ERDNASE, S.W. The Expert at the Card Table. Artifice, Ruse, and Subterfuge at the Card Table. [Chicago]: Published by the Author, (1902). FIRST EDITION. Green cloth lettered gilt with acorn devices to front board. With illustrations ?from life" by Marshall D. Smith. 8vo. Bookplate of Graham Adams, and with a one-page ALS from Dr. Jacob Daley (one of the original ?stars of magic") to Adams laid in describing his affection for the book. Cloth a bit darkened, front hinge starting, ends renewed, else very good. With a later slipcase in olive cloth. A wonderful association copy of this seminal work on sleight-of-hand with cards.Adams was a well-respected sleight-of-hand performer from England who was a champion of Erdnase's great book. The letter from Dr. Daley laid in the book is most flattering, of both Adams and Erdnase: ??your deep interest in Erdnase was sufficient evidence of your appreciation of artistry in magic. ? Regarding your opinion of Erdnase, I wholeheartedly agree with you. In my personal copy of Erdnase, I have inscribed the following: ?If all the books on card manipulation were condemned to be destroyed and I was given the opportunity to salvage only one ? this would be it. In my humble opinion, I consider the Expert at the Card Table the greatest treatise on the science and art of card manipulation ever written and I doubt if it will ever be equaled.'"In over a century since its first publication ? during which time the book has never been out of print ? it would appear that more than a few magicians agreed with Daley's statement, not the least of which was Dai Vernon, who championed Erdnase's book throughout his life and helped cement the volume's reputation as an all-time classic.