Artifice, Ruse & Erdnase by Hurt McDermott

In 1902 under the pseudonym S.W. Erdnase and the title Artifice, Ruse and Subterfuge at the Card Table a book on sleight-of-hand with cards was published. This book became the bible for card magicians. To this date it remains arguably the single most important book on sleight-of-hand card magic. Some of the most respected masters of card magic, like the late Dai Vernon, have repeatedly pointed to Erdnase as their guide. The book has been reprinted and annotated several times over the past decades. However, despite the importance and standing the book has achieved, the author has never been identified. Many scholars, experts of magic and gambling, as well as historians and scientists have tried to identify who is hiding behind the Erdnase pseudonym. For instance the Scientitic American puzzle editor and dean of science and math populizers, Martin Gardner, spent many years searching for Erdnase’s true identity. Several candidates have been suggested and portrayed as Erdnase, but to this date the identification remains controversial.

This book by Hurt McDermott collects, evaluates, interprets and extends the facts and findings concerning the major Erdnase candidates proposed up to 2012. (For subsequent developments see The Hunt for Erdnase: and the path to Edward Gallaway by Chris Wasshuber). They are carefully weighed against each other. Although through this work McDermott shows how he has formed his opinion of the most likely candidates, the book’s primary purpose is to survey all existing theories, to put them under a common objective microscope, and to guide and help the reader to form his own opinion of who Erdnase might have been.

Part of the problem of the hunt for Erdnase is that every hunter applies his own subjective criteria and often falls prey to confirmation biases to ‘prove’ that his candidate is Erdnase. For both the casual Erdnase enthusiast who would like to follow the various avenues that have been pursued to enjoy the mystery and legend around the author and for the veteran Erdnase hunter who would like a current summary of the state of the search, there is no better place to start ones reading than Artifice, Ruse & Erdnase: The Search For One Who May Not Want to Be Found.

1st edition 2012, 225 pages.

Table of Contents

9. Foreword
11. Author’s Preface
13. Introduction: Erdnase’s Identity And Why We Care 
21. 1. Erdnase In Chicago 
33. 2. Publication & Early Life
38. – Survival & Spread 
49. 3. Geniisis & Methodology
50. – Genii Forums, Erdnase Thread
56. – Methodology 
63. 4. The Men Who Are Not Erdnase (+ 1 Hopefully) Introducing The Candidates
64. – 1. The Paradoxical Candidate
70. – 2. The Complex Anagram
77. – Part 2: Occam’s Candidates
80. – 3. The Railroad Agent
86. – 4. The Confidence Man
89. – 5. The Printer’s Neighbor
90. – The E. S. Andrews Brotherhood Of Writers
90. – 6. The First Serious Contender
92. – 7. The Presbyterian
95. – 8. The Edison Pioneer
96. – The Expert At The Typewriter
97. – 9. Cheating According To Hoyle
99. – Chicago Magicians
100. – 10. The Plagiarist
103. – 11. The German Connection
105. – 12. The Collaborator
106. – 13. The Tomb Of The Unknown Erdnase 
109. 5. Martin Gardner & Associates
114. – Speak Memory
122. – Marshall D. Smith
135. – E. L. Pratt
145. – MFA’s Family Members 
153. 6. Erdnase’s Testimony
170. – Literary Analysis
172. – Erdnase’s Style 
187. 7. Questioned Documents 
213. Epilog: Journey’s End?
217. Select Bibliography
223. About The Author