Lorraine's list of best books

Sid Lorraine's list of best books was published in his column "Sid Lorraine's Chatter" in Tops for June 1939 in response to a question posed to him in a letter.

Books published prior to 1920 (not including magazines):

1. The Old and the New Magic - Henry R. Evans (1906)
2. Our Magic - Jasper Maskelyne and David Devant (1911)
3. Art of Magic - T. Nelson Downs & Hilliard (1909)

• The Expert at the Card Table - Erdnase (1902)
• Modern Magic - Professor Hoffmann (1876)
• Sleight of Hand - Edwin Sachs (1877)
• Magicians' Tricks, How They Are Done - Henry Hatton & Adrian Plate (1910)
• Expert Billiard Ball Manipulation, Part 1 & 2 - Burling Hull (1910)
• The Modern Conjurer - C. Lang Neil (1902)
• Original Magical Creations - Stanley Collins (1915)
• Original Mysteries for Magicians - Brunel White (1918)
• The Magical Entertainer - P. T. Selbit (1906)
• Problems in Mystery - Max Sterling (1909)
• Magical Originalities - Ernest E. Noakes (1914)
• Modern Coin Manipulation - T. Nelson Downs (1900)
• Secrets of Conjuring and Magic - Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin (1878)

Books published after 1920:

• Quicker than the Eye - John Mulholland (1932)
• The Story of Magic - John Mulholland (1935)
• Magical Masterpieces - Louis Nikola (1934)
• The Nikola Card System - Louis Nikola (1927)
• Encyclopedia of Cigarette Tricks - Keith Clark (1937)
• Greater Magic - John Northern Hilliard (1938)
• The World's Cut and Restored Rope Tricks - Burling Hull (1927)
• Manipulative Series - Laurie Ireland (1937)
• Card Manipulations No. 1 - Card Manipulations No. 5 - Jean Hugard (1933-36)
• The Three Shell Game - Tom Osborne (1938)
• Al Baker's Book - Al Baker (1933)
• Magic and Stagecraft - Guy Jarrett (1936)
• And a Pack of Cards - Jack Merlin (1927)
• Popular Card Tricks - Walter Gibson (1928)
• Advanced Lessons in Cups and Balls - Eddie Joseph (1938)
• Mathemagic - Royal Heath (1933)
• Thimble Magic - Jean Hugard (1936)
• 202 Methods of Forcing - Ted Annemann (1932)
• Magic of the Hands - Edward Victor (1937)