All those interested in J.N. Maskelyne’s life and his views on the world will find much of interest in his reminiscences. They were published in the January 1910 issue of the popular Strand Magazine. The article has been reproduced here with comments by Anne Goulden at the end.
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E-newsletters like this one are sent out four times a year, highlighting recent additions to the website. If you’d like to be added to the mailing list, please contact the curator. The September 2023 issue included:
– Newsreel of the 1938 British Ring Convention.
– Radio dice box.
– The Great Modern Psuedourgos Dr Lynn.
– Is it just a puzzle or an entertaining trick?
– The Oswald Williams Noah’s Ark Illusion – now also on film.
– And have you seen . . . Eddie Dawes in his own words.
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This MW-Spezial Nr. 22 – März 2023 is reproduced here with special thanks to our good friend Wittus Witt. The contents are in both German and English with some wonderful photographs. The article which includes Eddie’s autobiography, written on 5 November 2020, is not to be missed. Wittus Witt was a good friend of Eddie, and this Magische Welt Spezial was assembled by Wittus with love and care.
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E-newsletters like this one are sent out four times a year, highlighting recent additions to the website. If you’d like to be added to the mailing list, please contact the curator. The June 2023 issue included:
– Prof. Edwin A. Dawes by his sons Michael and Adrian Dawes.
– The metal snapper – was it an improvement?
– Pat Page and the Ju-Ju Stick.
– De Biere’s ALL IN ONE pamphlet, 1919.
– The Ju-Ju Stick by Frank Monaghan.
– Three different puzzles – one solution.
– Going back 150 years to the Egyptian Hall on Piccadilly.
– How to make a curator happy.
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E-newsletters like this one are sent out four times a year, highlighting recent additions to the website. If you’d like to be added to the mailing list, please contact the curator.
The March 2023 issue included:
– De Biere, The Sculptor’s Vision postcard.
– George Cooke of Maskelyne and Cooke.
– The Pea House Plot.
– A new theatre of magic for London?
– The Ju-Ju Stick by Frank Monaghan.
– Demon Wonder Wands.
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Maskelyne and Cooke’s entertainments at the Egyptian Hall on Piccadilly were a feature of the London scene for over thirty years. During that time a great deal was written about them in newspapers and magazines. The publicity invariably focused on J.N. Maskelyne, who was sole proprietor of Maskelyne and Cooke’s. Virtually nothing was written about his stage partner, George Cooke. This was an injustice because Maskelyne’s success would have been impossible without Cooke’s talent, loyalty and hard work. Peter Brunning’s article brings George Cooke into the spotlight by telling the story of his life.
Over the years Maskelyne went to great lengths to protect his magic secrets. Cooke also went out of his way to protect secrets but, in his case, they were family secrets. Peter has unravelled Cooke’s unconventional private life as well as identifying his important contribution to the popularity of the Maskelyne and Cooke entertainments.
It is 120 years since Cooke’s final appearances at the Egyptian Hall, but at last his story is being told.
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E-newsletters like this one are sent out four times a year, highlighting recent additions to the website. If you’d like to be added to the mailing list, please contact the curator.
The December 2022 issue included:
– Update on the Davenport Film Collection, including the 1936 Munich convention and Cardini.
– Update on the Davenport Collection Instagram site.
– The Demon Cannon Detector.
– The “Red Hot” Ball.
– The Season’s Greetings from David Devant: a card collection.
– David Devant and the early days of cinema.
– Lewis Davenport’s early performing days.
– The Demon Rod and Beads
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Luckily, the Davenport family is not prone to throwing things away. This allows John Davenport to share something of their attendance at the 19-21 September 1936 Munich Convention. Lewis, Wynne and Gus Davenport travelled to Munich for their first German Magic Circle Convention (Magischer Zirkel Deutschland). It was a good opportunity to meet many continental magic dealers and magicians. John Davenport’s article reproduces letters, photographs and other ephemera from the occasion. In addition to downloading a PDF of the article, you might also wish to view the film taken by the family, which may be found here.
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E-newsletters like this one are sent out four times a year, highlighting recent additions to the website. If you’d like to be added to the mailing list, please contact the curator.
The September 2022 issue included:
– three seldom seen tricks.
– a little known Davenport shop.
– two jokes for your drinking and card playing friends.
– Jimmy’s Magic Pencil.
– magicians and their families
– noise-making novelties.
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E-newsletters like this one are sent out four times a year, highlighting recent additions to the website. If you’d like to be added to the mailing list, please contact the curator.
The June 2022 issue included:
– more on David Devant’s early career.
– Uri Geller and mind power.
– Sakkaku Scale by Tenyo – a magical optical illusion.
– create wooden Japanese furniture by taking a block of wood to pieces. It’s a puzzle putting it together again.
– the link between World War II gas masks and Davenports conjurers’ wax.
– the Old and the New Magic: a look at Davenports 1956 catalogue.
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E-newsletters like this one are sent out four times a year, highlighting recent additions to the website. If you’d like to be added to the mailing list, please contact the curator.
The March 2022 issue included:
– the launch of the Films Category and the Davenport Film Collection YouTube Channel.
– Ali Bongo version of the Gozinta Box with a double load.
– “Humpty Dumpty” children’s paper tearing trick.
– Devant’s early performing career.
– the staying power of traditional toys and novelties.
– “Shanroy” Scenery from The Servais Le Roy Company.
– an 1889 letter from J.N. Maskelyne and an unresolved issue
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Many entertainers have financial difficulties in their early careers. David Devant wrote about his early struggles in My Magic Life.
In December 1892 he put on a show at Balham Hall. The show made a loss, but it turned out to be an important step in securing a place for him in Maskelyne & Cooke’s theatre at the Egyptian Hall. He used the show to showcase his new stage illusion, Vice Versa. The illusion caught the eye of the Crystal Palace management, and before long Devant had secured a booking at the Egyptian Hall. However, Vice Versa was too large for the Egyptian Hall stage. J.N. Maskelyne asked Devant to come up with something more suitable. The result was The Artist’s Dream, based on the same principle as Vice Versa.
Anne draws on previously unpublished material which allows the fascinating details of the story to be told.