Hatton and Plate were master magicians of their time, and their 1910 book Magicians' Tricks is one of a dozen classics indispensable to today's magicians, both amateur and professional. Besides revealing the techniques behind scores of tricks, this expert how-to book also describes the wardrobe of a successful magician; the magic box into which a magician places all manner of articles; the wand; and other tools of the trade.

With practice and patience-plus such common objects as cards, coins, balls, eggs, handkerchiefs, and other familiar household items-readers will soon successfully execute such card tricks as The False Shuffle, The Slide, Making a Card Disappear from a Glass, and Tearing a Pack of Cards in Two. Would-be magicians will also learn to perform such tricks with coins as the Penetrating Coin, Passing a Coin Through a Hat, and The Disappearing Coin, as well as how to produce novel effects with billiard balls, make a handkerchief disappear, tear and restore a strip of paper, fire