Modern Magicians Hand Book by William John Hilliar

What an excellent book. The quality of the material is outstanding. What makes this book particularly rare is a chapter on juggling and how to fake great juggle skills. I have yet to see another book on magic with such an extensive chapter on juggling. You will also find the obligatory chapter on shadowgraphy, a good write up of black art, and large sections on cards, coins, and tricks with many other props. You will find billiard ball manipulation as well as stage tricks with large apparatus.

1st edition, 1902, Frederick J. Drake & Co, Chicago; 440 pages; PDF 325 pages.

• Introduction
• CHAPTER I: Preliminary Observations
  • The Magic Wand
  • The Magician's Table
  • The Magician's Dress
• CHAPTER II: General Principles of Sleight-of-hand Applicable to Card Tricks
  • The Cards
  • To Make the Pass (Sauter la Coupe)
  • To Force a Card
  • To Make a "False Shuffle"
  • To "Palm" a Card
  • The Continuous Back and Front Palm with Cards
  • To "Change" a Card (Filer la Carte)
  • The "Color" Change
  • To "Slip" a Card
  • To Spring the Cards from One Hand to the Other
  • To Throw a Card
  • The Bridge
• CHAPTER III: Card Tricks with Ordinary Cards, and not Requiring Sleight-of-hand
  • Simple Modes of Discovering a Given Card
  • The Four Kings Being Placed Under the Hand of One Person and the Four Sevens Under the Hand of Another, to Make Them Change Places at Will
  • To Name Cards Without Seeing Them
  • New Thought Card Sleights
  • The Lost Ace
  • To Name All the Cards in the Pack in Succession
• CHAPTER IV: Tricks Involving Sleight-of-hand or the Use of Specially Prepared Cards
  • To Distinguish the Suit of Any Given Card by Weight
  • The "Three-Card" Trick
  • The Penetrating Card
  • The Long Card
  • The Ladies' Looking Glass
  • Torn Corner Card Trick
• CHAPTER V: Card Tricks Requiring Special Apparatus
  • The Cards Rising Through the Air
  • Changing Card-Boxes, and Tricks Performed With Them
  • Mechanical Changing Cards
  • The Crystal Frame
  • The Cabalistic Star for the Production of Cards
• CHAPTER VI: Principles of Sleight-of-hand More Especially Applicable to Coin Tricks
  • To Secretly Change a Coin
  • The Continuous Back and Front Coin Palm
  • To Palm a Coin and Yet Show Both Sides of the Hand Empty
• CHAPTER VII: Coin Tricks Without Apparatus
  • To Pull Four Half-dollars Through a Handkerchief
  • To Extract a Coin from a Folded Paper
• CHAPTER VIII: Tricks with Coin Requiring Special Apparatus
  • The Rattle-Box. To Make a Coin Vanish from the Box, Though Still Heard to Rattle Within It
  • The Demon Handkerchief (Le Mouchoir du Diable)
  • The Half-dollar Wand
  • The Shower of Money
  • New Coin Catching
  • To Produce Coins from a Lighted Candle
• CHAPTER IX: Tricks with Watches and Rings
  • A Smashed Watch
  • A New Watch Trick
  • The Coin, Handkerchief, and Ring Trick
  • The Watch Box
  • Verbeck's Wedding Ring Trick
  • The Wandering Ring
• CHAPTER X: Tricks with Handkerchiefs
  • The Handkerchief That Cannot Be Tied in a Knot
  • To Exchange a Borrowed Handkerchief for a Substitute
  • The Locked and Corded Box
  • The Burning Globe
  • The Dissolving Handkerchiefs
  • Red, White and Blue
  • The Balanced Handkerchief
  • Multiplication of Handkerchief (A silk handkerchief made into two or more)
  • New Handkerchief Sleights
  • New Handkerchief and Egg Trick
  • The Egg and Handkerchief Shot
  • Handkerchief Production with the Aid of a False Finger
  • The Spirit Handkerchief
  • The Handkerchief Which Changes Color
• CHAPTER XI: The Cups and Balls
  • 1. To Palm the Ball
  • 2. To Reproduce the Palmed Ball at the End of the Fingers
  • 3. To Secretly Introduce the Palmed Ball Under the Cup
  • 4. To Simulate the Action of Placing a Ball Under a Cup
  • To Produce a Ball from the Wand
  • To Return a Ball Into the Wand
  • To Pass One Cup Through Another
  • Pass I. Having Placed a Ball Under Each Cup, to Draw it Out Again Without Lifting the Cup
  • Pass II. To Make a Ball Travel Invisibly from Cup to Cup
  • Pass III. Having Placed a Ball Under Each of the End Cups, to Make Them Pass Successively Under the Middle Cup
  • Pass IV. Having Placed Two Balls Under the Middle Cup, to Make Them Pass Under the Two Outer Ones.
  • Pass V. To Pass Three Balls in Succession Under One Cup
  • Pass VI. To Place Three Balls One After the Other Upon the Top of One of the Cups and to Make Them Fall
  • Pass VII. To Pass Three Balls in Succession Upwards Through the Table Into One of the Cups
  • Pass VIII. To Pass Two Balls in Succession From One Cup to Another Without Touching Them
  • Pass IX. To Make Three Balls in Succession Pass Under the Middle Cup
  • Pass X. The "Multiplication" Pass
  • Pass XI. To Transform the Small Balls to Larger Ones
  • Pass XII. To Again Transform the Balls to Still Larger Ones
• CHAPTER XII: Ball Tricks Requiring Special Apparatus
  • The Ball Box
  • The Red and Black Ball Vases
  • Morison's Pill-Box
  • The Ball Which Changes to a Rose
  • The Obedient Ball
  • The New Billiard Ball Production
  • The Tube and Ball
• CHAPTER XIII: Tricks with Hats
  • The Cannon-balls in the Hat
  • A Dozen Babies from a Hat
  • The Magic Reticules
  • The Drums from the Hat
  • The Birdcages from the Hat
  • The Cake (or Pudding) in the Hat
  • The Welsh Rabbit
  • The Bundle of Firewood
  • A Flower-Garden from a Hat
  • The Animated Cigar
  • The Wand Passed Through the Hat
  • The Magnetized Hat
• CHAPTER XIV: Second-Sight Tricks
  • Reading Blindfolded
  • Dr. Lynn's Second-Sight Trick
  • The Thinkophone
  • The Box of Numbers
• CHAPTER XV: Miscellaneous Tricks
  • The Vanishing Gloves
  • The Rice and Orange Trick
  • The Drawer-Box
  • The Changing Ladle
  • The Inexhaustible Bottle
  • The Bottle and Ribbons
  • The Mysterious Funnel
  • The Box of Bran Transformed to a Bottle of Wine
  • The Bran Bottle
  • The Bran Glass
  • To Fire Borrowed Rings from a Pistol, and Make Them Pass Into a Goblet Filled with Bran and Covered with a Handkerchief, the Bran Disappearing, and Being Found Elsewhere
  • The Butterfly Trick
  • The Wizard's Omelet (Borrowed Rings and Live Doves Produced from an Omelet)
  • The Chinese Rings
  • The Cannon-Ball Globe
  • To Balance an Egg on the End of a Straw
  • The Obedient Candle
  • The Bran Plate
  • Bran Disappearing from a Glass, and Reappearing Under a Plate
  • The "Coffee Trick" - Improved
  • The Mysterious Coffe-Cups
  • The Enchanted Colored Sands
  • The Famous Egg and Bag Trick
  • The Wine and Water Transformation
  • The Tambourine and Ribbon Trick
  • The Transformation of Paper Shavings into Coffee and Milk
  • The Bewitched Fan
  • The Vanishing Canary Bird and Cage
  • The Floating Coin
  • The Mystic Afghan Bands
  • The Cross of the Orient
  • The Latest Cigarette Evanishment
  • Stage Tricks
    • 1. The Plain Trap
    • 2. The "Wrist" or "Pressure" Trap
    • 3. The "Rabbit" or "Dove" Trap
    • 4. "Changing" Traps
    • Pistons
    • The Rabbit Trick
    • The Fairy Star
    • The Card Bouquet
    • The Demon's Head
    • The Magic Picture Frame
    • The Flying Watches and the Broken Plate
    • The Cabinet of Proteus
    • The Broken Mirror
    • The Bewitched Skull and Talking Hand
    • The Mystic Flight
    • The New Half-Lady Illusion
    • "Oh! Where Am I?"
  • Black Art Up To Date
  • The Art of Juggling
    • The Balanced Coins
    • The Centre of Gravity
    • Stick Breaking
    • Remarkable Swordsmanship
    • The Balancing Billiard Ball and Cue
    • Egg-Spinning Extraordinary
    • Blindfold Jugglery
    • The Spinning Hat
    • Ball Spinning
    • An Egg-and-Stick Balance
    • The Sword and Coin
    • The Whirling Hoop and Glass of Water
    • The Spinning Handkerchief
    • The Traveling Billiard Balls
    • Novel Hat Manipulation
    • A Complicated Balance
    • The Card, Candlestick and Cigar Balance
  • Hand Shadowgraphy
    • Dog and Rabbit
    • A "New" Rabbit
    • French Chef and Frying Pan
    • The Man and the Bottle
    • President McKinley
    • Mr. Gladstone
    • Napoleon
    • The Giraffe
    • The Preacher
    • Woman and Spoon
    • The Swan
    • Man with Pipe
    • The Conductor and Lady Vocalist
    • The Horse
    • The Dentist
    • The Snuff-Taker
    • The Fowl
    • The Dancer
    • A French Advocate
    • The Woman at Her Toilet
    • Mr. and Mrs. Caudle
    • A Good Story