We may never knew who wrote Artifice, Ruse and Subterfuge: The Expert at the Card Table. The influential card conjuring manual is often referred to as Expert at the Card Table or Erdnase, a reference to the mystery author's pseudonym S.W. Erdase. The book details the method of a series of various card tricks like palming. Just who S.W. Erdnase is remains one of the biggest mysteries in the magic community.
In The Man Who was Erdnase by Bart Whaley and Martin Gardner and Jeff Busby, said mystery is explored. Definitely worth a read.
I've only yet to read some of Erdnase online (it's available here) but the preface alone is quite enticing. What follows is the last sentence of it...
"It will not make the innocent vicious, or
transform the pastime player into a professional; or make the fool wise, or
curtail the annual crop of suckers; but whatever the result may be, if it sells it
will accomplish the primary motive of the author, as he needs the money."
I may be using this to open all my books.
First print copies of the Erdnase are on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
