Being new to learning magic (and The Magic Café), I have to say that this thread has been great to read, and a great resource. My interest is primarily in close up magic with cards and coins, but I am also interested in eventually branching out to learn Cups and Balls as well as some other areas of magic.

Largely from the advice within this thread, I have purchased the following books:

The Royal Road to Card Magic
Bobo's Modern Coin Magic (the big hardcover edition)
The Magic Book by Harry Lorayne
The Tarbell Course in Magic Vol. 1
Giobbi's Card College Vol. 1
Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz

I am starting with RRCM, Bobo's Modern Coin Magic & Tarbell Vol. 1, and I'm already having a great time learning. Even though I'm just beginning the journey, I've already had quite a few head slapping moments of "Aha!"

I'm holding off on Giobbi and Lorayne until I get a bit further along in RRCM, Tarbell, and Bobo, but I have been reading Strong Magic before going to bed each night.

I'm excited to have begun my education. Even from just beginning to read and study these books, it is quite obvious that they are all high quality books with much to offer. I am grateful to you all for separating the wheat from the chaff for those of us starting out. I think these are all great choices for a beginner to start building their collection of magic books in their library.

Yours in Magic,
Anthony

Outstanding book choices Anthony! And good for you to get these all in relatively one shot because you will discover the cross overs of applications.

There are so many books out there for beginners. My first book was the magicians handbook. It was great and I still have it 25 years later! The "Stars of magic" series is a great start for the serious student, and Bobo is the classic on coin magic. It really depends on your interest and preference. A biography on David Copperfield Just came out titled a Magic Life. It was a very inspirational read and I'm sure it will encourage beginners to pursue magic and become magicians. I also would like to change gears here and address the current times. I am 35 years old and videos and DVD's are the magicians industry standard. The 2 main Magicians supply shops here in Toronto, have nearly half of their displays now with DVD's. I wish they were around when I was a kids learning magic. I also feel that the advent of the video age as a learning tool for magicians has a big drawback. Firstly, young magicians don't put as much effort into practicing an effect as there is so much material out there. Secondly, whether you like it or not the video tool creates a situation for the magician to copy the exact style and presentation of the creator, whereas a book lets you get creative and adapt the concept to your style. It is also unfortunate that seemingly every magician out there is putting out the latest and greatest dvd, and usually you would be lucky if you can get one practical audience tested effect out there. Magicians should go with the standard well known names in magic instruction. Jay Sanky and Theory 11 immediately come to mind. I know for myself (I am guilty too) that I don't put nearly as much time and effort into a new magical effect as I used to when learning it from a book.

The key is this. Do as much homework as you can and ask yourself if you just think its a "cool dvd" or you could actually get at least one piece of quality magic out of it? If I think I could at least learn one good piece of magic that would be practical then I go out and buy it.

Hope this helps, and I hope the classic books and magic and magicians will be appreciated as the once were.

MT
http://www.MagicianToronto.com

So many books to read, so little time to read them.

As a beginner myself I would add The Ostrich Factor by Gerald Edmunson. It is not a how to technique book but explains how to practice and rehearse. For people who are new to magic this may prove to be helpful. You won't learn any tricks or moves but I found it to be very helpful and worth the small investment.

Myself, I am a beginner and actually found "Tarbell Course in Magic" really helpful in my learning. I invested in the full 8-volume-set as my first set of books.

Each trick is presented with preparation, sample script, and "cautions", and some tricks also have emergency rescues, including text and hand-drawn pictures.

Volume 1 is the the book I read the most. I like card tricks, and I started with the ones that do not require sleights. Myself I am not a native English speaker/reader, so it took me a while to digest the meaning in the book, but the illustration in the book really helps.

At the beginning of each book, some interesting topics are discussed, such as "how to make people laugh" (found in Volume 3). I personally found this set really useful for me.

It has to be the Royal Road to Card Magic - Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue teach you everything you need to know including bad habits, useful advice as well as wonderful effects of course.

I ant help but agree with everyone here. I recently came back to magic after a long hiatus and bought the pdf version of mark Wilson's course. Printed it out and place each chapter in its own folder to make relearning a faster and less complicated process. This process I learned from the tarbell course. I like magic for dummies and the complete idots guide as well both are great additions. and some might laugh at me but I also like the klutz book too.

Don't ever apologize for any source material that you come across or helps to further your understanding. Cross referencing and researching is part of the work and fun.

Presto: Magic for thr Beginner by Schindler is the very first magic book I bought. I still have it stitting on my book shelf.

Twist

Don't become overwhelmed by too much too soon. Classic Secrets of Magic by Bruce Elliott is a great way to get started in the craft of magic.

Regards,
Nate

For Under Over, a free downloadable book of over 90 pages from magician Joshua Jay, check this out

http://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-d......er-over/

:magicrabbit:

Just saw this post on another thread - thought you just might find it useful. The book mentioned has been re-written, updated, etc., along WITH FOUR OTHER BOOKS OF MINE, in The Classic Collection, Vol. 1 (there are now two more volumes available). Literally thousands over the decades have told me that Close-Up Card Magic was there start. I'll try to copy/paste it below - I'm a lousy computer person. HL.

"In 1962, a landmark book on entertaining card magic appeared. Close-Up Card Magic by Harry Lorayne, published by Louis Tannen Inc. revolutionized the approach to card magic. Card tricks could be good, and could be entertaining. Not that they weren't before, but many of the texts on cards had been dryly written and of a more technical nature. Lorayne's emphasis was on presentation and routining. By now, Harry Lorayne is legendary for his teaching and writing ability, but even then, with his first book on card magic, he possessed an excellent eye for quality routines and the ability to create entertainment with card magic." - Sam Schwartz, Sam's The Magic of Sam Schwartz. Pg. 192.

Just ordered Mark Wilson's book. It's hard to judge a book by it's cover, especially if you just started out... So thanks everybody for the great tips!

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of Henry Hays' magicians handbook.
Thank you

I believe the title you are looking for is Henry Hay's "Amateur Magician's Handbook" There are currently 39 copies available on ABEbooks.

Very Good , Thankyou

Bobo's Modern Coin Magic and David Roth's Expert Coin Magic
Sorry if these have already be suggested!

All Kenton Knepper books helped me a lot.

Check out education of magic by aaron fisher >>> http://blog.aaronfishermagic.com/?p=688