David Hoy's influential “Bold Book Test” was first published in The Bold and Subtle Methods of Dr. Faust (1963, p. 21).

A precursor to Hoy's impromptu approach to the book test is George Armstrong's “Miracle Impromptu Book Test” in Phoenix, No. 130, Jul. 18, 1947, p. 522. Armstrong introduces the idea of glimpsing a line on a page in a borrowed book. He then forces the page number by forcing a playing card. Hoy sidesteps any such force by simply miscalling the page number. For the history of this ploy, see Miscalling a Page Number.