The Magic of Robert Harbin was published in 1970 and has only had one authorized printing. Only 500 copies were printed and they are hand numbered and the original owners name was hand written into the book when originally sold. The book sold for $75.00 in 1970 which was quite pricey in that day. Now copies sell for many multiples of that amount. The book contains the plans for the Zig-Zag girl illusion which according to Harbin was best illusion he had originated at the time the book was published.
Harbin was originally published under his real name, Ned Williams. His good friend Eric C. Lewis is credited to have helped Harbin with many of his books. However, none of the books authored by Harbin are as sought after as this 1970 publication.
The book was illegally reproduced by Al Mann in the 1980s which to the untrained eye, looks very much like the original book. One of the easiest way to tell the difference is to turn to page 154. In the original version, a small rectangular piece of paper is affixed to the book in the left margin as a clarification. In the unauthorized version, the text appears but not affixed after the book was published as in the original.
The illusions and magic contained in the book is as follows:
- The Vanishing Vase and Flowers
- Harbin's Vanishing Radio
- Harbin's Folding Trolley
- The R.H. Cigarette Routine
- The R.H. Rope Routine
- Harbin's Torn and Restored Newspaper
- Drinka Pinta
- Cage to Bouquet or the Ever-Vanishing Birdcage
- My Lady's Ring
- Harbin's Packaway Tables
- Upside-Down Production Box
- Super X Plus
- Harbin's Chair Suspension
- The Magic Carpet
- Super Simplex Levitation
- Beer Barrel Penetration
- Head Off
- Experiment 13
- R.H. See Saw (Visible Sawing Through)
- Topsy Turvy
- Take it Away
- Little by Little
- The Zig-Zag Girl
- The Great Book Test
- The Knight's Tour
- Master Plan
- Vana, the Living Plant
- The Red Hands
- The Hands of Dracula
- The Space Wheel
- Petra
- The Invisible Man (or Out of This World)
- The Wizard of Oz - The Ruby Shoes, The Cauldron, The Mutilated Straw Man, The Vanishing Witch, The Sentry Box