<p><strong>CONTENTS</strong></p> <ul> <li>A FEW INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF HOWARD THURSTON, PREMIER CARD MANIPULATOR OF THE WORLD,</li> <li>INDISPENSABLE SLEIGHTS,</li> <li>THE CONTINUOUS FRONT- AND BACK-HAND PALM, WITH CARDS AND TRICKS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH,</li> <li>THE "THURSTON" SYSTEM OF EXPERT CARD MANIPULATION (NOW PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME)</li> <li>AN ENTIRELY NEW AND ORIGINAL COLLECTION OF MISCELLANEOUS CARD TRICKS, INCLUDING THE CORRECT METHOD OF PERFORMING THURSTON'S NEW RISING CARDS,</li> </ul> <p><strong><br />CHAPTER I.</strong></p> <p>A Few Incidents in the Life of Howard Thurston.</p> <p>HOWARD THURSTON, the Premier Card Manipulator of the World, and known throughout America as "The Man who Mystified Hermann," was born at Columbus, Ohio, on the l0th of July, 1869, and is therefore now in his thirty-first year.</p> <p>Originally intended by his father-a gentleman of firm Christian principles-for the ministry, he entered the D. L. Moody College, in Northfield, Mass., and completed a course of five years' training. During this period he came to the conclusion that Providence had never intended him to go through life as a parson, and his natural love of Magic always predominated over his liking for the more serious subject he was studying.</p> <p>Upon graduating with honors from the College, very much against his father's wish he decided to adopt Magic as his profession. (How many other well-meaning enthusiasts have adopted this procedure, and