The writer of the horrific journal is James Maybrick, a depraved drug-taking, womanising 49-year-old Liverpool cotton merchant with a history of domestic violence. In this bestselling analysis of his diary, investigative author Shirley Harrison explains all about the origins of the text, the rigorous scientific analysis it has endured and reveals startling new information about Maybrick's shadowy background. All this, combined with a chilling confession scratched into a watch, 'I am Jack. J Maybrick,' provide powerful justification that Maybrick was Jack the Ripper. The diary itself is reproduced in full, so that you too can judge whether these are the deeply disturbing words of Jack the Ripper himself, reaching out from across the abyss of more than a century.

Lebanon Circle proudly presents The Diary of Jack the Ripper Edition of the classic The Book of Revelations. 

How many hands does a book pass through in its lifetime? How many pairs of eyes have gazed upon its text within?  Books have the ability to stir emotions, they can make you laugh or cry, they can fill you with anger or fear and they can even change the way you think forever.

Some say that certain objects act as a psychic sponge and draw in energy created by the emotions we feel.  This concept is not new as houses and other inanimate objects that pass from owner to owner over many years are also said to harbour past memories, emotions and happenings recording them almost like a video tape.  We have all heard of haunted houses and screaming skulls so a book containing some form of paranormal energy is not hard to comprehend, right?

Rising card effects always look eerie and they get great reactions from an audience but how can an age old routine like this be modified to make it even more eerie and even more unbelievable? 

I had been reading Tarbell and came across a chapter on rising card routines; one of these was a rising card from book effect.  The original trick was great but the mechanics were clumsy and restricted the performer to a stage.  Inspired by the concept of this effect I set myself two challenges;

• To devise a rising mechanism self contained within the book so that the illusion could be performed impromptu
• To leave the book fully examinable to the extent that it could even be read and taken away

Effect Synopsis

• Two volunteers each select a card.
• Each volunteer then selects any page in The Book of Revelations, the page numbers are noted. Remember, any page can be selected!
• The Book of Revelations is closed.
• As a volunteer  thinks of their card it begins to  rise from the pages either horizontally or vertically!
• The Book of Revelations is then opened at the selected pages to confirm that the cards are no longer there!
• The Book of Revelations can be inspected before and after the illusion!

NOTE

The cards are standard ungimmicked playing cards allowing The Book of Revelations to be also used for rising billets or  even photographs.  There are no external wires, threads or elastic, the mechanism is self contained within the book and is virtually invisible and can be fully inspected.  This has to be one of the cleanest rise effects on the market!

From Hell cards are too large to be used with The Book of Revelations.

Aged or Standard Version?

I’ve had a number of requests to produce an aged copy of ‘The Diary of Jack the Ripper’ Book of Revelations. I’ve never considered it in the past as it was only published in 1993 so making it look like it was published in 1893 seemed slightly odd. However, for pure aesthetics I can see the benefits so here it is, the aged version of the Ripper’s Diary.

It needs to be noted though that the ageing is external only. The book contains modern typeface and glossy images so ageing the interior just wouldn’t make sense. Luckily, during The Book of Revelations routine nobody is required to look inside the book other than the performer.

Custom Orders

The Book of Revelations mechanics can be applied to virtually any hard backed book and I have gimmicked standard novels to raise larger objects such as tarot cards.  Please be aware that due to the size of tarot cards only one rise mechanism can be installed.

If you have a custom query please contact me for a quote and please be aware that sourcing rare or out of print books may take longer than usual.