The Davenport Collection
- a growing resource on magic and entertainment history

Other Ephemera

This section includes all types of ephemera other than Posters & Showcards and Programmes & Handbills.

The collection is particularly rich in ephemera relating to the Davenports, the Maskelynes and Will Goldston.

Letter from Henry Bate to Devant concerning Box Trick

Letter from Henry Bate to Devant concerning Box Trick

Bate wrote this letter to Devant on old notepaper from the 1890s when he was known as Harry Bate, MYSTIFICATEUR. It confirms that Bate supplied conjuring apparatus to the wholesale and retail trade as well as providing entertainments and lessons in sleight of hand.

Letter from Henry Bate to Devant concerning Box Trick

Letter from Henry Bate to Devant concerning Box Trick

Henry Bate, Devant’s illusion builder, is writing to Devant in Aberdeen about a box trick. Devant had to return it to Bate because of a problem, which Bate says he has now resolved. A transcript of the first page is: Dear Mr Devant, Box duly arrived, you were quite right, the awful jerking on Rail had simply misplaced a part of the mechanism, nothing was either broken or out of order. I have placed with other papers, in Box, a full explanation of what occurred and the means taken to prevent it in future. I hope you will understand exactly what I mean. I feel certain everything is quite safe now. I want you to examine . . .

Receipted invoice from Henry Bate to Devant, 1903

Receipted invoice from Henry Bate to Devant, 1903

Henry Bate, David Devant’s illusion builder, charged him for work on the Barrel Illusion which Bate had to ship to Glasgow. At the time Devant was performing in Glasgow with the Maskelyne and Cooke Mysteries Provincial Company. Note the wide range of business activities listed by Bate in the top left corner of his letterhead.

Advertisement on silk for Doctor Alfred Berend at the Collegiate Hall, Jamaica, 1901

Advertisement on silk for Doctor Alfred Berend at the Collegiate Hall, Jamaica, 1901

The show involves performing, explaining and exposing many of the stunts performed by named magicians or spiritualists. This gives Berend an excuse for highlighting Maskelyne and Cooke at the Egyptian Hall in London, although his performance has nothing to do with them. No doubt he hoped that use of their names would result in larger audience numbers. With the silk advertisement and the considerable ticket prices, it is clear that Berend was trying to appeal to the better off in Jamaica.

Brochure for Mons Alban and Mdlle Stella

Brochure for Mons Alban and Mdlle Stella

This is a high quality brochure which includes useful information about their act, as well as a drawing by Ralph Cleaver dated 1893. A search on this website for Mons Alban and Mdlle Stella will include some Maskelyne and Cooke Egyptian Hall programmes where they are on the bill.

Newspaper advertisement for Dr Lynn

Newspaper advertisement for Dr Lynn

This is a good example of the popular style of advertisement in which the performer’s name – in this case Dr Lynn – is featured many times. The same style was used by Maskelyne and Cooke at the Egyptian Hall, for example see N1476.