The Fashionable Science of Parlour Magic...to which is added...the magic of spirit rapping, writing mediums and table turning by John Henry AndersonScottish magician and illusionist John Henry Anderson (1814-1874 )known as the "Great Wizard of the North" wrote and published The Fashionable Science of Parlour Magic in the mid nineteenth century. The copy examined for this project is the 108th edition, published in approximately 1855. It is held by the British Library and is featured in their Romantics and Victorians Collection. Anderson is credited with transforming performative magic, imbuing it with a "quasi-scientific" point of view, and appealing to elite audiences as well as lower and middle class audiences (p. 28, Bell.) In this foundational work, he details how to perform simple magic and card tricks and also debunks the spiritualist movement, spiritual mediums and table "rappers" as "humbug." The book continues to fascinate and is available in eBook form from Google Books.
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Finally: An amusing video about Houdini and Spiritualism |
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