Magical tricks employed by strolling jugglers and fakirs. There does not exist a professional wizard, either of the North, South, or West, who can compete with anything approaching success, with the untutored, naked sons of the East. The basis of magic is the life-principle, a blind force obeying a controlling influence All magical operations consist in freeing one’s self from the coils of the Ancient Serpent. When a man, through the complete subjugation of matter, has attained that state of purification at which the spirit becomes nearly freed from its prison, he has become a creative force on earth, and can command the elements and powers of nature. Purified from the contact with matter, the powerful will and spirit of the fakir condenses the essence of plant life into its germ, and forces it to maturity ahead of its time. For will in motion is force, and force produces matter. The spirit of man is like that of his Creator, omniscient in its essence. Strolling Indian jugglers are neither pure in their modes of living, nor holy. They are generally feared and despised by the natives, for they are practitioners of the black art. Psychological versus conjuring tricks. The only explanation given by the Society for Psychical Research for these phenomena is it does not understand, and is incapable of understanding, what is going on. Fakir is a Mussulman devotee whose whole time is taken up by acts of holiness such as standing for days on one leg, or on the top of his head. But the saintly Hindu Yogi does not take “collections” after the exhibition of his psychic powers. The man Ellmore and Lessing saw was a public juggler, known in India as Jadoowalla or sorcerer. Public jugglers are not sleight of hand conjurers, they are mesmerisers endowed with phenomenal powers. Between hypnotism and Mesmerism lies an impassable chasm. Glamour and fascination are entirely different from hypnotism. Occultism does not admit claims of bodily disintegration, for a living creature, whether man or mosquito, cannot be “disintegrated” and live.

Magic is, by nature, a rather secretive field. One of the first people to write in detail about various tricks, methods and devices used to perform magic was Professor Hoffmann. His articles were considered pioneering in the field, particularly among English speakers. He became known as an expert, although he had not much personal practice as a magician. Instead, he studied magic, both tricks and theory. This particular work is taken from parts of Modern Magic, which was a collection of articles he wrote on various aspects of magic that was collected and published in 1876. Professor Hoffmann's real name was Angelo Lewis. He was born in London on July 23, 1839, and died in December of 1919. In addition to writing about magic, he also wrote stories for children, including the book Conjurer Dick, published in 1886.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions, Including Trick Photography" by Albert A. Hopkins. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

This book by a "magician's magician" discloses the secrets behind a collection of close-up marvels — including the author's "Out of the World," reputed to be the best card trick of the past century.

"Modern Magic" is a treatise in book form, detailing the apparatus, methods and tricks used by the magicians and conjurors. It was the first book in the English language to really explain how to perform magical feats. The treatise contains advice on the appearance, the dress and the staging of a magician. It then goes on to describe many tricks with playing cards, coins, watches, rings, handkerchiefs, dominoes, dice, cups, balls and hats, and concludes with a long chapter of miscellaneous tricks, including magic with strings, gloves, eggs, rice and some utility devices. The penultimate chapter describes large stage illusions, and the final chapter contains advice on routining a magic show, as well as more advice on staging.