I wanted to share a little story...

I recently sat down for a morning reading Sharps and Flats by John Nevil Maskelyne. As many here will of course know this book is a must read for anyone who considers themselves serious about cards. It is a classic text, first published in 1894, and is generally at the top of the 'must have' list for enthusiasts and collectors. It is a difficult (at least pricey) book to come by, but if you have the opportunity to sit there with an original copy, don't turn it down.

By chance I also had sitting in front of me the Memoirs of Robert Houdin, France's greatest conjuror. At the time of sitting down with my mornings selections I did not realise how the two books were linked. With two books of this kind one can expect to be fascinated, but the link between the books, although not exactly obscure knowledge, was a surprise to me at the time and made for the most exciting morning of reading I have ever had. In retrospect I have read about their connection before, but given the circumstances with which I found myself sitting with these two very old books, it was far from my mind and a wonderful sheer coincidence. I imagine the basic connection has been discussed many times before (probably here)in the world of cheating and magic historians, but to stumble unintentionally and unexpectedly upon this was a thrill for me and is worth sharing here, especially with those yet to read both books.

I had opted to begin with Sharps and Flats and was reading through the chapter on holdouts. It's page 76 of Sharps and Flats. I am reading...

"The earliest account we have in the holdout line is the cuff box described by Houdin." I straightened up.

>Image of Sharps and Flats, John Nevil Maskelyne
I have copied this text from a blog post which unfortunately does not support/include the photos.
I look up from the page and in front of myself see this.
>Image of Memoirs of Robert Houdin, 2 volumes. What a beautiful thing!

I continue reading the passage below...
Reference to Houdin's memoirs in Sharps and Flats, John Nevil Maskelyne

And soon found myself transported back in time by Houdin's account of Torrini and Zilbermann. The death bed confession of a cheat shot in his chest using a holdout during his final card game, and asking his friend to remove the device to protect his family and equally his reptutation.

>Image Page 80 Memoirs of Houdin

There is slightly more to the story of my morning spent reading, which involved one other book (I sat down with 3 books), which also had an unexpected small connection to the Zilbermann game.

Now, I apologise if this is already common knowledge but in case it is not.... here is my special gift to you..... both books can be read, legitimately, and downloaded (both legally and ethically) at gutenberg.org. You won't get to feel the old covers, turn their old dusty pages, and smell the history, but it's the bext best thing. I will probably buy a copy of Sharps and Flats for my own collection, but I have not looked into the cost or availability of the Houdin memoirs. Thankfully I can visit them both anytime in a private room at my local library.

As I said at the start of this post, if you ever have the opportunity to sit with either of these books in their original printed form, do yourself the favour. If you can sit there with them both and discover this hisorical connection, you may as I did, feel like the luckiest person in the world.

Hmmm

The Sharper Detected and Exposed
BY Robert Houdin

CHAPTER VI.
The substituted pack--The box in the sleeve.

?

If you want a solid copy of Sharps and flats, the gamblers bookclub in Las Vegas sells a reprint of this book for about 10$.
That's were I bought my copy and they also ship.
I don't know if it's still available...

http://gamblersbookclub.com/

Slim

Thanks chappy for the very nice writeup. It was enjoyable to read and much appreciated.

You can read an online version of Sharps and Flat at:

http://sharpsandflats.com/content.html

It is annotated with notes by “Mr. Pink” of the old Cardshark website (which has been dormant for several years). It is better to have the book (either the original or a Gamblers Books Club reprint), but reading the annotated version online also has merit.

In my opinion, one of the finest books ever written on the subject.

Thanks Cag, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks Slim for the GBC reference.

I have the pdf from gutenberg for reference(and suggest looking at the version there, it's great), and my own HD photos (from my first sitting with the first edition) of the illustrations. I will 'hold out' until the time I can justify purchasing a first edition. In the meantime I predict a few more visits to the special collections floor of the library.