Gibeci?re 14, Summer 2012, Vol. 7, No. 2 - Book

Welcome to the 14th issue of Gibecire (Vol. 7, No. 2)! This issue features a number of glorious articles, as well as Stephen Minch's excellent "Pocket Notes," and a robust addition to the "Furthermore..." portion of this journal.

The issue starts with the ninth installment of Mitsunobu Matsuyama's "An Investigation into Magic in Japan," as he looks at the Japanese magician, K.T. Kuma, popularizer of the Kuma Tubes.

This is followed by another excellent translation, by the esteemed Lori Pieper, of a little-known book about the Eighteenth Century world of gamblers and cheaters. L'antidote ou le contrepoison des chevaliers d'industrie, ou joueurs de profession (The antidote or counterpoison against the knights of industry, or professional gamblers), first published in 1768, features 25 letters and documents detailing techniques used by many swindlers in the game of Faro. These include: rough and smooth, trimmed cards, using paper grain bias to distinguish certain cards, second dealing, the palm, the pass, lapping, and magicians' methods for transforming cards. This article also features an introduction by games expert, Thierry Depaulis.

The issue continues with "Furthermore...," which features input on the Butterfly Trick from Bill Mullins and Mitsunobu Matsuyama. There are also comments from P.G. Varola, Max Maven, and David Ben with regard to the Jean Hugard-Orville Meyer correspondence, published in the previous issue of the journal.