The pixie Bigby is named after a character that appears in the Dungeons and Dragons Roleplaying game. Created by Rob Kuntz and later incorporated into the books by Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax, Bigby is credited with creating a series of spells involving hands (Bigby's Crushing Hand, etc.), which appear in the Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook. Similarly, the spells cast by the Magicians all require intricate hand gestures.
"If Love Were All", the song the Beast sings to Julia, is from Noel Coward's Bitter Sweet.
The first card coming from the library card catalog is for Robert Ludlum's book titled "The Rhinemann Exchange" (1974). The book was used as the basis and title for a 1977 TV mini-series.