History of Conjuring and Magic

Ridgley Evans, Henry

Published by International Brotherhood of Magicians, Kenton OH,, 1928

About this Item

First edition: octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine and upper board titles; 235pp., with a colour frontispiece and many diagrams and half-tone illustrations. Moderate wear; shaken; softening to the spine extremities and corners bumped; boards rubbed and gilt worn from the spine; light dusting to the text block top edge; tape remnants and surface tears to the pastedowns. Lacks dustwrapper. Very good. Laid in: a portrait of Harry Houdini from a printed article in a Mylar envelope. Postage quoted is for a standard format octavo book. Final charges may vary depending on size and weight. Henry Ridgley Evans was an historian of conjuration. Not a performer of any great standing himself, he was on familiar terms with many of the great stage magicians of his day and helped many of them in the production of stage equipment and illusion design. He is known to have had a falling-out with Houdini after a misunderstanding as to whether this current volume on the history of magic would be a co-operative effort, or one in which Houdini merely lent some insights; the book came out and Houdini was not credited, hence the cooling of relations between them. No wonder then that this copy has a publicity shot of Houdini tucked in the back - perhaps an attempt at making amends?

Seller Inventory # 97130

Bibliographic Details

• Title: History of Conjuring and Magic
• Publisher: International Brotherhood of Magicians, Kenton OH,
• Publication Date: 1928