For more than four decades the name Blackstone has been synonymous with magic. Born in Chicago in 1885, the future “Greet Illusionist” was thirteen years old when he watched his first magic show. By 1914 Blackstone and his company were headlined in all the largest vaudeville circuits, and in the years that followed he invented and perfected many spectacular illusions. One of his greatest feats was “The Dream of the Princess Karnac,” in which a girl was shown floating in mid-air on a fully lighted stage while Blackstone passed a solid hoop about her.

The Blackstone show filled two baggage cars and required a company of thirty people, not to mention a multitude of rabbits and a “Vanishing Horse.” The dean of magicians, Blackstone, will always initiate others into the fascinating field of magic.

Here a world-famous magician reveals some of his most baffling secrets. Over 100,000 copies of this collection are now in print.

More than 100 tricks are clearly explained and illustrated in this collection, from a simple sleight of hand that produces a cigarette out of thin air to the more elaborate stage presentations such as the “Disappearing Woman.” There is a valuable section on mental telepathy and “other world” effects, as well as a careful explanation of how to present magic to its best advantage through the deceptive technique of misdirection. For it is with the proper use of misdirection that the simplest trick becomes a mystery.

Magic is a fascinating and enjoyable art for the magician as well as for his baffled onlookers. Now completely revised and brought up to date, BLACKSTONE’S SECRETS OF MAGIC is a book that provides suspense and excitement with every page.