Handwritten and Illustrated Magician's (or Conjurer's, Illusionist's) Book of Illusions and Magic Tricks

America, 1947. Cloth-covered 3-ring binder (American manufactured), covers illustrated in black marker with drawings of top-hats, an ace of spades, an eight ball, faces, names, and maxims ("Flunk Early, Avoid the Rush," "Here's Your Hat What's Your Hurry?"). The inside front cover bears our author's name ("Budd Leader, Sophomore, 1st half") as well as a cloud of girls' names (Joan, Ginger, Darlene, Sally, Betty, Roberta, et al), perhaps referring to his lovely assistants -- women who put birds back in their cages, who comforted newly hatless rabbits, who were sawn in half, or who otherwise gave themselves to magic. This distinctly American binder is bursting with 382 tricks, handwritten in ink in tidy script, on lined paper, most of them accompanied by careful pencil drawings (demonstrations of steps and techniques) on small leaves of onion skin paper, stapled to the trick they describe. Extremities bumped, and cloth a bit frayed; boards warped (see aforementioned "bursting," I wasn't joking), with a few small spots of soiling. Top ring of binder doesn't close all the way (ahem, bursting), so a few pages have come loose (but could be easily reinforced, if one were so inclined). Contents are bright and clean, perfectly legible, pleasing to behold and -- one assumes -- hitherto privileged information.

Includes tricks with cards, rope, dice, balloons, sleights of hand, mind reading, break-away cabinets, and so much more. Though some of the illusions strike this cataloguer as enticingly practical ("How to be Marvelous without Skill," "The Vanishing Alarm Clock"), many of the illusions seem quite advanced, and particular to the world of magic ("Second Sight Extraordinary," "Mind Signals," "You Do As I Do"). Though little can be found on Budd Leader now, he was clearly a high school student of some talent and considerable dedication. A quintessential, distinct volume. Remarkable.