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Harry Kellar’s Show Posters

- October 22, 2015 in harry kellar, illusion, magic, magician, posters

A series of wonderful promotional posters to accompany the shows of Harry Kellar, an American magician of the late 19th and early 20th century.

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Harry Kellar’s Show Posters

- October 22, 2015 in harry kellar, illusion, magic, magician, posters

A series of wonderful promotional posters to accompany the shows of Harry Kellar, an American magician of the late 19th and early 20th century.

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Spectropia; or, Surprising Spectral Illusions (1865)

- October 21, 2015 in ghosts, halloween, illusion, optical illusion, spirits

A book of Victorian hi-tech ghost conjuring which allows the reader to summon, as the sub-title proclaims, ghosts everywhere and of any colour.

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Spectropia; or, Surprising Spectral Illusions (1865)

- October 21, 2015 in ghosts, halloween, illusion, optical illusion, spirits

A book of Victorian hi-tech ghost conjuring which allows the reader to summon, as the sub-title proclaims, ghosts everywhere and of any colour.

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Artistic Creation (1901)

- August 27, 2014 in artist, creation, early film, illusion, robert paul, trick film, walter booth

A wonderful short film directed by illusionist-turned-filmmaker Walter R. Booth and produced by Robert Paul - one of the earliest examples of trickery in the editing room enabling an artist's creation to come to life on screen, a popular motif in early film.

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The Expositor, or Many Mysteries Unravelled – including that of the Learned Pig (1805)

- August 19, 2014 in animals, domesticated animals, illusion, learned pig, magic, pig of knowledge, pinchbeck, sapient pig, tricks

A wonderful book amounting to something akin to an early 19th-century version of the Masked Magician, in which the reality behind various tricks and illusions of the day are exposed, including that of the Learned Pig.

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Illustrations from a Victorian book on Magic (1897)

- April 17, 2013 in California Digital Library, collections, Digital Copy: No Additional Rights, illusion, Images, Images-19th, Images-Engraving-Line, Images-Illustrations, Images: Miscellaneous, Internet Archive, magic, magician, Underlying Work: PD Worldwide, victorian

Selected images from a massive late 19th century tome entitled simply Magic, subtitled Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions, including Trick Photography, compiled and edited by Albert A. Hopkins. The book takes a thorough tour through the popular magic tricks and illusions of the day, including along the way many delightfully surreal diagrams and illustrations, the top pick of which we’ve included here – often especially great when seen out of context. Towards the end are some particularly great “decapitation” trick photographs. See the book, with explanatory text and many more illustrations over in our post in the Texts collection. Housed at: Internet Archive | From: California Digital Library Underlying Work: PD Worldwide | Digital Copy: No Additional Rights Download: Right click on image or see source for higher res versions HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we do then please do consider making a donation. We welcome all contributions, big or small - everything helps! Become a Patron Small angel : £3.00 GBP - monthly Medium sized hero : £5.00 GBP - monthly Large emperor : £10.00 GBP [...]

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Magic: stage illusions and scientific diversions, including trick photography (1897)

- April 17, 2013 in collections, illusion, magic, magician, texts, Texts: 19th, Texts: Non-fiction, Texts: Science

Magic: stage illusions and scientific diversions, including trick photography, compiled and edited by Albert A. Hopkins, with an introduction by Henry Ridgely Evans; 1897; Low, London. A massive late 19th century book on magic and stage illusions including a section on trick photography. The book includes more than 400 (mostly) magnificently surreal illustrations and explanatory diagrams, a select few of which you can see over in our post in the Images collection. The book is housed at the Internet Archive, contributed by the California Digital Library. HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we do then please do consider making a donation. We welcome all contributions, big or small - everything helps! Become a Patron Small angel : £3.00 GBP - monthly Medium sized hero : £5.00 GBP - monthly Large emperor : £10.00 GBP - monthly Vast deity : £20.00 GBP - monthly Make a one off Donation SIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER Sign up to get our free fortnightly newsletter which shall deliver direct to your inbox the latest brand new article and a digest of the [...]

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