Gibson, Walter: Houdini's Escapes ©1930, 1932 Bernard M.L. Ernst, Blue Ribbon Books, Inc., NY Hardcover, 633 pages

Image from ArtisanBooksAndBindery

Image from downtownbooks-milw

Comments: From the title page, "Prepared from Houdini's private notebooks and memoranda with the assistance of Beatrice Houdini, widow of Houdini, and Bernard M.L. Ernst, president of the parent assembly of the Society of American Magicians."

John Cox on his Wild About Houdini Website (www.wildabouthoudini.com) writes that in 1930 Houdini's Escapes was published by Harcourt, Brace and Company. Then Houdini's Magic was published in 1932. In that same year, Blue Ribbon Books published a combination edition titled "Houdini's Escapes and Magic", but the copyright in that book still said 1930.

Contents (from Book ToC:

8 Part Two - Impromptu Tricks
8 Coin Transportation
8 The Magnetic Table
9 The Spooky Ball
10 The Talking Glass
11 Four Coin Assembly
15 Cut and Restored String
17 Balanced Drinking Straw
17 Two from One
18 The Dissolving Knot
20 Vanishing Pocket Knife

24 Part Three - Card Tricks
24 A Good Key Card
24 Half and Half
25 The Traveling Card
27 Card Reading Trick
28 A New Card Box
29 The Imprisoned Card
31 A Spelling Trick
32 Card Counting Trick

36 Part Four - Slate Tricks
36 Slate in Bag
37 Improved Slate Writing
39 Novel Slate Writing
41 Spirit Slate Effect
43 Single Slate Trick
44 Newspaper Test

48 Part Five - Message Reading
48 Crystal Gazing Mysteries
54 Sealed Message Reading
56 Sealed Envelope Test
60 A Billet Reading

66 Part Six - Platform Tricks
66 Red and Green Silks
67 The Vanishing Glass
69 A Clinging Wand (with Vanish)
71 A Vanishing Wand
72 The Traveling Die
74 With the Linking Rings
75 A Neat Production Tube
77 Perfection Paper Tearing
78 Cone and Egg
81 Houdini’s Afghan Bands
84 The Vanishing Table Leg

88 Part Seven - Stage Tricks
88 The Traveling Ball
90 Kellar’s Wine and Ribbon
93 Hat Suspension
94 A New Dyeing Tube
97 Ching Ling Foo’s Paper Trick
100 A Duck Production
102 Chinese Rice Bowls

106 Part Eight - A Second Sight Act
106 A Second Sight Act
108 The Watch Test
110 The Figure Test to 10,000
112 The Playing Card Test
114 The Slate Test
115 The Book Test
117 The Colored Pencil Test
118 Presentation of the Act

122 Part Nine - Stage Illusions
122 Dunninger's Six Chicks
126 Frame and Cabinet
129 The Cask Illusion
132 A Vanish in Mid-air
136 Sawing a Womarn into Twins
141 Sardines in Oil
145 The Transformation Cabinet
148 De Kolta's Illusion
151 The Flight of Venus
156 The Giant Ball of Wool
159 A Vanish from a Ladder

164 Part Ten - Special Stage Effects
164 Living Head Illusion
166 Art and Nature
169 The Decapitation Act
174 The Torture Pillory
175 A Milk Bottle Escape

180 Part Eleven - Antispiritualistic Effects
180 A Spirit Cabinet
182 The Spirit Knots
184 The Vanishing Chair
186 Spirit Photography
189 A Materializing Cabinet
191 Some Mediumistic Effects
192 A Great Cabinet Act

198 Part Twelve - Notes on Kellar
198 Kellar's Rope Tie
199 The Cabinet Tie
202 Kellar's Committee Cabinet
202 Notes on Suspension
203 A Kellar Reminiscence
206 Conclusion