Originally Published in the 1970's by Tannens, this excellent two-volume collection of illusion plans has been reprinted four times in the last 40 years -- a testament to the detail and quality of the information in these books.   D. Robbins took over the rights to the books and have reprinted it once in 1984, again in 1996, and most recently in 2015.   

This is the 2015 fourth reprint.   This edition of the set was printed without a dustcover, and to be honest, (as I always try to be), the overall production quality of the books is not as nice as previous editions.  The paper is thinner, the gold and silver stamping on the covers is fainter, and I found some ink spots on the title page of the set when I opened it for inspection and review.   But that said, these are nice, durable hardcover volumes, filled with amazing information about classic illusions of magic -- and they do not command the triple-digit prices that are typically tagged to earlier editions (if and when they come up for sale).

 The two books are divided into Text (in the smaller sized volume) and Plans in the larger book.  The Text book is 9x12 inches, so you can tell from the picture that the Plans book is very large.  The text book describes each illusion, and you can look at plans side by side as your read the text, because of the two-volume format.     See the photo of the table of contents to get an idea of just how many illusions are described in detail.

The information contained in this set is invaluable to anyone interested in a thorough understanding of classic illusions, or a handy wood worker/craftsman who wants to build his own large-scale illusion show!     If you want to build the illusions, you need to know how to read blueprints.    But even if you never build a single illusion from these books, you will find hours of enjoyment and inspiration looking over the ingenious methods that have been used to baffle and amuse audiences for generations.

These two books are big and heavy.    I will ship them Media Mail (or if you want to pay about $8 more, I can ship them Priority Mail flat rate -- let me know when you order if you prefer Priority).   

These books have a suggested retail of $80-$90, and early editions go for $150-$200.   But I got a good deal on this 4th printing set, so get all this great magic history for less.  A lot less!

SORRY INTERNATIONAL (NON-USA ADDRESSES) CUSTOMERS:   this item is heavy and will cost about $75 to send outside of the USA.    If you are interested in buying it, contact me and I will confirm exact shipping and arrange an invoice for you with correct shipping costs.