Whats up Café,
Does anyone know of any available books/novels/manuscripts/scrolls/etc about the history of magic before Houdin? Thanks

A N T I N O
+ Cardinal of The House of Flying Cards magician troupe + +
http://www.freewebs.com/hofc

There was a great selection for sale on Ebay about 4 weeks ago. Many titles from the 1700's to 1850's. Although not history per se, they are history.

Try The Illustrated History of White Magic Before Robert-Houdin, by Fanch Guillemin. In addition, most general histories on magic contain plenty of history prior to Robert-Houdin (not Houdin). Clay

Try the Christopher and Price books. The have material before Houdin.

Thanks guys, by googling the authors and titles you gave me, I came accross a wonderful free e-book called The Lives of Conjurers by T. Frost, written in 1875.

I am trying to find The Annals of Conjuring, does anyone know of a web site where I can buy it from? Its not available on The Miracle Factory's web site for some reason. thanks

Antino:

The Miracle Factory edition of Clarke's book is the best (largely due to supplementary illustrations and numerous appendices), but if the text of Clarke's original manuscript will suffice, try looking for the Magico edition of The Annals -- much less expensive than the Miracle Factory edition.

Clay

Check out "The Illustrated History of Magic" by Milbourne Christopher. There are some really great pre-Houdin stories in there that are quite interesting.

Robert-Houdin, not Houdin! His full name was Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin.

Regards,
Darcy

Houdin works today. Robert- Houdin is soooo 1870's.