I am really just trying to understand why 2 great books by Walter Gibson, The Complete Illustrated Book of Card Magic as well as the companion book, The Complete Illustrated Book of Close-Up Magic are very underrated. Both are huge and loaded with some great information, yet you do not hear much about either and when on Ebay, they can be purchased for next to nothing. Why???
Rennie

Probably because today's newcomers to the art are fixated on DVDs and YouTube and shun books -- especially those more than just a few years old. They have no idea how much they are missing as a result of their dismissive attitude toward the "classics." Which is fine with me. I'm happy to have them leave the good stuff for those of us who take what we do seriously. I'm all for not telling them where to find the "real work." The ones who are really serious about the art will find out eventually. Let the rest of them fall by the wayside (which is where they deserve to be).

I think the reason is the long print of these titles in the market.

I am not sure what you mean?

Maybe OOP - Out of Print perhaps is what Manos implies?
So I just picked one up on Amazon for Close-Up. can't wait.

Sorry for my incorrect english. I meant that possibly there are a lot of copies in the market . I´ve checked the book "Man of Magic and Mystery. A guide to the work of Walter B. Gibson", buy it doesn´t contain references about the number of copies. There are two more similar titles by Walter Gibson, but with a very different content: "The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy", and "The Complete Illustrated Book of the Psychic Science".
Now think about this: The "Man of Magic..." book lists the complete work of mr Gibson, and it uses 382 pages for it!! I reccomend this book for all people interested in this writter, besides his biography ("Walter Gibson and The Shadow", by Thomas J. Shimeld)and, of course, his own books.