Encyclopedia of Card Tricks

Jean Hugard was one of the greatest writers on magic. This book collects hundreds of his tricks and contributions from other cardicians. It is splendid--there is no doubt about that. Sure, a lot of the writing has that naive, antiquated quality simply because of the manuscript's age. But still, for the serious card magic student, this book is a must-have. Beginners will have their eyes opened, and experts will smile and nod their heads in approval with Hugard's outstanding trick compilation. The Dover reprint is superb and a great value--quite a few of the concepts here are worth the price of the book by themselves. I have to go now, as I need to learn the amazing Nikola card system at the end of the book!

This book is an excellent source of card tricks. Many new and old tricks are explained. But what is not explained are some of the "normal" hand momements and techniques that are required for new magicians. This book is made for the medium and expert skilled magicians.

I bought this book some 22yrs ago for about $10.00. This is an excellent book for not just the beginner, but for the professional also. The book is well written and easy to understand. I worked at the Disneyland Magic Shop for some 10yrs and recommended this book many times.I own a Magic Shop now and this is one of the many books that I carry.

Jean Hugard's "Encyclopedia of Card Tricks" remains one of the most comprehensive and exhaustive texts on card effects even after 60 years of being in publication. A brief summary of the table of contents shows the variety of effects covered: impromptu card tricks, spelling effects, "you do as I do", special cards, special decks (Svengali, Mene-Tekel, Stripper), calculation effects, and miscellaneous card tricks. Hugard describes the effects clearly and accurately, attributes the originator of the effect (if known), and occasionally offers an editorial comment or suggestion. The book is quite literally a gold mine of information, awaiting an interested and motivated magician to mine its contents. I continue to amaze audiences with Stewart James' original handling of "Miraskill" (p. 330). And Kli Ban's "The Spectator Finds Your Card" (p. 348), in which the spectator finds the card I chose, has been in my routine for years. Virtually all effects require no difficult sleight-of-hand. However, Hugard does devote a chapter describing important card sleights. This Dover reprint is one of the best values in magic. With this volume, and possibly the addition of John Scarne's "Scarne on Card Tricks", any magician can develop an entertaining card routine that audiences will enjoy. "Encyclopedia of Card Tricks" belongs in every magician's library.

Excellent book for principles on card tricks. Jean goes through the tricks step-by-step so that they are easy to understand. Once you have done some of the tricks you will be able to use those tricks to perform your own tricks. I have learned tricks that I have never thought were possible.