Magical Originalities
Ernest E. Noakes
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Preface
AFTER a careful perusal of the proof sheets of this interesting and chatty little book, I willingly acceded to the request of its author, an old and trusty friend, to write a short preface to it. The position of the author is almost unique at the present day, inasmuch as he is the inventor and manufacturer of most of his tricks, and he is able to present them to the public in a finished and refined manner with most amusing patter. He evidently loves his profession, and he is ever working for the advancement of the Magic Art. His frequent lectures to the members of the Magic Circle are object lessons, as valuable to the expert as to the tyro.
Looking back fifty or sixty years, and comparing the books upon conjuring at that period with those of the present day, I rejoice to find that dishonest works, intended to throw dust in the eyes of the public by giving false explanations of tricks, are almost a thing of the past. I do not believe that a really honest book, correctly explaining the secrets of conjuring tricks, even appeared until Professor Hoffmann published his famous works. I well remember the storm his first book raised about his ears. Most conjurers thought their business was inevitably ruined. I did not share that opinion. I saw that the exposure of old tricks must result in the invention of new ones; that conjurers, instead of imitating each other from generation to generation, would be forced to bestir themselves and invent new surprises. From that time to the present the improvement in the quantity and quality of tricks and illusions has been most marked, and conjurers have risen greatly in the estimation of the thinking portion of the public. I give Hoffmann credit for being loyal to the profession; he never exposed any novelty that was at the time creating a sensation.
With these brief remarks I strongly recommend this useful little book to my brother-magicians, for whom it is specially written.
J. N. MASKELYNE.
ST. GEORGE'S HALL, W.,
March 1914.
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