How to Do Mechanical Tricks

Anderson, A., active 1894-1902Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.0

Word count: 74K words
Chapters: 8

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.How to Do Mechanical Tricks by active 1894-1902 A. AndersonAuthor: Anderson, A., active 1894-1902,Language: English, Class: GV: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation: Recreation, Leisure, Release Date: Sep 13, 2018

Editor's review

This is a small book that spans more than a century. Originally published in the late nineteenth century as a guide to mechanical tricks, it has now been reissued by Project Gutenberg as a free e-book. Its value lies not in cutting-edge technology but in showing how people a century ago devised astonishing mechanical tricks from simple playing cards, knots, coins, and everyday objects. Many of the tricks described rely on clever construction and sleight of hand rather than elaborate props. Readers can glimpse the look of early popular entertainment and appreciate the ingenuity of a handcrafted age. For readers who enjoy vintage magic, hands-on experiments, or the history of popular literature, this book offers light and lively primary material. It is best read as an old-fashioned game manual to try out as you go, not as a systematic magic course.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Amateur enthusiasts interested in vintage magic and traditional tricks
Readers who enjoy hands-on mini-experiments with cards and knots
Enthusiasts studying late nineteenth-century popular literature and entertainment history
Parents looking for simple craft-game material for children

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting to learn modern professional magic techniques and theory
Beginners who need systematic teaching steps and extensive diagrams
Readers who prefer original Chinese content and are not comfortable with English originals

Reading tips

Skim the table of contents first and pick the tricks with the simplest props; have rope and cards ready and try them as you read.
Compare the tricks with today's magic performances and note which principles are still in use.
Read one or two entries a day as light bedtime reading; there is no need to finish it in one sitting.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Does this book require elaborate props?

From the available information, it is a popular book of mechanical tricks and typically relies on everyday objects such as cards, rope, and coins. However, the original is in English and dates from long ago, so readers need to check the specific materials themselves; it is advisable to prepare common small objects before trying.

Can I read this book if my English is not good?

The original is in English and was written in the late nineteenth century, so some expressions differ from today's English. Readers with basic English can use a dictionary or translation tools, focusing on the operation descriptions rather than puzzling over every word.

Is this book suitable for children to read alone?

Most tricks involve manual operation and are suitable for parents and children to try together, but the original language poses a barrier for children, and some operations may involve small objects. Parents are advised to review the content first and accompany their children in practice.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Anderson, A., active 1894-1902 Author

Anderson, A., active around 1894 to 1902, is an author whose biographical details—such as nationality, birth and death dates—remain unrecorded, and public information about him is limited. Judging from the two surviving works, How to Do Chemical Tricks and How to Do Mechanical Tricks, he mainly wrote popular science books for general readers, covering hands-on chemical and mechanical tricks and simple experiments. Such books typically feature clear steps and easily available materials, aiming to help readers understand basic scientific principles through practice, and they belong to the late nineteenth-century trend of popular science publishing. Although his personal life cannot be traced, these two works still reflect the practical science education aimed at young people and amateur enthusiasts in the English-speaking world of the time.