sooner or later.

I sit corrected. The little booklets I had in mind were published by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1933 as "Magician's Cigarette Tricks also coin and card magic". These were reprinted in 1992 in the exact style of the originals.

The author was Paul Carlton "The man who mystified the Mikado"> so it says on the first page.