Biographies & History in Magic & Conjuring: page 3

Martin Breese recorded this interview on September 16th 1977, but never released it. He passed on the reels to me with the instruction to release them whenever I wish. Topper Martyn was an extraordinary showman, magician, juggler and musician. Learn about his life and the lessons he learned.

Biography of Captain Gilbert S. Aleman's, a.k.a. Al Mann, early part of his life.

You may know Al Mann only as magician and mentalist. He was also a master mariner, a captain in the merchant marines, who spent years on the sea. This is an autobiographical account of his life before he became a mentalist. There is some mention of gambling, John Scarne, and how Al Mann got into magic, which may be of particular interest to magicians.

• Chapter I First Impressions
• Chapter II Rumors of War
• Chapter III The School
• Chapter IV Of Pins and Heroes
• Chapter V Through the Golden Gate
• Chapter VI Passage To...

"Mark is one of the truly interesting characters in the world of showbusiness. He has a brilliant yet wicked sense of humour, and is often misunderstood by his peers. As someone who has known him for much of his life, I consider him to be a man of incredible talent as both a performer and grafter [demonstrator]. He is extremely resourceful, and is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to magic and other branches of entertainment. His life is truly one of mystery and intrigue, and he is a wonderful raconteur as will be seen in the pages of this masterpiece. I would consider Mark to be a true showman, and...

During the 1925-26 season this program was sold at Houdini's shows in the lobby of theaters.

• Houdini - A Biography
• Some of the Wonderful Feats Accomplished by Houdini
• Houdini's Greatest Thrill
• Magical Tricks and Illusions
  • The Vanishing Matches
  • The Mysterious Thumb Tie
  • The Vest Turning Mystery
  • The Spirit Release
  • The Spirit Knots
  • The Vanishing Knot
  • Surgery Extraordinary
  • The Restored Tooth-pick
  • Black or Red
  • A Good Coin Trick
  • The Sphinx
  • The Thauma Illusion
  • The Magic Butterflies
  • The Rope Amputation
  • A Subtle Dime Vanish
• A Few Personal Facts
• Houdini Reveals He "Reads" Minds ...

This is David Devant's autobiography. On top of his personal recollections he included three chapters on how to perform magic, and six chapters on the history of magic.

• Publisher's Note
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Pictures Of My Early Life
• CHAPTER I. My Introduction To Magic
• CHAPTER II The Hot Pudding And The Vanishing Lady
• CHAPTER III Mixing Magic With Midgets
• CHAPTER IV My Attack On London
• CHAPTER V I Appear With Maskelyne
• CHAPTER VI The First Animated Pictures
• CHAPTER VII Magical Sketches
• CHAPTER VIII A Feast Of Magic
• CHAPTER IX Magic And The Public
• CHAPTER X Secrets Of Magic ...

A history of magic interwoven with Charles Bertram's recollections.

From the introduction:

This is a fascinating travel log, including a good number of photos, by an accomplished magician circling the globe including visits to India, China, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Unites States, Canada and other places. He devotes three fascinating chapters to the tricks of the Indian conjurers, but does not tell us a lot about his own performances during his voyage.

From the introduction by Professor Hoffmann:

A history of the circus in Britain during the 19th century. One chapter deals with America, another with circus slang. Perhaps most interesting are the recollections of a gymnast and how he made it into the circus.

From the Preface:

A detailed chronology of places, dates and performers of fairs in and around London. We learn mostly of theatrical productions of various kinds including pantomime and dances, and menageries exhibiting exotic animals, and less so of tumbling and acrobats, juggling, balancing and the like. It includes some coverage of conjurers including Fawkes, Pinchbeck, Breslaw and others. There is some overlap of stories from Circus Life and Circus Celebrities because some performers and operators were active in both venues.

• PREFACE
• CHAPTER I: Origin of Fairs - Charter Fairs at Winchester and Chester - Croydon Fairs - Fairs in the Metropolis...

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...

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

From the Preface:

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:

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

From the introduction:

From the Foreword:

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 ...

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

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...

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...

(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...

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.

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 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....

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

From the foreword: