Angelo John Lewis, AKA Professor Hoffmann, was the author of the seminal Modern Magic, but as well as practical manuals on magic, he also wrote these fictional adventures of a boy wizard named Dick Hazard. The book also revealed the secrets of some classic tricks including the egg bag and "the miser's dream".

The attractive cloth cover, embellished with gold stamping, is decorated with some of the typical magical trappings: doves flying from a top hat and cascading cards. It also depicts the classical image of the Victorian magician in evening dress.