From the back cover:

How often have you watched a conjurer perform what looks like a miracle and asked yourself, "How on earth is that done?" Well, now the long-kept secrets of the expert stage magician's art are revealed in this astounding book. Written by a Gold Medal member of the Inner Magic Circle, it explains in minute detail exactly how all those classic feats are done - such as levitation, rope tricks, sawing the lady in half, disappearing cabinets, escapology and many more. by following the step-by-step instructions in this book, you too can join the ranks of those who know conjuring's secrets, and learn to perform the tricks which have baffled audiences throughout the ages!

This is a wonderful magic book from Patrick Page an accomplished master magician and illustrated beautifully by Eric Mason. In fact the book is so good that Patrick Page was expelled from the IBM (International Brotherhood of Magicians) because some felt that too many secrets were exposed. He was later reinstated once people realized that writing good magic books is really in the interest of all.

1st edition 1976, original 304 pages; PDF 243 pages.

Table of Contents

1. CONTENTS

2. CHAPTER ONE A Short History of Conjuring

3. CHAPTER TWO Standard Accessories
4. The Wand
5. The Vanishing Wand
6. The Handkerchief Wand
7. The Rising Wand
8. The Breakaway Wand
9. The Balancing Wand
10. The Table
11. The Black Art Table
12. A Tricky Top Hat

13. CHAPTER THREE Manipulation versus Apparatus
14. Illusionist Managers
15. The Present Day

16. CHAPTER FOUR Coin and Ring Manipulation
17. The Miser's Dream
18. The Classic Palm
19. The Finger Palm
20. The Front Palm
21. The Back Palm
22. The Thumb Palm
23. The Back Clip
24. The Nelson Downs Palm
25. The Back and Front Palm
26. The Presentation of the Miser's Dream
27. The Chinese Rings

28. CHAPTER FIVE Card Manipulation
29. Preparing the Cards
30. Back and Front Palm
31. Before an Audience
32. Keeping a Straight Arm
33. The Standard Method
34. The Cardini Method
35. Producing Fans
36. The Split Fan Production
37. Deceiving the Audience
38. Reloading Cards into the Back Palm Position
39. The Body Steal
40. The Jacket Clip
41. Vanish from the Left Hand
42. The Tenkai Palm
43. Screens and Music
44. The Unexpected
45. Discard Container
46. The Stacked Deck
47. The Reversed Card
48. Stabatwin
49. Calling the Cards
50. The Six Card Repeat
51. Three Cards Across
52. The Cards to Pocket
53. The Stripper Deck
54. Four Ace Trick
55. The Reds and Blacks
56. The Svengali Deck
57. The Fourteen Fifteen Deck
58. Spectacular Card Effects
59. The Card Sword
60. The Card in Balloon
61. The Card Star
62. The Card Stab
63. The Jumbo Four Ace Trick

64. CHAPTER SIX Ball Manipulation
65. The Multiplying Billiard Balls
66. One to Four Multiplication
67. One to Eight Multiplication
68. The Sponge Ball Effect
69. The Pinch Vanish
70. The Pull out Vanish
71. The Perfect Sponge Ball Vanish
72. The Addition
73. Sponge Ball Routine No. 2
74. The Cups and Balls

75. CHAPTER SEVEN Rope Tricks
76. The Appearing Knot
77. The Fake Appearing Knot
78. The Impossible Appearing Knot
79. The Blondini Ball
80. The String and the Straw
81. Spirit Knots
82. The Enchanted Bottle
83. The Cut and Restored Rope Effect

84. CHAPTER EIGHT Thimble Manipulation

85. CHAPTER NINE Tricks with Liquids
86. The Vanishing Bowl of Water
87. The Evaporating Liquid
88. The Glass of Wine Production

89. CHAPTER TEN Pocket Tricks
90. The Paddle Move
91. Spot the Spots
92. The Salt on the Knife
93. The Chinese Compass
94. The Thumb Tip
95. The Vanishing Cigarette
96. The Vanishing Match
97. The Handkerchief Penetration
98. The Burnt Handkerchief
99. The Ring on Stick
100. The Flying Ring
101. The Three Shell Game

102. CHAPTER ELEVEN Tricks with Paper
103. The Paper Tree
104. The Paper Ladder
105. The Scotsman's Kilt
106. The Plaid
107. Clippit
108. The Torn and Restored Newspaper
109. The Ten Second Paper Tear
110. The Burnt and Restored Strip

111. CHAPTER TWELVE Livestock and Platform Effects
112. The Vanishing Bunny
113. A Rabbit from a Hat
114. The Dog Kennel
115. The Dove Pan
116. The Rabbit Cage
117. Dove from Streamer
118. The Vanishing Cage of Doves
119. Dove from Silk
120. The Rings on Rod Illusion
121. The Colour Changing Fan
122. The Passe Bottle and Glass
123. The Vanishing Birdcage
124. The Drawer Box
125. The Organ Pipes
126. The Square Circle Production Box
127. Flower Productions
128. The Oriental Shawl
129. The Bare Hand Flower Production
130. The Ghost Tube
131. The Aquarius Tube
132. The Nest of Boxes
133. The Inexhaustible Box
134. The Sliding Die Box
135. The Twentieth Century Silk Trick
136. The Handkerchief Pull
137. The Lamp Chimney Vanish
138. The Japanese Production Box
139. The Changing Bag
140. The Vanishing Walking Stick
141. The Appearing Walking Stick
142. The Stick to Parasol

143. CHAPTER THIRTEEN Magic Spectaculars
144. Sawing a Woman in Half
145. The Levitation
146. The Sword Cabinet
147. The Substitution Trunk
148. The Three Swords Suspension
149. The Cremation Illusion
150. The Doll's House Illusion
151. The Vanishing Motor Car
152. The Indian Basket Illusion
153. The Step Ladder Illusion
154. The Guillotine Illusion
155. The Crinoline Illusion
156. The Chair Suspension
157. The Sack Escape
158. The Straitjacket Escape
159. The Jacoby Tie
160. Behind the Back Wrist Tie
161. The Thumb Tie
162. The Double Rope Tie
163. The Chain Gang Escape
164. The Handkerchief Tie

word count: 91918 which is equivalent to 367 standard pages of text