Do magic catalogs count as "magic books"? If so, let's start a thread here about those wonderful books called magic catalogs. My favorite are the Tannen catalogs that came out about twenty years ago. If I recall correctly numbers 13 through 16 had covers with Siegfried & Roy, Copperfield, Blackstone, and Henning. What I like about these catalogs is that they actually were books physically - that is they were hardbound book-shaped things. They were divided into card magic, coin magic, close-up etc. My favorite section was the book section in the back - lots of great illustrations in these catalogs.
Other catalogs I enjoyed from the same era were these rather cheaply produced catalogs put out by EZ Magic (or is it Robbins?). They cost a buck apiece (some shops just gave them away) and were printed on the kind of pulpy paper that Mad Magazine used to be printed on. They were filled with great Nelson Hahne illustrations and made even cheap plastic slum items look and sound like the greatest miracles ever with a tuxedoed, mustachioed magician performing them.
Magic Inc, Hank Lee and Abbotts also had (have?) catalogs that are fun to browse through. Reading catalogs like these gives you a good idea of what are considered to be the standard, classic effects of magic as well as what the standard texts are.
L&L is my favorite cotemporary catalog - well produced with a quality photos on glossy paper.
So - what are your favorite magic catalogs?

The "classic" look awards would go the the Collectors' Catalogues, especially the first one that had line drawings of their effects. I have also enjoyed the Owen catalogs, too. The first catalog that brought me the wonders of magic as a kid was the Vick Lawston catalogs.

I also was a Vick Lawston fan as well as the Johnson Smith catalog.But the one that started me on my magic addiction was the 500 Tricks catalog put out by Douglas Magicland in Dallas Texas. I currently collect magic books ( including catalogs ) and am amazed at some of the prices in the earlier catalogs.If you could forsee the future and bought mnay effects from the old catalogs , you could retire with the income after selling them today.I do have every Tannen catalog starting with #1 to the latest.
Rennie