Artemus Ward (Charles Farrar Browne): A Biography and Bibliography.

SEITZ, Don. [Harry Houdini].

$4,500.00

Item Number: 127633

New York and London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1919.

First edition of Seitz’s biography of America’s first stand-up comedian, Charles Farrar Browne, from Harry Houdini’s famed library of magic. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Ward, illustrated. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Harry Houdini with the very best wishes of the author Don C. Seitz.” Additionally signed by Houdini, “Harry Houdini.” Born in Waterford, Maine, Charles Farrar Browne began to attract large audiences as a lecturer and soon took on the stage name, Artemus Ward, who was historically a favorite author of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. When Browne performed in Virginia City, Nevada, he met Mark Twain and the two became friends. In near fine condition. An exceptional example.

Though he was best known for his impossible feats of escapism, in later years Harry Houdini devoted himself to the world of mediums and spiritualists, first in an effort to determine if there was truth to the dark art, and later, to debunk and expose fraudulent swindlers. Throughout his career, Houdini amassed a massive collection of antique books on magic, spiritualism and a variety of mystical and supernatural topics. Though the bulk of his library constitutes a vast number of works on spiritualism dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, the collection also includes a variety of magic-related books inscribed by well-known magicians. In 1927, Houdini bequeathed over 5,000 volumes from his library to the Library of Congress including nearly 2,000 books on magic and over 3,000 on spiritualism.