Book of Magic Tricks

Usborne Book of Magic Tricks

Ian Keable

Rebecca Heddle

Bt Bound

Everybody knows Charles Dickens as an unsurpassed writer; many know him as a superb public reader of his own works; some know him as a talented actor; but very few know that he was also a conjurer. Up to now this knowledge has been rather hidden away in biographies, with academics considering it of little significance. For the first time Dickens's journey to a conjurer has been properly researched and narrated: using his own letters and other contemporary reports, the evolution of the novelist to enthusiastic performer is plotted.\nWhat is particularly unique about this book is that Ian Keable brings his own experiences as a magic historian and professional magician to branch out into related subjects. Who were the conjurers that inspired Dickens? Which tricks did he do? Where did he get them from? What were his strengths and weaknesses as a conjurer? Why did he stop? Which of his contemporaries did he rate the best? Did his interest in conjuring impact upon his writing? In answering these questions, much is revealed about the world of Victorian conjuring and indeed magic generally.\nIt is unfortunate that many claims in the past have been made about Dickens relating to conjuring which have proved questionable: readers might be surprised by just how many errors have been perpetuated over the years. This book seeks to dispel those myths. But, in the process of disentanglement, new facts and insights emerge which prove equally intriguing about the man and his magic.\nRarely does a book merge two such endlessly fascinating subjects as magic and Charles Dickens into one. If you have even the remotest interest in either, Charles Dickens Magician is for you.\nThe book is available in two different formats, with the contents identical in each.\nSoft Cover: 288 pages, with 8 pages of colour photographs. 198 x 129 mm 
Price: £10 + p & p 
Hard Back with Dust Jacket: 256 pages with 8 pages of colour photographs. 234 x 156 mm 
Price: £25 + p & p

Charles Dickens Magician: Conjuring in Life, Letters and Literature

The Big Book of Magic Fun

Paw Prints 2008-05-09

Utter joy! A delicious romp through the heyday of balderdash and grand-scale deceptionDerren Brown In 1749, a newspaper advertisement appeared declaring that a man would climb inside a bottle on the stage of a London theatre. Although the crowds turned up in their hundreds to witness the trick, the performer didnt. Over the following decades, elaborate jokes and fanciful tales would continue to bamboozle people across England. In The Century of Deception, magician and historian Ian Keable tells the engrossing stories of these eighteenth-century hoaxes and those who were duped by them. The English public were hoodwinked time and time again, swallowing whole tales of rapping ghosts, a woman who gave birth to rabbits, a levitating Frenchman in a Chinese Temple and outrageous astrological predictions. Not only were the hoaxes widely influential, drawing in celebrities such as Samuel Johnson, Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Swift, they also inflamed concerns about English credulity. Fake news, going viral and social media may be modern terms, but as this entertaining, eye-opening book shows, these concepts have been with us for centuries.

"THE CENTURY OF DECEPTION"

History

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Saqi Books

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