BRAUN, John (1896 – 1988). Two Notebooks of Magic Secrets, Ideas, and Sleights. Circa 1950s – 60s. A pair of handwritten 4to three-ring-binders/notebooks filled with penciled instructions for a wide range of magic tricks, including effects with apparatus, as well as feats of pure sleight-of-hand. Many items illustrated in great detail. Included are instructions and routines for The Blue Phantom, Brema's Penny Weight, David Hoy's Book Test, the Jim Ryan Push Through Control, Dai Vernon's Al-N-Dai variation, Ellsworth Lyman's 4 Ace Control, and well-sketched tricks by Germain, Leipzig, Bobo, Charlie Miller, LePaul, S. Leo Horowitz, and others. With scattered memorabilia, printed instruction sheets for marketed effects, and correspondence to Braun laid in. A fascinating trove of secrets collected by this well-posted magician and author.
While not a professional magician, John Braun was an “insider" who counted many of magic's stars as his friend, including Okito, Dai Vernon, Stewart Judah, and countless others. He served as president of the I.B.M., was a longtime editor of its journal, The Linking Ring, authored and edited several important books on conjuring (among them Bobo's Modern Coin Magic), and was a mentor to Ken Klosterman, who named the library in his Salon de Magie collection after his friend.