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

Mr F. Cramer

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 27th consecutive year

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 27th consecutive year

27th consecutive year, 1899-1900. The programme includes Herr Valadon who first appeared at the Egyptian Hall on 6 August 1900, according to the book by George Jenness. The programme date must therefore be after 6 August 1900. The animated photographs included the recent solar eclipse, taken in North Carolina by Mr. Nevil Maskelyne. Apart from the colour of the paper, the programme is the same as programme Ref. no. N2078.

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 27th consecutive year

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 27th consecutive year

27th consecutive year, 1899-1900. According to the book on the Egyptian Hall by George Jenness, the sketch ‘Will, the Witch, and the Watchmen’ was introduced on 23 December 1899. This programme is therefore probably in the period of end December 1899 to 14 April 1900, on which date the sketch ‘My Twin Spirit’ was first produced. This programme must have come apart into two sheets and a previous owner taped them together. This was apparently done incorrectly, because the Maskelyne and Cooke programmes have the bill on pages 2 and 3, whereas for this programme the bill appears to be on pages 2 and 4!

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 27th consecutive year

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 27th consecutive year

27th consecutive year, 1899-1900. The programme includes Herr Valadon who first appeared at the Egyptian Hall on 6 August 1900, according to the book by George Jenness. This is consistent with a handwritten note on page 1 saying that the programme was for 3.00pm on 2 November. The animated photographs included the recent solar eclipse, taken in North Carolina by Mr. Nevil Maskelyne. Apart from the colour of the paper, the programme is the same as programme Ref. no. N2081.

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 25th consecutive year

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 25th consecutive year

25th consecutive year, 1897-1898. The programme includes animated photographs of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Procession which was on 22 June 1897. According to the book on the Egyptian Hall by George Jenness, topical scenes from the Procession were shown from 5 July 1897. The earliest date for this programme is therefore 5 July 1897. The programme does not include the sketch ‘Trapped by Magic’ which was first presented on 7 May 1898, so the period of this programme is probably somewhere between July 1897 and May 1898.

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 25th consecutive year

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 25th consecutive year

25th consecutive year, 1897-1898. The programme includes animated photographs of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Procession which was on 22 June 1897. According to the book on the Egyptian Hall by George Jenness, topical scenes from the Procession were shown from 5 July 1897. The earliest date for this programme is therefore 5 July 1897. The programme does not include the sketch ‘Trapped by Magic’ which was first presented on 7 May 1898, so the period of this programme is probably somewhere between July 1897 and May 1898.

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 24th consecutive year

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 24th consecutive year

24th consecutive year, 1896-1897. According to the book on the Egyptian Hall by George Jenness, the Christmas programme started on 22 December 1896, and included ‘Chameleon’ for the first time. The earliest date for this programme is therefore 22 December 1896. On this programme the person playing Chameleon is Miss Marion Melville. Programme Ref. no. N2067 has identical wording but for the fact that Chameleon is played by Miss A. Hansard.

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 24th consecutive year

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 24th consecutive year

24th consecutive year, 1896-1897. According to the book on the Egyptian Hall by George Jenness, the Christmas programme started on 22 December 1896, and included ‘Chameleon’ for the first time. The earliest date for this programme is therefore 22 December 1896. This is consistent with the hand written date on page 1 of ‘Monday afternoon, 22 February 1897’. On this programme the person playing Chameleon is Miss A. Hansard. Programme Ref. no. N2068 has identical wording but for the fact that Chameleon is played by Miss Marion Melville.

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 23rd consecutive year

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 23rd consecutive year

23rd consecutive year, 1895-1896. According to the book on the Egyptian Hall by George Jenness, it was announced on 19 March 1896 that a series of Animated Photographs had just been added to the programme. The earliest date for this programme is therefore March 1896. This is consistent with the handwritten date of 30 April 1896 on page 1. The handwritten note in full is “April 30th 1896 H Ev. visited”. This is very likely the writing of Henry Evans Evanion. There are similar examples in The Evanion Collection held at The British Library in London, for example the item with the reference Evan.67 which is a Maskelyne and Cooke programme hand dated “Novr. 7th 1889 H Ev”. The printing on the Egyptian Hall programme illustrated here appears identical to that on programme Ref. no. N2064, although the colour of the paper is different.

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 23rd consecutive year

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 23rd consecutive year

23rd consecutive year, 1895-1896. According to the book on the Egyptian Hall by George Jenness, it was announced on 19 March 1896 that a series of Animated Photographs had just been added to the programme. The earliest date for this programme is therefore March 1896. This is consistent with the handwritten date of Saturday afternoon 28 March 1896 on page 1. The printing on this programme appears identical to that on programme Ref. no. N2065, although the colour of the paper is different.

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 23rd consecutive year

Maskelyne and Cooke programme for the Egyptian Hall, 23rd consecutive year

23rd consecutive year, 1895-1896. According to the book on the Egyptian Hall by George Jenness, the Christmas programme was introduced on 21 December 1895 with ‘Will, the Witch and the Watchmen’, Roberts with his skit Pantomania and Devant with Phoenix and The Birth of Flora. Jenness also said, “as was customary, the Christmas programme continued to attract audiences for practically six months. In so far as magic was concerned there were hardly any changes.” However, Jenness also said that it was announced on 19 March 1896 that Animated Photographs had just been added to the programme. Therefore this programme is probably from the period of 21 December 1895 to March 1896. For a review of this show by ‘The Era’ see Ref. no. N2043.