Much of his inventive genius was put into written form and he is known as one of the most prodigious authors on the subject of magical effects. However, although Harbin was brilliantly creative in the field of magic he was not a particularly good writer and his friend and associate Eric C Lewis has stated that many of Harbin's titles were ghost written for him.
In about 1952 Harbin appeared in a minor part as a magician in the film
''The Limping Man'', produced by Cy Enfield . In 1953 , Harbin and a friend of Enfield, Gershon Legman (1917-1999), discovered a common interest in the Japan ese art of paper-folding. Harbin wrote many books on the subject, beginning with ''Paper Magic'' (illustrated by the young art student, the Australian Rolf Harris who in the middle of the project, caught the origami idea and contributed several intricate models himself) in 1965 , and was the first President of the British Origami Society . He was the first Westerner to use the word Origami for this art-form. He also presented a series of origami programmes for Independent Television in its "Look-In" shows for children in the 1970s .
His grave is at Golders Green Crematorium in London .
Titles by Robert Harbin
- ''Have Fun with Origami'', Severn Ho., 1977, ISBN 0-7278-0225-9
- ''Have Fun with Origami'', Independent Television, 1975, ISBN 0-900727-26-8
- ''More Origami'', Hodder, 1971, ISBN 0-340-15384-9
- ''New Adventures in Origami'', 1982, Harper & Row, ISBN 0-06-463555-4
- ''Origami: Art of Paper Folding'', Coronet, 1969, ISBN 0-340-10902-5
- ''Origami: Art of Paper Folding'', Coronet Books/Hodder, 1972, ISBN 0-340-16655-X
- ''Origami: The Art of Paperfolding'', HarperPerennial, 1992, ISBN 0-06-092269-9
- ''Origami: Art of Paper Folding (Illustrated Teach Yourself)'', Picture Knight, 1975, ISBN 0-340-19381-6
- ''Origami: Art of Paper Folding (Coronet Books)'', Hodder Headline Australia, 1977, ISBN 0-340-21822-3
- ''Origami Step by Step'', Hamlyn, 1974, ISBN 0-600-38109-9
- ''Origami (Teach Yourself)'', NTC Publishing, 1992, ISBN 0-8442-3935-6
- ''Origami A/H'', Hodder Arnold, 1976, ISBN 0-340-27950-8
- ''Secrets of Origami: The Japanese Art of Paper Folding'', Dover, 1997, ISBN 0-486-29707-1
- ''Secrets of Origami, old and new: The Japanese art of paper-folding'', Oldbourne, 1964, ISBN B0000CM4YW
- ''Teach Yourself Origami'', Teach Yourself Books, 2003, ISBN 0-07-141979-9
- ''Teach Yourself Origami'', Hodder, 1968, ISBN 0-340-05972-9; 1992 reprint ISBN 0-340-56527-6; 2003 reprint ISBN 0-340-86008-1
- ''Origami: Art of Paper Folding (Teach Yourself)'', Hodder, 1973, ISBN 0-340-16646-0
- ''Paper Folding Fun'', Oldbourne, 1960, ISBN B0000CKUYQ
- ''Paper Magic'', Oldbourne, ISBN 0-356-01013-9
- ''Paper Magic: The art of paper folding'', Oldbourne, 1956, ISBN B0000CJG8R
- ''Secrets of Origami'', Octopus, 1972, ISBN 0-7064-0005-4
- ''Something New in Magic'', Davenport, 1929
- ''Psychic Vision'', Davenport, 1930
- ''Six Card Creations'', Davenport, 1930
- ''Demon Magic'', Davenport, 1938
- ''How to Be a Wizard'', Oldbourne, 1957, ISBN B0000CJUT3
- ''How to Be a Conjuror'', Sphere, 1968, ISBN 0-7221-4322-2
- ''The Magic of Robert Harbin'', C.W. Mole and Sons, 1970 - This was published with a run of only 500 copies. After the run, Robert Harbin had the plates destroyed. This book is very rare and has gone for upwards of $2,000 on EBay .
- ''Magic (Illustrated Teach yourself)'', Treasure, 1983, ISBN 0-907812-39-2
- ''Magic (Illustrated Teach Yourself)'', Knight, 1976, ISBN 0-340-20502-4
- ''The Harbin Book'', M. Breese, 1983, ISBN 0-947533-00-1
- ''Harbincadabra, brainwaves and brainstorms of Robert Harbin N. Williams : From the pages of Abracadabra, 1947-1965'', R. Harbin
- ''Waddington's Family Card Games'', Elm Tree, 1972, ISBN 0-241-02111-1
- ''Waddington's Family Card Games'', Pan, 1974, ISBN 0-330-23892-2
- ''Party Lines'', Oldbourne, 1963, ISBN B0000CLQIH
- ''Instant Memory: The Way to Success'', Corgi, 1968, ISBN 0-552-06091-7
- Eric C. Lewis, ''The genius of Robert Harbin: A personal biography'', Mike Caveney's Magic Words (1997), ISBN 0-915-18130-8
|
