The Erdnase Mystery
"Stealing means taking money from fundamentally honest people that they had not put at risk, and that is very wrong. Whereas cheating means thwarting the intentions of chance and appropriating sums that people had imprudently or presumptuously wagered with the secret hope of being favored both by fate and by the faults of their opponent. It means outsmarting their calculations, and it's not just opposing the work of chance, it's replacing it. I cheat, therefore I am chance."
These words, which attempt to distinguish stealing from cheating, are by Sacha Guitry. They are extracted from his irresistible novel Mémoires d'un tricheur (Memoirs of a Cheater). In it, he tells the story of a young boy whose entire family died after eating poisonous mushrooms, with the exception of the boy who hadn't eaten any because he had stolen and been punished. ("From that to concluding that the others died because they were honest!")
It's fierce and irresistibly ironic, classic Guitry!
As an anecdote, Le hasard c'est moi (I am Chance) was the title of a show that Dominique Duvivier performed for several seasons at Double Fond. Which goes to show how a simple quote can be the origin of an entire show!
To return to our main topic, how can we discuss cheating without mentioning S.W. Erdnase, the famous author of The Expert at the Card Table, THE reference for all card handlers and manipulators worldwide!
Originally published by this mysterious author (you'll soon understand why!) in 1902 in Chicago, the original edition of which is now fetching exorbitant prices at auction!
An author as famous as he is mysterious, whose story, as you will see, is comical, incredible, and worthy of a Conan Doyle mystery!
More than 120 years after the publication of The Expert at the Card Table, we still don't know the true identity of S.W. Erdnase!
Yet, we cannot ignore the numerous investigations that have tried to uncover his secret. Many journalists, magicians, and detectives have risked delving into it for over a century. In vain. The mystery of his identity remains complete.
Original edition, 1902
As you may have gathered, it is for obvious reasons that the work was published under a pseudonym: the author undoubtedly wished to remain unknown to the "pigeons" he fleeced, but also not to be accused of "obscene publication" in puritanical America at the beginning of the 20th century.
A first striking element, when looking at the book's cover, is that "S.W. ERDNASE" reads backward as "E.S. ANDREWS," which seems a much more common surname. This is undoubtedly the most famous and favored lead by many.
This theory also seems to be validated by the fact that there indeed existed an E.S. Andrews, who was involved in swindling activities in Chicago (the city where the first edition of the work was published).
In 1991, a book (The Man Who Was Erdnase) by B. Whaley, M. Gardner, and J. Busby was published in the United States, in which Erdnase (or a certain Milton Franklin Andrews) is described as a thug specializing in debt collection, who killed his partner before committing suicide by gunshot at the age of 33.
Another investigation, this time by Todd Karr, on E.S. Andrews, supports the same theory.
However, others reject this hypothesis, arguing that the known writings of Milton Franklin Andrews are far inferior to the prose of The Expert at the Card Table.
For over 30 years, many new pieces of evidence have actually dismissed Martin Gardner's hypothesis. While it's clear that Andrews was a cardsharp at the gaming table, not much more can be said with certainty.
Other theories have emerged over time: the name Erdnase could have concealed a certain Wilbur Edgerton Sanders (note that W.E. Sanders is also an anagram of S.W. Erdnase), or even The Masked Man (a 19th-century Peruvian magician).
Many other avenues of research have been explored: for example, that of the illustrator Marshall Smith, to whom Erdnase signed a check for his work in a hotel room, but it did not lead to irrefutable proof of the author's identity.
Ultimately, Todd Karr's theory remains the most probable, even if it contains many inconsistencies.
However, none of the arguments put forward fully succeed in definitively and certainly unmasking the author's true identity.
In short, the enigma remains complete and undoubtedly contributes to the myth.
On the other hand, what is beyond doubt, when reading The Expert at the Card Table, is that Erdnase was a cultured man, with precise and technical writing, having a certain knowledge of law, and giving his work an extra soul, considering cheating as an art form in its own right.
What we also know is that this book is also nicknamed "The Bible" of the card magic world, including by the one known as The Professor: Dai Vernon.
It is the very first work presenting cheating techniques at a gaming table, richly illustrated with 101 descriptive figures of manipulation techniques.
The work was undoubtedly written by a professional cheater, a true expert in card manipulation and sleight of hand. He laid the foundations of card magic and demonstrates a perfect mastery of psychology to divert the attention of the audience (or other players at the table). The last part of the book is also dedicated to a few card tricks, often underestimated.
More than a catalog of manipulations, Erdnase teaches us a whole philosophy.
Refusing to use any gaffed cards or gimmicks, Erdnase thus embodies the wisdom of the purist, probably concerned for his own safety, in an environment where the discovery of the slightest deception could be fatal.
Thus, unlike gaffed cards, skill, cunning, daring, strategy, dexterity, misdirection, and technique leave no evidence on the table that could become the scene of the crime!
All the great magicians of the 20th century acknowledge having taken their first steps in card manipulation thanks to this work, hence the name "Bible" that was quickly given to it.
The first edition of The Expert At The Card Table has obviously become a true collector's item! We don't really know how many copies of the 1902 Chicago edition were printed, but since then, there hasn't been a single year when the work hasn't been reissued.
Know that beyond the multitude of reissues, there are also annotated editions of Erdnase's work. The most legendary of all is certainly that of Dai Vernon himself, under the name "Revelations," in which the Professor's insightful comments are inserted into the original text.
This work was published in 1984 by Mike Caveney's Magic Word, and reissued in an enriched version (including a photo shoot in 2008)
Also noteworthy is that in 1991, Darwin Ortiz, considered one of the best card handlers in the world, also published his 273 annotations to Erdnase's text, shedding new light on the history and execution of his techniques.
Finally, know that there is a documentary film "The Expert at the Card Table," in which the greatest contemporary magicians attempt to trace the mystery of Erdnase, including Richard Turner, Laura London, Guy Hollingworth, Jason England, Richard Hatch, Chris Wasshuber, Bill Mullins, R. Paul Wilson, Joseph Cranford.
In short, S.W. Erdnase has not finished making headlines!
What if we considered a whole different theory: what if the choice of this pseudonym, which reads backward as "E.S. Andrews," was just another subterfuge, a final misdirection, one more distraction to throw off those who would seek to uncover the secret of his identity? Using a palindrome seems to me to be in total contradiction with his philosophy of technique.
This trick seems far too simple, obvious, and expected, to have been used by one who appears to be the most skillful, the most Machiavellian, the greatest of cheaters.
What he bequeathed to us is therefore considerable: more than twenty concepts and technical terms that laid the foundations of card magic, but above all, the most precious secret, the one that is there, before our eyes, hidden between the lines.