Anne has unearthed new information on the eight year journey that took Maskelyne and Cooke from Cheltenham to the Egyptian Hall in London. On the way she explains how Maskelyne and Cooke could call themselves Royal Illusionists, despite not having performed before royalty.
One side of this sheet from the Illustrated London News is an illustration of Mr F. Maccabe’s entertainment “Begone, Dull Care”. The reverse side has an article on Maccabe, along with a second article about him that has been pasted onto the sheet. Maccabe was a very popular protean artiste and ventriloquist in the 1860s and 1870s. There is also an article about Mr. Alfred Burnett, the American Humorist who, with the assistance of Miss Nash, took over at the Egyptian Hall in London when Maskelyne and Cooke had a break in September 1874. A programme for their performance can be found under Ref. no. N1468.
