Magic

The hand, Ellis Stanyon insists, is not quick enough to deceive the eye. The real secret lies in what the audience expects—and where the conjurer leads its attention instead.

In the parlors and on the stages of the early twentieth century, a dropped coin or a faltering trick could spoil an evening—or become part of the fun. In Magic, Stanyon teaches the aspiring performer to master misdirection, practice until each movement feels natural, and make even a wand or a coat pocket serve the illusion. His advice is as much about holding an audience as handling an object: never explain what is coming, and never let a mishap unsettle you. What must the spectators notice—and what must they miss—for the impossible to seem real?

With centuries of literature, it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. We hunt down public domain works and restore them so they're not lost to the world.

Who are we? We're Cairn Press. Our background is in design, publishing, typography, and technology. These skills fuel our mission to create the highest quality Public Domain eBooks available online, at an affordable price. We give them the treatment they deserve; our proprietary process restores books for a better overall user experience in design, readability, and e-reader compatibility.