Biographies & History

Spirit materialization and fraudulent mediums.

A record of research and experiment in a much-talked-of realm of mystery, with a review and criticism of the so-called spiritualistic phenomena of spirit materialization and hints and illustration as to the possibility of artificially producing the same.

Excerpt from the author's preface:

The Delphos Kleeblatt, a German newspaper, was established by Carl Jettinger in December 1889 on a suggestion by Edward Gallaway. It ran until 1905. Gallaway approached Jettinger with the idea, having just returned to Delphos from a stint as a typesetter at a German newspaper in Indiana, and convinced him to partner with him in this newspaper startup. However, before the newspaper was launched Gallaway changed his mind, left Delphos, moved to Ft. Payne in Alabama and started there the Payne Weekly People. Carl Jettinger, a bit miffed by first being convinced of the great idea, and then Edward bailing out...

A docu-drama (dramatized documentary) on the identity of the mystery author of a classic book on sleight-of-hand with cards.

The best magicians of the 21st century set out on a journey to search for the lost author of the most legendary book about the art of sleight of hand. S.W. Erdnase is the pseudonym of the man thought to be the most notorious card shark of the 19th century. His book The Expert at the Card Table is now considered the card conjurer's bible, making it compulsory reading for any magician. It took more than 30 years after its publication for the true value of the book to be appreciated. His true identity remains...

Way back in 2005, I began broadcasting a world-first: an hour dedicated to magic, live from London. At the time, I was presenting my breakfast show on commercial radio. Every Monday evening at 7pm GMT, the airwaves went live with Radio Magic. Each episode featured a ten-minute interview with a famous star of magic (see The Magic Interview Series ebook). As a spin-off from that year-long project, I recorded a few long-form interviews with magicians and these recordings became available as CDs: thus, the Magic Interview Series was born. Looking back, I was podcasting before podcasts! Now, for the first time ever, these...

A wonderfully interesting confession of a con man who was a contemporary of Erdnase, and just like him operated for a time while traveling with small circuses in Illinois and surrounding states. Of particular interest is a full dialog of how an unsuspecting person on the train was lured into gambling 3 card monte. The dialog demonstrates how skillfully these operatives were and how well they understood human nature. Other cons are also described in detail.

Excerpt from the preface:

This work is sort of a condensed history of magic. The story of some notable tricks. For example, what was the oldest conjuring trick in the world? What was the newest? Were the Piddingtons really telepathic? How does a magician saw a girl in half? Do conjurers use marked cards? How do they do the Indian Rope Trick?

• A Word From The Publishers
• Chapter One: The Secret From The Tomb
• Chapter Two: The Cups And Balls
• Chapter Three: Oracles And Robots
• Chapter Four: It's All Done With Mirrors!
• Chapter Five: The Lady Vanishes
• Chapter Six: The Trick That Never Was
• Chapter Seven: Up In The Middle...

Poker stories from the Mississippi.

The stories play in Brownsville and Arkansas City both located on the West bank of the Mississippi river during the second half of the 19th century.

Excerpt from the preface:

Excerpt from the introduction by Robert Parrish:

Charles Oswald Williams was a good friend of Professor Hoffmann, Chung Ling Soo and many other notable magicians. He was also a magic dealer and inventor, amongst his customers was a young Cardini. Williams also had the honour of being one of the first magicians to perform in The Magic Circle's inaugural show.

Charles Oswald Williams was at the inception of the Golden Age of Magic and his life story followed the development of Magic as we now know it. This ebook chronicles his life story in parallel to the rise of Magic. In addition, it contains a full account of The Magic Circle's first show in London in 1906, describing...

An account of faro gambling and cheating in New York City.

The newspaper that ran this article is not known. The time frame of the article is somewhere in the vicinity of 1890.

PDF 3 pages.

Being a record of his experience as a white slave; a soldier in the Union Army; a professional gambler; a patron of the turf; a variety theater and minstrel manager; and, finally, a convert to the Murphy Cause, and to the Gospel of Christ.

This book is an illustration of this paragraph by S.W. Erdnase:

This is a wonderful account of a traveling showman's trials and tribulations in England and Scotland during the middle of the 19th century. Among other things, he was a conjurer. While this is not a book of tricks, one coin trick is explained as part of one story of his life. But much more interesting are the descriptions of various scams and the modus operandi of various ways to defraud the public by traveling hucksters the author encountered. The operation of the thimble rig is explained in detail. It is an account of how traveling showmen struggled essentially their entire life to make...

Own a piece of magic history!

In July 2005, Jay Fortune and radio presenter Layman Steve hit the airwaves live from London with Radio Magic; a lively hour-long radio show dedicated to magic and...

A fascinating glimpse into Okito's (Theo Bamberg) life and creations. The Bamberg dynasty had magicians spanning seven generations. Okito was a prolific inventor, builder of tricks, and exceptional performer. Learn the details of many of his most cherished secrets.

From the introduction by Dorny:

How does one actually become a magician - and why? Is it even possible to make a living from magic? What is life like as a magician? Are these normal people?

A person who has traveled with his art to more than 60 countries around the world will tell you his secrets. See him awarded second place world champion at the FISM World Congress of Magicians, with a show based only on sleight of hand. Learn how he became a self-taught expert manipulator. See how he booked his own gigs and was even hired as the only completely unknown actor for "The Dream Ship" on German television network ZDF. ...

This is the story of an Austrian inventor, his patent, and his appliance to make objects and people invisible on demand.

In the 1930s the Austrian press was excited about the invention of "invisibility rays" by an Austrian inventor. The invention was licensed by the company Semperit (the largest car and bicycle tire manufacturer in Austria) and exhibited at a trade show where it became a sensation and was viewed by hundreds of thousands of visitors. During that trade show, the inventor made for the first time also people invisible. He applied and received a patent in Great Britain for his...

David Alexander and Richard Kyle would speak for hours on the phone exchanging their thoughts, their insights, and their discoveries regarding Erdnase. Richard Kyle would often write a letter to David afterward to memorialize...

This series of 14 articles was written by Edward Gallaway, aka S. W. Erdnase. It is a compact but thorough introduction to estimating for printers. For many years, Gallaway taught estimating to printers at the then largest privately held printing company, R. R. Donnelley. He was an instructor in their apprentice school and was at the same time the chief estimator of the company. He would later found his own School for Print Estimating in Chicago, the only such school solely dedicated to teaching this subject. He wrote the textbook for his school Estimating for Printers as well as other works...

A 'magical' autobiography and an inspirational book.

• 1+ million people have seen him live in 165+ countries
• 15+ million views on YouTube with over 1000+ videos
• 180+ TV shows and multiple prime time TV series
• thousands of global online students
• 40+ Books and best-selling author
• TedX Speaker
• Known as the German with a South African accent

Can you believe it! A non-US, UK, or Europe magician that achieved fame and fortune, traveled the world, became a TV star in his own country, and achieved all his dreams! A magical inspirational real-life story like never before. Magician, Professional...

More unusual people including super fat, slim, tall, small, and many other freaks of nature. Learn about giants such as Chang Yu Sang, Edward Beaupré, Allen E. Tilden, Conrad Furrows, Bimbo, Sgt. Emmet M. Stephens, Capt. George Dowling or John Aasen. Or perhaps you are more interested in midgets such as Lynn Major White, Lia Graf, Tom Thumb, Major Rhinehart, Doletta Boykins, and Major Mite. Many more identified and unidentified prodigies are documented.

1st edition 2013, 62 pages.

Freaks, strange people, monsters, and even prodigies are some of the words used to describe the human beings that you will find in this ebook. While we realize that today many of these words might be considered "politically incorrect" we have taken the liberty of using these terms insofar as to better communicate the mindset of the sideshow people of that era. No disrespect is intended.

At the time, sideshows went by many different names, among these: dime museums of one kind or another and tent attractions, fronted by huge banners, depicting very unusual people and or animals. Curiosities...

There once was a dream world that travelled at night on a train full of possibilities. This was the Golden Age of the circus (1880-1930s). Aboard this magical train, you would find circus performers, a menagerie of exotic animals and those known as "freaks".

Also called human prodigies, the "freaks" were born with special physicalities. Among these were giants, midgets, siamese-twins, etc. All were gathered inside a giant tent known as the sideshow (or annex attraction).

Get ready to see many astonishing if not shocking pictures. The Archives of Human Prodigies is published in three...

A witty memoir-like debunking of all things paranormal.

Stuart Cumberland describes the fascination of European kings and queens with the occult. He gives a detailed analysis of how Rasputin participated in the fall of the Romanovs. He thoroughly skewers the German government of Wilhelm II. He describes the fake spirit photography, the false claims of clairvoyants, how folks fall for physical manifestations of the spirits such as table rappings. Overall a fun read and expose of human gullibility.

• Chapter I: By Way Of Introduction
• Chapter II: Monarchs And Mystics
• Chapter III: Concerning...

Cumberland was a muscle reader who did not claim to possess any psychic abilities. In this work he recounts many such 'thought-reading' encounters with notable people.

From the introduction:

The renowned sideshow showman Ward Hall reminisced about the time Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Circus attracted a record-breaking crowd of over 20,000 people inside the sideshow. "The Greatest Show on Earth" was playing Montreal during the 1950s. However, over a decade later, Giovanni Iuliani surpassed this world-breaking record many times over.

200,000 ATTENDANCE RECORD!

In 1966, Giovanni Iuliani presented 5 major freak phenomena alive on a high elevated stage at two Montreal movie houses. These high attendance halls each featured on their giant screen the classic horror...

This ebook presents an analytical review of works on card cheating that are written in English and published before 1900. Given this scope, The Reference Guide to Early Works on Card Cheating takes 151 publications, and documents the card cheating techniques that they describe. Only card techniques discussed in the context of cheating at card games are considered. The 146 defined techniques are used to evaluate the publications based on their breadth and their contribution to the literature. The breadth is indicated by the absolute number of techniques each work describes, and the contribution...

Showing at a glance the tricks performed by all the leading conjurors, extending over a period of forty-two years, from 1864 to 1906.

• Robert Heller
• Warren Wright
• Prof. Duval
• Signor Bosco
• Prof. Fuller
• Mons. Kellar
• Verbeck
• Prof. and Maude Anderson
• Prof. Anderson
• Herr Frikell
• Dr. Holden
• Prof. Hoffmann
• Bautier de Kolta
• Prof. Devono
• Herr Döbler
• Hartz
• Prof. Duprez
• Dr. Lynn
• Servais Le Roy
• Hercat
• J. N. Maskelyne
• Harry Kellar
• Imro Fox
• Prof. Hulbert
• David Devant
• Prof. Weber
• Prof. Geo. Davison
• Charles Bertram
• Dr. Nix
• Prof. St. Clair
• Chevalier Thorn
• Fred Harcourt
• Charles Karnak
• De Biere the Mysterious
• Paul Valadon
• Charles Morritt
• Melot Herman
• Carl Hertz
• Martin...

Ken Brooke was known throughout the world of magic. He was a magic dealer who achieved such a reputation for reliability and quality that there are thousands of magicians throughout the world, amateur, and professional who bought almost every trick he produced. Visitors from every country in the world made a beeline for his studio within minutes of arriving in London because just to visit Ken Brooke was an experience not to be missed. In partnership with Frank Farrow, he built the Ken Brooke Magic Place into a magical institution second to none. Considered by many to be the greatest magical...

This article succinctly critiques the Milton Franklin Andrews case, and introduces us to two at the time new suspects, James DeWitt Andrews and Edwin Sumner Andrews.

This article first appeared in the 1999 December issue of Magic Magazine, except for this release Richard Hatch added two pages introductory notes to better frame his article in the historical context of the hunt for Erdnase. The article is also essentially the talk Richard gave at the 1999 Los Angeles Conference on Magic History.

1st edition 1999 (intro 2021), PDF 16 pages.

This work explores the history, meaning, and uses of playing cards.

From the foreword:

This book won the SAM Special Library Award. It details Martin Gardner's, Jeff Busby's and Bart Whaley's search to uncover the person hiding behind the pseudonym S.W. Erdnase. It lays out in detail the case for Milton Franklin Andrews. It describes the life of Andrews, how he started with magic, and how he transitioned to become a cardshark, including his travels around the word hustling and cheating to make a living.

A detailed analysis of Erdnase's likely sources and inspirations, as well as other information about the book, its reprints, and other pertinent information will help every Erdnase researcher....

A collection of basic information about circuses small and big, their names and when they were in operation.

• War Time Circus
• Shows Harry Bowman was connected with
• Famous Firsts in Circus History
• Circus Wrecks and Accidents
• Circuses and Tent Shows (in alphabetical order)

1st edition 1942, 31 pages; PDF 75 pages.

This is Thomas Carlyle's long essay on Count Cagliostro, published in 1833 in Fraser's Magazine. He is examining the hero and his shadows - what was false about Cagliostro. Cagliostro was a Sicilian mountebank, whose lasting notoriety was a bit part in the Diamond Necklace Affair that rocked pre-Revolutionary France, and whose most enduring work was the confession extracted by the Roman Inquisition, a tome published in 1792, three years previous to Cagliostro's demise in an Inquisitional cell.

1st edition 1833, 61 pages; PDF 42 pages.

(We are carrying this ebook primarily because of the author, Henry Ridgeley Evans, who published several interesting books on conjuring.)

On its face the book is about the myth that Napoleon never existed. It was at one time a popular myth, hoax, or fake news as it would be called today. It also provides interesting lessons and insights on how myths can develop. Since there are a number of myths in the world of conjuring, this work can help one understand why and how some of the myths in magic may have developed.

• Introduction
• Grand Erratum. The Non-Existence of Napoleon Proved
• The Mythical...

Includes chapters on conjuring, fortune-telling and card-sharping.

• Preface
• Part The First. The History Of Cards
  • I. Introduction
  • II. Oriental Origin Of Cards
  • III. Introduction Of Cards Into Southern Europe
  • IV. Date Of Introduction Of Cards
  • V. Introduction Of Cards Into France
  • VI. The Cards Of Charles VI
  • VII. Invention Of The French Cards And Game Of Piquet
  • VIII. Cards In England
  • IX. History Of Tarots, As Told By Themselves
  • X. Modern History Of French And English Cards
  • XI. The Application Of Cards To Science
  • XII. Card Miscellanies
• Part The Second. Card Playing And Card Players...

This is a very good book on Cagliostro, because Trowbridge does not simply parrot the opinion of other authors who wrote about Cagliostro, but he did his own research and came to his own conclusions. One can certainly argue about some of Trowbridge's conclusions, but overall this is a very thorough and detailed description and analysis of Cagliostro's life.

• Preface
• Bibliography
• Part I
  • Chapter I: The Power Of Prejudice
  • Chapter II: Giuseppe Balsamo
• Part II
  • Chapter I: Cagliostro In London
  • Chapter II: Eighteenth Century Occultism
  • Chapter III: Masked And Unmasked
  • Chapter IV: The...

Evans raises the possibility that Cagliostro's real name might not have been Giuseppe Balsamo, as well as describes his Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry.

• Introduction
• PART I.—A Master Of Magic
• PART II.—The Egyptian Rite
• PART III.—A Visit To The House Of Cagliostro
• PART IV.—Reception Of An Apprentice In An Egyptian Lodge

Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, by real name Giuseppe Balsamo, was an Italian occultist, mentalist and magician, who managed to achieve entry into the royal courts of Europe where he practiced various occult arts, mentalism, magic, alchemy, etc. His fame continued beyond his death, but eventually he was labeled a charlatan. Regardless of how one wants to portrait Cagliostro, there is a lot magicians and mentalists can learn from him and his exploits.

• Proem
• I. A Master of Magic
• II. The Conjurer and the Cardinal
• III. The Affair of the Diamond Necklace
• IV. The Downfall of the Grand Cophta ...

From the Foreword:

From the introduction:

A very interesting article about early conjuring, conjurers, books and manuscripts. Includes detailed research on how the term 'hocus pocus' came about.

Henry Ridgely Evans provides an account of the history of conjuring, from ancient Egypt through the Middle Ages and into the 20th century. He develops biographical portraits of many well-known magicians and includes descriptions of their acts. Perhaps the most unusual feature of the work is that at the very end he includes photos of the hands of many famous magicians.

From the Proem:

This is considered one of the best early histories of magic.

From the Preface:

Arthur Duchek, born (almost literally on the highwire rigging of his parents' circus act) into a European circus dynasty in 1930, grew up to be a world-famous circus and variety artist and international entertainment agent.

He survived a devastating accident on the circus lot as a 4-year old child, an accident that left him with a speech impediment. His will power and determination, along with the help of an eccentric Parisian speech therapist, helped him overcome this obstacle. After joining his uncles with the circus in America, Arthur experienced unbelievable abuse at their hands.

You...