Sleight of Hand: A Practical Manual of Legerdemain for Amateurs & Others

Sachs, Edwin Thomas, -1910Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.4
Word count
785K words
Chapters
79

Tags

English Originals Games Amateur EntertainmentLeisure EntertainmentPerforming ArtsMagic TricksStep-by-Step GuideIllustrated GuideEntertainment InstructionField CasesManual TechniquesMagic Manual

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.Sleight of Hand: A Practical Manual of Legerdemain for Amateurs & Others by SachsAuthor: Sachs, Edwin Thomas, -1910,Language: English, Class: GV: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation: Recreation, Leisure, Release Date: Jan 11, 2016

Editor's review

This is a practical manual of magic sleight of hand for amateurs, with the original English edition released free by Project Gutenberg. The author, Edwin Thomas Sachs, explains card and other manual techniques in a teaching tone; the focus is not on revealing marvels but on breaking movements into practicable steps, emphasizing coordination of technique, rhythm, and misdirection. The book's value lies in its practicality: readers can practice chapter by chapter and turn clumsiness into controlled performance. It also preserves the language and arrangement of magic instruction books from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, offering reference value for those studying the history of magic performance or old-style instructional texts. Note that this is a public-domain English e-book, so readers need some English reading ability; some terms and props are dated, and modern readers may use contemporary instructional videos as aids.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Practice in chapter order; break each technique down slowly first, then gradually increase speed and continuity.
  2. Prepare a deck of cards or the relevant props and practice while reading; avoid reading without practicing.
  3. When encountering old terms, first infer from context and then verify, without interrupting the practice rhythm.
  4. Use a mirror or phone recording for self-checking movements and correcting the timing of misdirection.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79

FAQ

What type of magic does this book mainly cover? According to the materials, it is a practical manual of manual techniques for amateurs, focusing on teaching and practicing card and other close-up techniques rather than large stage illusions, and is suitable for learners starting from basic techniques.
Can complete beginners read it directly? Yes, but hands-on practice is required. The book explains techniques in teaching steps; beginners should slow down and practice section by section rather than only reading through; when a movement is unclear, they can refer to modern instructional resources for comparison.
What if the book's terminology is outdated? The book preserves earlier magic teaching language, and some terms are not fully consistent with today's usage. Readers can first understand the key points of the movement from context and then verify the modern equivalent; do not give up practicing because of terminology.
Why is it recommended to practice while reading? Manual techniques depend on muscle memory, and it is hard to grasp rhythm and force by reading text alone. Practicing while reading turns the book's steps into actual movements and makes it easier to identify problems in misdirection and transitions.

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About the author

Sachs, Edwin Thomas, -1910 Author

Edwin Thomas Sachs (Sachs, Edwin Thomas, -1910) was a British writer on magic active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Public information about his life is limited: his birth year, nationality and educational background are not reliably recorded, and his year of death is inferred as 1910 from the signature information. Only one of his works is held in the Chinese book database, namely Sleight of Hand: A Practical Manual of Legerdemain for Amateurs & Others. Addressed to amateurs and beginning performers, the book takes the form of a practical manual explaining the basic techniques and practice methods of sleight of hand. Its plain language and clear steps reflect a writing approach that values practicality and self-study. Manuals of this kind served to popularize magic and introduce beginners to the craft, linking Sachs's name with the teaching tradition of sleight of hand.