Hey everyone, im very interested in purchasing the tarbell books, but i do not know weather i should be getting volumes 1-8 (http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S11877) or the all-in-one hardbound version offered here at penguin. (http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/2492) ay information can help greatly!

Unless I'm mistaken the material in both the book and the sets is identical. In which case it's just up to you which format you would rather have. I personally have the 8 volume set, but I got it long before the compilation was available.

I'm thinking of buying the compilation. It could be handy having all that WONDERFUL stuff in one volume.

Ted

No, they are not identical. The "all in one" is a bound copy of the sixty mail order lessons from 1928.

The Tarbell Course books were published in 7 volumes starting in 1941. The first five covered the original 1928 course, reformatted and edited into categories for book form. Vol 7 came many years later (1972) and was compiled by Harry Lorayne. You'll even find a submission in there from a young David Copperfield. Vol 8 was described as a "Graduate Course" and was published in 1993.

As a collector, the original mail order set is an interesting addition to any library. But, the 8 volume set of books is far larger and covers more material than the original course.

Go with the 8 volume set.

http://geniimagazine.com/magicpedia/Tar ... e_in_Magic

Wow! OK thanks a bunch! I'm super excited for this. i have another question though. this is my third year of conjuring, and I'm doing this in a n attempt to be able to learn new magic on a regular steady basis, I am planning to learn about two lessons from Tarbell per week until i finish the whole 8 volumes, is this a good plan? if not, what would you recommend?

truthfully, no it's not good. Figure out where your interests are in magic, coin, cards whatever. Then learn a few effects VERY WELL, in fact get them faultlessly. Then perform. You can do some thing with excellence but if you try all 8 volumes you will have all effects poorly.

I agree with Paddy, that's just too much magic to try and perform. I did READ all 8 books, but I didn't try to master all of the effects. It's better to perform a half dozen effects really well than it is to do a hundred half heartedly. I say, read the volumes, pick 6-8 effects you really like, spend a LOT of time working on those effects, and then slowly add more over the years if you want.

Ted

Oh, yea, that was pretty much the plan, I'm in a cast right now, and I've been working on my street routine, when I'm done I'm going to go test it out and hopefully get a summer gig at a restaurant or something, but what i want to do is continue to educate myself in magic, i also like to have the occasional effect that i can play around with for a day, perform for a week at school, and then probably never touch it again. i figure this would be good for an all around general knowledge of magic, which is what I'm after.