My wife decided to suprise me recently with a book she purchased from an "out-of-the-way" used book store here in town. She overheard some magician friends of mine and I discussing seeing this book some time back. It is called "Sleight of Hand" by Edwin T. Sachs. It is the 4th edition print edited by Paul Fleming and printed by Fleming Book Company in 1946. It contains a lot of great ideas of things I haven't really seen in print (in great detail) such as;
De Kolta's Flower Production, The Animated Skull, The Watch Frame, Houdini's Die Trick, and detailed construction of a strong box aswell as a drawer box... It is a really neat book and definately a great addition to my slowly-growing collection of antique magic literature and apparatus...

Is anyone familiar with this book? What is the value of something like this? Even if it isn't worth much, it is a great conversation piece and that is priceless...

Bryan

This book is one of the "classics" of magic, along with Hoffman's "Modern Magic" and "Greater Magic." I believe it first appeared around 1900 or so. The 1946 Fleming edition was prepared with much care and attention to detail, and is well worth having. Although the book is now over 100 years old, there is still plenty of excellent magic and performing advice there, as you have found.

I think "Sleight of Hand" was recently reprinted in paperback, which might diminish the value of older copies slightly. But it's still a great book and good buy. SETH

I went to the bookstore to get this book, it had been sitting there for years. The guy working tells me that it was bought by a magicians wife for her husband.

Hey bryan, you don't have an alarm system, do you? If not, you don't get home until about 5:30 tomorrow, right?


Ichazod

While I am not positive about softcover or hardcover, I know this book has shown up quite often at Powells Books in Portland. They have an online presence, so perhaps that might be one place to look.

John


Posted: Oct 24, 2005 10:26pm
------------------------------------------------------
Just re-read your post... and saw that you ALREADY bought it.

Oops.

John

The edition you bought is a revised edition, with new drawings by Donna Allen. Many people believe it is inferior to the originals (There were three previous editions, all issued prior to 1900), because of this and several other editorial decisions that the Fleming Brothers made when they re-issued the book. Either way, it is generally considered a 30-40 dollar book at best.

Best, PSC