The Amateur Magician’s Handbook

The Amateur Magician’s Handbook

First published in 1950, Henry Hay’s *The Amateur Magician’s Handbook* is one of the broad survey books through which many English-speaking magicians first encountered the craft seriously. It is not a collection of fashionable one-off tricks. Its ambition is larger: to show what a magician needs to think about before choosing material, then to introduce techniques, apparatus, performance settings and working habits across a wide range of magic.

The name Henry Hay was a pen name used by June Barrows Mussey. The book has appeared in several editions. The fourth revised edition is particularly useful to identify when buying second-hand: it is a 414-page Harper & Row volume from 1982, later also issued in paperback by Signet. Earlier printings and the Faber edition do not all contain the same additions, so a seller should always photograph the copyright page and contents page.

What is actually in the book

The first major section is hand magic. Hay starts with cards: breaks, glimpses, shifts or passes, forces, palms, false shuffles, changes and card flourishes. It then moves to coins, billiard balls, cups and balls, sponge balls, thimbles and cigarettes. This is practical material, but it is not merely a move catalogue. Effects are placed alongside methods so the reader can see why a technique might be worth learning.

The book then turns to what Hay calls “head magic”: card locations, key cards, mechanical decks, stacked systems and prepared cards. That is followed by apparatus magic, covering silk work, the thumb tip, pulls, rope, egg bags, liquid tricks, linking rings and other traditional props. A separate mental magic section includes material associated with Theo Annemann, including billet and one-ahead principles, book tests, question-and-answer routines and slate work.

Later editions also include chapters on close-up performance, children’s shows and platform work. They deal with issues that beginner books often ignore: choosing props for a venue, clothing, furniture and servantes, comedy, music, publicity, business methods, working with children and building a coherent show. The fourth edition adds guidance by The Amazing Randi on using video to coach yourself.

Why the book still matters

Its strength is range and order. A reader can compare sleight of hand with prepared methods, small props with larger apparatus, and close-up conditions with platform conditions. Hay repeatedly asks the useful question: is a method proportionate to the effect? That makes the book valuable even where a modern performer chooses different material.

It is also a book of references. The reader is pointed towards other magicians and sources rather than being told that this one volume is sufficient. That makes it a solid map of the mid-century literature and a sensible starting point for building a study list.

Read it with its limits in mind

This is an old book. Some props, language and performance assumptions belong to its period. The illustrations are relatively sparse, and several sleights are described more briefly than a complete beginner would need. A reader learning a pass, palm or coin technique today will often benefit from a modern visual source as well. The book is strongest as a foundation and a reference, not as the only teacher a newcomer will ever need.

For collectors, condition and edition matter. Check whether the copy is hardcover or paperback, whether the dust jacket is present, whether the binding is sound, whether pages are clean and whether the fourth-edition additions are included. For magicians, its lasting value lies in the breadth of its instruction and in its insistence that technique, construction and presentation belong together.