Description

In Will Goldston’s introduction to the final volume of his series of padlocked magical secrets, he assures the reader that he has done his “utmost to make the book perfect.” The proof is immediately apparent to anyone casting an eye over the book’s three-hundred-and-fifty pages — here we find “Malini’s Best Card Trick”, shortly followed by two versions of the Floating Ball, as well as a selection of Houdini’s escapes, Goldston apparently having received permission from the Handcuff King himself to publish the methods after his death. Illusionists will doubtless find inspiration in the exquisitely illustrated chapter devoted to mirror-based “Optical Illusions”, which includes a seldom-performed method for turning the performer’s head upside down, while historians will enjoy reading Goldston’s account of the magic of Carl Hartz, which includes a photograph of the pass Hartz was issued when he performed the Vanishing Bird Cage before a Parliamentary Committee at the House of Commons.

A book of wonderful magic that deserves a place in every discerning reader’s electronic library.