Downs, Thomas Nelson: The Art of Magic
©1906 1st edition, 1906, Downs-Edwards Company, New York; 2nd edition, 1921 Arthur Felsman, Chicago, Illinois. Dover reprint 1980
ISBN: 0486240053
Hardcover (original), Dover Reprint paperback; 352 pages
Abebooks price range 60.00 - 185.00
Comments: (Lybrary.com): The Art of Magic covers sleights with cards, coins, and balls, and teaches many tricks and routines with detailed explanations from the master. A very thorough introduction to magic.
Contents:
19 Chapter I: Flourishes and Fancy Sleights With Cards
19 The Card Fan
23 Card Balancing
24 To Tear a Pack of Cards
26 The Fan and Ruffle
27 The Downs Fan
28 Springing the Cards
30 Second Method
32 Third Method
32 The One-Hand Drop
33 Second Method
34 The Cards on the Arm
35 A Series of Fancy Flourishes
36 The Flower of Cards
37 Throwing Cards
38 Cards from the Mouth
40 Chapter II: Card Tricks with Unprepared Cards and Not Requiring Sleight of Hand
40 Novel Card Discovery
41 Second Method
42 Third Method
42 Fourth Method
43 New Methods of Concluding Card Tricks
43 Second Method
44 Third Method
46 The Reversed Card
47 The Piano Trick
49 The Transposed Cards
52 Chapter III: Card Tricks Involving Sleight of Hand
52 The Transfixed Pack
55 Second Method
55 Everywhere and Nowhere
63 Everywhere and Nowhere; new method
71 The General Card; T. Nelson Downs' Method
77 The Flying Card
80 Chapter IV: Sleight of Hand with Cards (continued)
80 The Princess Card Trick
82 Second Method
84 The Prince's Card Trick
85 The Twenty Card Trick
87 A Comedy of Errors
89 The Siamese Aces
92 The Card in the Pocket
94 Houdini's Torn Card Trick
96 Barrington's Torn Card Trick
98 A Card Discovered by Sense of Touch
99 The Flying Cards
107 Second Method
111 Chapter V: Sleight of Hand with Cards (continued)
111 The Cards up the Sleeve
114 Second Method
124 The Dissolved Card
126 The Mysterious Card
127 The Card and Hat
127 The Stabbed Card
128 The Great Poker Trick
130 Another Poker Trick
133 The Disappearing Queen
136 The Card Through the Handkerchief
140 The Card in the Watch
141 Second Method
142 Chapter VI: Card Tricks Based on a New and Original System of Locating a Chosen Card
142 Chosen Card Appears in Any Part of the Deck
150 Second Method
150 Third Method
152 Fourth Method
154 Fifth Method
155 Sixth Method
157 The Ubiquitious Cards
162 Second Method
165 Chapter VII: Clarivoyance With Cards
165 First Method
165 Second Method
166 Third Method
169 Chapter VIII: A Series of Card Tricks Based on a New and Original System
169 The Irregularities of Scroll Designed Cards
171 Mind-reading with Cards
173 Divination Extraordinary
174 The Transfixed Card
176 The Magician's Will Power
178 Prophecy Down-to-Date
184 Chapter IX: The Rising Cards
184 The Tattlings of Toto
191 DeKolta's Rising Cards
194 DeKolta's New Rising Cards
198 The Rising Cards in Swinging Houlette
202 The Thurston Rising Cards
207 Resurrection of the Cards
213 Chapter X: The Four Ace Trick
213 First Method
215 Second Method
216 Third Method
217 Fourth Method
218 Fifth Method
219 Sixth Method
221 Seventh Method
225 Chapter XI: Card Tricks with Apparatus and in Combination with Other Objects
225 Card, Orange and Candle
229 The Card in the Frame
235 The Valladon Cards on Glass
243 Chapter XII: Fancy Flourishes with Coins, Useful Sleights and Additions to the Miser's Dream
243 An Illusive Coin Pass
245 The Hilliard Pass
246 The Coin Roll
248 The Coin Through the Knee
249 The Traveling Coin
249 Down's Latest Method for "The Miser's Dream"
251 Chapter XII: Coin Tricks With and Without Apparatus
251 The Sympathetic Coins
255 The Coin Through the Hat
256 The Expansion of Texture
260 The Bewitched Nickel
261 The Disappearing Dollars
262 The Free and Unlimited Coinage of Silver
263 Coin, Glass and Cone
266 The Trained Half-Dollar
267 The New Flying Coin
267 The Coin Through the Hat
268 The Transmutation of Metal
270 Subtraction of Money
270 Every Man His Own Mint
271 New Coin Catching
271 A New Coin Combination
273 The Downs Coin Wand
275 The New Coin Wand
276 A New Coin Spider
278 Chapter XIV: A Coin Act and a Coin Ladder
278 A Coin Act and a Coin Ladder
282 The Coin Easel
289 Chapter XV: Tricks of the Trade
289 Tricks of the Trade
294 Chapter XVI Chapter XVI: Tricks With Eggs
294 To Balance an Egg on a Table
295 Egg Changed into Confetti
296 A New Idea in the Vanishing of an Egg
296 The Eggs from the Mouth
297 The Conjurer as Chicken Fancier
298 Japanese Egg Trick
300 The Latest Egg, Handkerchief and Glass Trick
304 "Eggsample"
305 Chapter XVII Tricks With Balls
305 The Four-Ball Trick, with Novel Passes
310 Passing Four Solid Balls from Hand to Hand
313 Color Change with Four Solid Balls
314 The Traveling Balls
319 Chapter XVIII: Miscellaneous Trick
319 The Four Paper Balls and Plates
320 The Flying Salt
321 The Cigarette Paper Trick
325 The Torn Bank Note
329 The Bill and Lemon Trick
331 The Ring on the Wand
332 The Mysterious Match
333 The Inexhaustible Hat
335 The Mysterious Knot
336 The Vanishing Knot
337 The Mystic Tie
338 The Jacoby Rope Tie
341 The Rope Tie par excellence
342 Escape from a Paper Cylinder
343 The Giant Memory
344 The Trance Vision
345 Second Method
346 The Quick or the Dead
347 Don'ts
348 L'Envoi
| Owner | Bryan-Keith Taylor |
|---|---|
| Location | Magic Library (Home) |
| Read | |
| Index | 4207 |
| Added Date | Jul 01, 2017 03:06:49 |
| Modified Date | Apr 06, 2026 14:21:47 |
| Book Condition | Very Good |
|---|
Thomas Nelson Downs
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Thomas Nelson Downs
Born Thomas Nelson Downs
March 16, 1867
Marshalltown, Iowa
Died September 11, 1938 (age 71)
Marshalltown, Iowa
Resting place Marshalltown's Riverside Cemetary
T. Nelson Downs (b.1867-d.1938) was one of the most famous manipulative magicians renowned for his coin tricks was also known as "The King of Koins".
Biography
Born in Marshalltown, Iowa, he was the youngest of six children in the family of Thomas and Cordelia Downs. His family moved to Iowa from the New York state. Downs' father, the Marshall county superintendent, died when his son was not even a year old.
Downs never took any training in magic; all his tricks were self-taught. By the age of 12, he became an expert in card and coin manipulation. He further mastered his skills by the age of 17, when he took a job as a railway telegrapher and had plenty of time to practice with coins.
In September 1895, Downs decided to quit his telegraphy job and launch a career in magic. At first, he toured Iowa with his partner, Sam Spiegel, a mandolinist. By 1897, Downs concentrated only on the coin tricks—a rare specialization at that time, and established himself in vaudeville, which was a popular avenue for magicians.
The success of Downs career allowed him to get booked into Tony Pastor's New York theater, and to London's Palace Theater soon after that.
At the peak of his career, Downs traveled frequently, and performed at royal courts. While performing his tricks, he could palm up to 60 coins at a time. One of his most famous tricks was "The Miser's Dream", in which he seemed to pull countless coins out of the thin air.
In 1912, at the young age of 42, Downs decided to retire in Iowa. After moving back to Marshalltown, he rarely left the area. Not quite comfortable with idle retirement, Downs kept busy by opening a vaudeville house on Main Street, a few blocks from his own home at 7 S. 3rd Ave. He also sold a line of magic equipment. Many visitors, other magicians, streamed to his home to share gossip and the latest tricks as well as to brush elbows with the famous sleight of hand artist. The most famous of these visitors included Chung Ling Soo (William Robinson), Mrs. Harry Houdini, and Dai Vernon.
Downs was married twice. He had a son in his first marriage with Nellie Stone, who died in childbirth in 1895. He subsequently married Harriett Rocky on June 3, 1905.
He retired around 1928. In 1935 he was honored with a testimonial dinner.
Downs died on September 11, 1938 in Marshalltown, Iowa. He had suffered a stroke, which paralyzed his left side. He was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Marshalltown. His gravestone reads "King of Koins".
The Historical Society of Marshall County features a display about Downs in its museum.
Books
Downs wrote several books on magic before and after his retirement.
Modern Coin Manipulation (1900) and is still issued in reprints today.
Tricks with Coins (1902)
The Art of Magic (1909)
References
Wikipedia-logo.png This page incorporated content from Thomas Nelson Downs,
a page hosted on Wikipedia. Please consult the history of the original page to see a list of its authors. Therefor, this article is also available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
"T. Nelson Downs", New York Times, September 12, 1938
Obit The Linking Ring, Vol. 18, no. 7, September 1938. The "King of Koins" Passes On By T. J. Crawford.
Retrieved from "https://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php?title=Thomas_Nelson_Downs&oldid=90676"
Categories:
Biographies
1867 births
1938 deaths
Resting place
Reused content from Wikimedia projects
Professional magicians
------------------------------
Reprint of the 1st ed. (c1909) published by A. P. Felsman, Chicago.
Downs, Thomas Nelson
(1867-1938)
Born in Garwin, Iowa. Raised in Montour and Marshalltown, Iowa. Pro manipulator and card and coin worker since 1883. World-famous 'King of Koins'. Elected to the SAM Hall of Fame.
Prolific innovator in coin magic. Invented Back-and-Front Palm (1884), Click Pass (c 1900), Eureka Pass (c 1900), Downs Palm (c 1902), Edge Palm, Coins to Glass (c 1909), Coin Star, Coin Wand, Downs Change (1909), possibly Estimation (c 1909), Dime and Penny Trick (c 1917).
Many of his sleights and routines are described in J.B. Bobo's Modern Coin Magic.
Wrote: The Art of Magic, Modern Coin Manipulation
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