Treasures of The New York Public Library

• lithographs
• posters
• Popular Culture
• Performing Arts
• water
• magic
• magicians
• Harry Houdini
• Harry Kellar
• illusions
• illusionists
• mysteries
• tricks
• spirits
• spirit world
• escapes
• drowning
• escapologists
• Howard Franklin Thurston

The Library's Billy Rose Theatre Division is home to an outstanding collection concerned with stage magic and professional stage magicians, including thousands of books and pamphlets in various languages from the 17th to the 20th century (and beyond), periodical runs, playbills of stage performances of magic, catalogs of magic supply companies, and scrapbooks, as well as extensive clipping and iconography files. Most colorfully, three centuries of posters reveal some of the mysteries of performed magic. Harry Houdini and his turn-of-the-century rivals used diagrammatic illustrations on their posters, while popular how-to books included step-by-step instructions on card tricks, disappearing ladies, and slight-of-hand illusions.

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Posters promoting magicians Harry Houdini, Harry Kellar, and Howard Franklin Thurston. Lithographs, 1894–1920s.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division.

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Online Exhibition: Transformations: A Celebration of the Creative Spirit in the Performing Arts

About the Billy Rose Theatre Division

Library Catalog Record