The Magic scrapbooks collection contains a significant amount of articles, clippings, correspondence, ephemera, photographs and posters pertaining to magicians, mentalists, conjurers and escape artists from the 19th- and early 20th-centuries, particularly during the Golden Age of Magic.
This collection contains a significant amount of articles, clippings, correspondence, ephemera, photographs, and posters pertaining to magicians, mentalists, conjurers and escape artists from the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Albini, Brush, Dunninger, Germain the Wizard, Haldeen, Hardeen, Houdini, the Hermanns, Kellar,Laurant, Martinka & Co., Rouclere, Thurston and the Zancigs, among others.
The Magic scrapbooks and posters are arranged in two series:
This items in this collection were acquired by the New York Public Library from various donors--most unidentified-- over several decades of the early 20th-century.
Removed Saram Ellison scrapbooks to create a new collection. (2020-03-20)
Added Houdini poster to Series II (2022-11-10)
Many of these materials were catalogued individually with MZC classmarks when acquired by NYPL. This collection was asembled and reclassified with a manuscript call number in 2011.
See also related collections: Dr. Saram R. Ellison scrapbooks (*T-Mss 1915-001); Houdiniana (*T-Mss 2016-010); and Houdini artwork (*T-Vim 2011-293).
Posters in this collection are available for consultation by appointment only. Please email theatre@nypl.org to arrange viewing.