The Art of Magic by Thomas Nelson Downs

The Art of Magic by Thomas Nelson Downs
The collaboration of T. Nelson Downs and John Northern Hilliard produced this wonderful book. Downs was the first to introduce an act with small objects onto the vaudeville stage. He was most famous for his coin manipulation, and in particular for his version of the "Miser's Dream". The Art of Magic covers sleights with cards, coins, and balls, and teaches many tricks and routines with detailed explanations from the master.
The card section in this book was epoch making. It features the first appearance in print of the side steal. Based on the number of pages dealing with card magic this is more a card book than anything else.

Overall a very thorough introduction to magic. Another excellent book by T. Nelson Downs is Modern Coin Manipulation.

This book was rated one of the ten basic books for a working library of conjuring by H. Adrian Smith, historian, collector and owner of the largest private magic library in his time. Other books in this top 10 list are:

The Expert at the Card Table by S.W. Erdnase
Magicians' Tricks by Henry Hatton and Adrian Plate
Modern Magic by Prof. Hoffmann
More Magic by Prof. Hoffmann
Later Magic by Prof. Hoffmann
The Modern Conjurer by C. Lang Neil
Our Magic by Maskelyne and Devant
Tarbell Course by Harlan Tarbell
Greater Magic by John Northern Hilliard
1st edition, 1909, Downs-Edwards Company, New York; 2nd edition, 1921; 1980 reprinted by Dover Publications, New York; 348 pages.

CHAPTER I.
FLOURISHES AND FANCY SLEIGHTS WITH CARDS.
The Card Fan
Card Balancing
To Tear a Pack of Cards
The Fan and Ruffle
The Downs Fan
Springing the Cards
Second Method
Third Method
The One-Hand Drop
Second Method
The Cards on the Arm
A Series of Fancy Flourishes
The Flower of Cards
Throwing Cards
Cards from the Mouth
CHAPTER II.
CARD TRICKS WITH UNPREPARED CARDS AND NOT REQUIRING SLEIGHT OF HAND.
Novel Card Discovery
Second Method
Third Method
Fourth Method
New Methods of Concluding Card Tricks
Second Method
Third Method
The Reversed Card
The Piano Trick
The Transposed Cards
CHAPTER III.
CARD TRICKS INVOLVING SLEIGHT OF HAND.
The Transfixed Pack
Second Method
Everywhere and Nowhere
Everywhere and Nowhere; new method
The General Card; T. Nelson Downs' Method
The Flying Card
CHAPTER IV.
SLEIGHT OF HAND WITH CARDS (continued).
The Princess Card Trick
Second Method
The Prince's Card Trick
The Twenty Card Trick
A Comedy of Errors
The Siamese Aces
The Card in the Pocket
Houdini's Torn Card Trick
Barrington's Torn Card Trick
A Card Discovered by Sense of Touch
The Flying Cards
Second Method
CHAPTER V.
SLEIGHT OF HAND WITH CARDS (continued).
The Cards up the Sleeve
Second Method
The Dissolved Card
The Mysterious Card
The Card and Hat
The Stabbed Card
The Great Poker Trick
Another Poker Trick
The Disappearing Queen
The Card Through the Handkerchief
The Card in the Watch
Second Method
CHAPTER VI.
CARD TRICKS BASED ON A NEW AND ORIGINAL SYSTEM OF LOCATING A CHOSEN CARD.
Chosen Card Appears in Any Part of the Deck
Second Method
Third Method
Fourth Method
Fifth Method
Sixth Method
The Ubiquitious Cards
Second Method
CHAPTER VII.
CLAIRVOYANCE WITH CARDS.
First Method
Second Method
Third Method
CHAPTER VIII.
A SERIES OF CARD TRICKS BASED ON A NEW AND ORIGINAL SYSTEM.
The Irregularities of Scroll Designed Cards
Mind-reading with Cards
Divination Extraordinary
The Transfixed Card
The Magician's Will Power
Prophecy Down-to-Date
CHAPTER IX.
THE RISING CARDS.
The Tattlings of Toto
DeKolta's Rising Cards
DeKolta's New Rising Cards
The Rising Cards in Swinging Houlette
The Thurston Rising Cards
Resurrection of the Cards
CHAPTER X.
THE FOUR ACE TRICK.
First Method
Second Method
Third Method
Fourth Method
Fifth Method
Sixth Method
Seventh Method
CHAPTER XI.
CARD TRICKS WITH APPARATUS AND IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER OBJECTS.
Card, Orange and Candle
The Card in the Frame
The Valladon Cards on Glass
CHAPTER XII.
FANCY FLOURISHES WITH COINS, USEFUL SLEIGHTS AND ADDITIONS TO THE MISER'S DREAM.
An Illusive Coin Pass
The Hilliard Pass
The Coin Roll
The Coin Through the Knee
The Traveling Coin
Down's Latest Method for "The Miser's Dream"
CHAPTER XIII.
COIN TRICKS WITH AND WITHOUT APPARATUS.
The Sympathetic Coins
The Coin Through the Hat
The Expansion of Texture
The Bewitched Nickel
The Disappearing Dollars
The Free and Unlimited Coinage of Silver
Coin, Glass and Cone
The Trained Half-Dollar
The New Flying Coin
The Coin Through the Hat
The Transmutation of Metal
Subtraction of Money
Every Man His Own Mint
New Coin Catching
A New Coin Combination
The Downs Coin Wand
The New Coin Wand
A New Coin Spider
CHAPTER XIV.
A COIN ACT AND A COIN LADDER.
A Coin Act and a Coin Ladder
The Coin Easel
CHAPTER XV.
TRICKS OF THE TRADE.
Tricks of the Trade
CHAPTER XVI.
TRICKS WITH EGGS.
To Balance an Egg on a Table
Egg Changed into Confetti
A New Idea in the Vanishing of an Egg
The Eggs from the Mouth
The Conjurer as Chicken Fancier
Japanese Egg Trick
The Latest Egg, Handkerchief and Glass Trick
"Eggsample"
CHAPTER XVII.
TRICKS WITH BALLS.
The Four-Ball Trick, with Novel Passes
Passing Four Solid Balls from Hand to Hand
Color Change with Four Solid Balls
The Traveling Balls
CHAPTER XVIII.
MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS.
The Four Paper Balls and Plates
The Flying Salt
The Cigarette Paper Trick
The Torn Bank Note
The Bill and Lemon Trick
The Ring on the Wand
The Mysterious Match
The Inexhaustible Hat
The Mysterious Knot
The Vanishing Knot
The Mystic Tie
The Jacoby Rope Tie
The Rope Tie par excellence
Escape from a Paper Cylinder
The Giant Memory
The Trance Vision
Second Method
The Quick or the Dead
Don'ts
L'Envoi

word count: 118529 which is equivalent to 474 standard pages of text