The Library of Stephen J. Farber

8vo. Numerous plates from photographs. Original grey-blue cloth gilt (rubbing and darkening to spine, endpapers toned); morocco-backed folding case. Provenance: unidentified ownership signature above author inscription and title-page.

FIRST EDITION. INSCRIBED BY HOUDINI on front free endpaper: "Best wishes... 3/11/25 / Cleveland O. / and all's well."

On 9 March 1925, illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini began a two-week engagement at Cleveland's Palace Theatre, with the first devoted to his escape act and the second to debunking spiritualists. The last of Houdini's books to be published in his lifetime, A Magician Among the Spirits, was the culmination of over thirty years of studying and debunking occult phenomena, in particular spiritualists, whom Houdini considered to be little more than con artists.

On 10 March, Houdini, County Prosecutor Edward C. Stanton, and a representative from the Cleveland Press went undercover at a seance conducted by spiritualist George Renner, whose gatherings included floating trumpets supposedly controlled by spirits. As the lights went down, Houdini smeared the trumpets with lamp soot, then, as the trumpets began to rise, suddenly turned on a flashlight, revealing Renner's face and hands covered in soot and proving that it was he who was controlling the "floating" trumpets. Renner was arrested, and Houdini left just in time to make that evening's performance at the Palace Theatre. The present volume was signed the following day, likely by a Houdini still very pleased with himself over the previous evening's expose.