THE ROYAL ROAD TO CARD MAGIC  -- written by Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue

2010 reprint, published by D. Robbins.  Hardback  (the book is in NEW, MINT, and never owned previously -- it is from new-old dealer inventory)

Part of the fun of being a magic seller is that I get the chance to re-discover tricks and books that I had not thought much about for many years.    This happened again when I came across this very reasonably priced reprint of the classic Hugard and Braue book -- this prompted me to go pull my own copy of Royal Road off the shelf and re-study its contents.     (I advise this for anyone who already owns the book, since most magicians get this book fairly early in their magical life, and upon re-reading it with much more experienced eyes, you will discover all kinds of great tips and info that you overlooked as a beginner!)

For those who don't have this book in you library, all I can say is:  you should have it, if you have any interest in card magic at all.  If you are a beginner, this book is structured to teach you card technique and effects in a logical stepped progression (hence, taking you along the Royal Road).  Early chapters cover very basic techniques, and each subsequent chapter takes you another mile down the Royal Road, giving you another (more advanced) technique.   (Take a look at the photos of the Contents, and you will see this progression clearly.  You will also see how much info Hugard and Braue cover!)

I noticed in my re-read of this book, that I found a lot of great info in the early chapters -- I think when I read this book the first time, I must have skipped a head, because i figured I knew everything about an Overhand Shuffle (Chapter 1) -- reading it this time, I found an incredibly useful card double card control in this chapter, which I am willing to bet most magicians also missed when they read it the first time.

Each technique covered on the Road is also accompanied with a few effects to which the technique can be applied.  This cements the learning and also puts it into practice and performance.

This D. Robbins reprint is a hardcover, with dust jacket -- it is so reasonably priced that I would advise anyone who already owns Royal Road in one of the many paperback editions, you should upgrade to this hardcover.    It retains the original typesetting, layout and illustrations of the original first edition, and cost only slightly more than current paperback editions still available. 

If you do not own any edition of Royal Road, here is your chance to get a nice hardcover edition at a great price -- whether you are new to card magic, or have been doing it for years.    You will enjoy and learn a lot from this book.

    Published price is $25, which is a deal for a hardcover edition of this important book.   But I think every magician should own Royal Road in hardcover (so you can go back to it time and time again for years to come).  So I am going to sell this for even less!

CONDITION:  new and mint -- from new-old ex-dealer inventory, so never previously owned