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kotrozo New user 49 Posts |
I know there was a thread about this but I can't find it and I was so happy with a recent find, I had to share! I was as a local used bookstore and decided to look in the very small section of "first editions", which had never occured to me before. the first thing I noticed was the colorful cover of "Doug Edward Pack a Wallop!". I had thought of purchasing this many times but something else always caught my eye. anyway, it was in perfect condition, in a dust jacket, for $25. not a huge savings (its available on line for $35) but I HAD to buy it; I was just so thrilled to see a "real" magic book I didn't have at the store. upon further search I found and bought something I have never heard of "scalbert's selected secrets". for $12 I couldn't resist. finally, I found a dust jacket covered copy of kaplan'e The fine art of magic for $35! I saw it go on ebay for MUCH more in the following days. they also had a perfect copy of CUCM but I already have it (it was in better condition that mine thoughj, LOL!)
anyway, keep an eye out at those places! |
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Atom3339 Inner circle Spokane, WA 3242 Posts |
Kotrozo, There is definitely an interest for magic books---they are getting rarer all the time. Many of us do not have access to used book stores, especially those that may have magic books. After 50 helpful posts on the Café you can sell or trade magic books (and other items). You may want to consider investing in your rare finds then selling them to your fellow magi.
TH
Occupy Your Dream |
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kotrozo New user 49 Posts |
Hi atom,
I am looking forward to 50 posts so I can access the area; it may take a while because I'm lazy, ha ha! I see things that I want to respond to, all the time, and then I refrain. anyway, I am looking forward to being able to buy from others on the Café AND I will definitely be interested in selling some of my books. I am building a stack of books to sell. most are duplicates I received for one reason or another or are books that have subsequently been included in compilations that I have acquired, eg, I purchased the bound magic menu books and have one of the orinal comb bound versions. I'm getting close to half way... joe |
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motown Inner circle Atlanta by way of Detroit 6127 Posts |
I've found many excellent magic books at at Used Book Stores for some amazing prices, including some numbered first editions.
The bargains are harder to find because of Abe Books and the internet.
"If you ever write anything about me after I'm gone, I will come back and haunt you."
– Karl Germain |
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Jim Oliver Regular user Las Cruces, New Mexico 141 Posts |
Here in my home town we have a giant used book store that is more along the lines
of a book exchange. They have well over a million books available to the public with at least another million that they store upstairs that are not available yet. I found a first edition, 1953 copy of Houdini on Magic by Walter Gibson. $8.00. With my discount for being a member, 1/4 the asking price. Points that I had built up for bringing in other books...covered it. I basically paid the tax only. ABE Books listed this very same conditioned book for about $150.00 Made my day!
Ed Marlo rules
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Dave Nic Loyal user Australia 242 Posts |
I seem to luck out on magic books in used book stores. I have checked numerous book stores over the years and not found any. The only place that seemed to have them here in Australia is a massive bookstore called boarders which has unfortunatley closed down.
Ahh the state of retail. Online shopping mostly for me... Nice to hear some are having luck though. |
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kotrozo New user 49 Posts |
Well, I'm thinking that I just got lucky because I visited two other locations in the same chain of used book stores and they had nothing. since the books I bought were all in dust jackets, I suspect one person must have done some unloading of their collection. I will certainly keep an eye out but I doubt this will be a common occurance.
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tmoca Inner circle 1113 Posts |
About....I don't know...4-6 years ago, I found an old copy (from the 30s) of Greater Magic in an antique store. Picked it up for $15. Not being a collector and already having an expanded (newer) version, I sold it...for $350
So needless to say, I ALWAYS check old bookstores, garage sales, antiques stores, etc. for old books. Many times, people don't know what they have. |
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RevJohn Inner circle Oregon City Oregon, Oregon 2473 Posts |
It depends on who is shelving the books, or pricing the used book. Some days I will go into Powell's Books in Portland and find some great deals. Then there are other times when a book is priced at what seems like an insane price. I think sometimes they are priced using the Amazon Price they find as a basis (Used price, that as we know sometimes just is unrealistic for an actual sellable price.)
But when you find a good book for a good price, the feeling is pure joy! RevJohn |
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J Christensen Regular user 130 Posts |
In the 1960s, when I was in college, I went into a used book store near campus and found the following for sale: Modern Coin Magic, Dai Vernon's Book of Magic, Classic Secrets of Magic and Magic as a Hobby. All were in perfect shape and in clear book covers. Despite a limited budget, I managed to buy all four for $30 dollars. I've never gotten a greater bargain.
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Nicolino Inner circle 2893 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-07-25 06:56, tmoca wrote: But you tell them...
The Mati Envelope
A brandnew peek device for the working mentalist! Chance's Token Tarot cards in a scenic piece of mystery..... |
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SteveFromSpokane Regular user 199 Posts |
As the old saying goes, If you want to hide a magic secret just put it in a book. I have found some amazing techniques in some of those little books decades old.
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Anatole Inner circle 1912 Posts |
Back in the 1970's, at a used book store in Norfolk, Virginia I picked up a pristine copy of _Greater Magic_--including the prospectus for it--for $2.95!!! In Silver Spring, Maryland I found a signed copy of Maurice Rooklyn's _Spherical Sorcery and Recollections of a Pro_ also at a bargain price. You never know where or when you might come across a find like that. Pure serendipity.
----- Amado "Sonny" Narvaez
----- Sonny Narvaez
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danhughes Regular user Champaign, IL 115 Posts |
And don't forget to look in the children's section!
Many bookshops file magic books in the kids section, because who but kids would read a magic book, right?
---Dan, http://danhughes.net
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motown Inner circle Atlanta by way of Detroit 6127 Posts |
I once found a nice copy of Kaufman's edition of Greater Magic for around $50. The only thing wrong with it was that it had no dust jacket.
"If you ever write anything about me after I'm gone, I will come back and haunt you."
– Karl Germain |
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MrSteve New user 42 Posts |
Here in southern California we still have some used bookstores, but magic books are rare and the pricing varies wildly. However . . . .
Several hundred used bookstores list their inventories on AbeBooks on the Internet. I have found some treasures there although again, prices are not consistent. You can search by author. |
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cbusch55 Regular user 195 Posts |
I once found Sleight of Hand by Sachs in a local bookstore, but unfortunately , magic books in small bookstores are becoming far and few to find anymore. Mostly because the small bookstores are disappearing. Except for magic close-outs at Half-price Books.
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Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
Ah! POWELL'S IN PORTLAND!!!
I've spent some very happy and worthwhile hours there! The most recent "find" was in a suburb of New Orleans -spring of 2011-Jon Racherbaumer and I were checking out a "friends of the library" book sale. In the "kid" section, I picked up Vol.One of Tarbell (w/dj) for $2.50. THE JOY IS IN THE HUNTING!!! PS: If you like magic in fiction I've found a whole bunch of Paul Gallico (The Man Who Was Magic, Too Many Ghosts) Dan Mannix (Step Right Up) John Dickson Carr-or-Carter Dickson (The Three Coffins, et al)Clayton Rawson (Merlini Mysteries (my generic name for Rawson's books)The Oxford Book of American Detective Stories--edited by Tony Hillerman--has a Rawson short Merlini story: "From Another World".
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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malamoney New user 86 Posts |
I've never had much luck in used books stores. But that doesn't mean I won't keep trying.
Anyone have any lucks at flea markets or garage sales? |
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Leo H Inner circle 1331 Posts |
Never had luck at flea markets or garage sales but then, you have to pull your car over and get out to investigate. I did locate a first printing copy of Arthur Buckley's Card Control at a used book store about 10 years ago. The proprietors did not price it cheap. They knew what they had.
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