Jean Hugard (1871–1959)

When it says 'expert' it isn't kidding - there are moves and techniques here that would take a long time to master - but the resulting effects are remarkable. Everything is well described, and the diagrams are clear and helpful. The suggested dialogue is quaintly old-fashioned, as with most of the classic card trick books, but that just adds to the charm :-)

This republication of the 1937 edition is still to the point today. This book contains over 600 card tricks. There are sections for using normal decks as well as trick decks. I have been performing illusions for years, and I have found this book to be useful. Explains how to set-up and perform each trick in an easy to understand manner. If you wish to do Card magic, this is the only book you need.

Once you've learned a few basic card tricks, pick up this book. It's the very best intermediate course in card magic you can find.

Jean Hugard takes up the pen where Professor Hoffmann laid it down in the early Twentieth Century. Hugard's Magic Manual tells about the tricks that magicians of that era performed to entertain their audiences. These tricks are still being performed by Twenty-first Century magicians.

About the Author. Jean Hugard was a Vaudeville stage magician who counted himself a personal friend of Houdini, Thurston, Kellar, Hermann, Hardeen, and Cardini. Hugard said that all of these magicians, himself show more included, owed their start to the great Nineteenth Century master of legerdemain, Robert Houdin.

Bibliographical Note. This Dover edition, first published in 2001, is an unabridged republication of the fifth edition of the original book, published under the title Modern Magic Manual by Harper & Brothers, New York, 1939.

Trivia. Theo Hardeen, the brother of Houdini, wrote the Foreword to this book at Hugard's request. show less