night of the 10th inst. Being out of the City at the time, I could
not give this notice at an earlier date. He is to be buried tomorrow
(13th inst.). Being that his Secretary is at present in Guatemala,
on Monday I intend to take an inventory of the archives and other
documents appertaining to that Legation, and seal and keep them
for further orders from the government.

I have the honor to be your most obt. servt.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE U. S.

WASHINGTON
D. C.

BME. BLANCO.

The newspaper accounts show that unquestionably Irisarri had died at 80 State street (not 20, as stated by Batres), and consultation of Brooklyn directories makes it plain that this was the address of the boarding house where he had probably lived for some time. No entry for him appears in the Brooklyn directory for any year, but Hilaire Pelerin is recorded as at 80 State street in the issues between 1862-3 and 1870-1; he moves to 109 and 111 in the following seventies and in 1878-9 is succeeded at 109 State street by Elsie M. J. Pelerin, who kept that address until the comparatively modern period of 1897-8.

However, the main question still remains unanswered, namely —What became of the complete collection of his printed books Irisarri said he had with him in 1863 which were destined to go to the Astor Library after his death? It would not be unreasonable for a man of the type of Irisarri to keep at least one copy of the books that came from his pen, and it would be decidedly reasonable for such a man to recognize the desirability of providing a source for study of his life and deeds by turning over his library to some such public collection as the Astor Library. But the only record of a gift from him is in the 13th report of the Astor trustees for 1861, when they mention the "Cuestiones filológicas" as a gift from the author, a book still on the shelves of the successor to the Astor.

Did he change his mind? Is it strange that a man of his type should have spoken in print of his intent to bequeath his books, and within five years of making such a statement should have died intestate? If he had his books at the time he died what happened to them? There is no ground for supposing that the landlord failed in his duty to respect the wishes of his boarder and tenant. But did the books disappear piecemeal between the time of his death and the action by Mr. Cullen as administrator? Were they still in the house when his goods were appraised only to be passed over as being of no com

mercial value? As the only assets the appraisers could find consisted of funds in bank, the question arises as to what was done with the clothes he wore and the furniture he lived with? If the landlord established title to the entire bank balance after expenses of administration had been paid, was he paid in full or did he still have part of the debt unsatisfied? What happened to Señor Irisarri's effects in the three years that passed between his death and the letters for administration? One can understand how an administrator might require time to satisfy himself that no heirs were living in Guatemala or other parts of Latin-America, but it is not easy to explain the lapse of time between the death and the first steps toward settling the estate.

But, however important such questions may be in trying to learn just what happened after Irisarri's death, they do not settle the question we started out with, What happened to his books?

If any library or individual has any information on this point we shall be happy to pass it on to the Archivo Historico in Santiago, and if any other books by this worthy character should be located we shall be glad to hear of them.

BEHIND THE MAGICIAN'S CURTAIN

AN EXHIBITION OF BOOKS AND PRINTS RELATING

TO CONJURING AND MAGIC

BY JOHN MULHOLLAND

SAIAH expressed his opinion of the "diviner" and the "skillful enchanter" when he grouped him with the judge and the prophet and the captain of fifty and the honorable man and the counsellor as typifying the "stay and staff" of Judah. The New York Public Library expressed its opinion of the worth and importance of the written records of diviners and enchanters and men of magic when it began to collect and preserve material of this kind. It recognized the place such books play in any collection of material for the study of man and his actions, of human psychology and of the psychology of crowds. The Library was fortunate many years ago when it secured the collections of the late Dr. Saram R. Ellison, and it counts itself fortunate now in putting on public view part of the books collected by itself, by Dr. Ellison, and by other friends.

Dr. Ellison was born in St. Thomas, Canada, on January 17, 1852. As a boy he was shown several feats of magic by a travelling performer. "The tricks were pretty, and ingenious, and they interested me," the doctor said, "but I found the magician still more interesting. He had led a life full of adventure." The interest Dr. Ellison had in the men of magic and their wares lasted throughout his college years. When, as a physician, he came to New York to live he started to hunt for books that would tell about the magicians. When he began to gather these books, forty-five years ago, there was no collection, as such, on magic; and, although others were started soon afterward, he made the first large collection. His desire to know more of the early performers made him seek the old books. He wanted to learn of the men who "must have strange terms and emphatical words to grace and adorn their actions," as demanded in Henry Dean's "The Whole Art of Legerdemain or Hocus Pocus in Perfection," published in 1722. In the "Description of the Operator," the book notes that a magician "must be of a bold and undaunted Resolution, so as to set a good Face upon the Matter." Another necessity is to have "a clean and nimble conveyance." Having all these and some experience -the operator is ready to perform before

"whomsoever shall desire."

When I was about twelve years old I began to call on Dr. Ellison on Sunday mornings. Later, these calls became a habit. On each visit he would show me some book and point out and read the part that he thought best described the magician. Then he would tell me the sort of man he thought that magician to be. Seldom would he tell me about a trick, and then, merely the details of apparatus. As a matter of fact, Dr. Ellison could do no magic himself and, quite naturally, did not have the performer's interest in method. Nevertheless, his collection is very rich in technical books. His wide friend

THE CORNUCOPIA OF ABUNDANCE

ship and intimate association with the professional magicians aided him immeasurably in adding those books circulated only to the fraternity.

The first books on method Dr. Ellison bought were found in a little bookshop owned by William E. Robinson. There was a whole shelf of these books, and the doctor purchased them all. He found that they had been collected by the bookseller for his own use. Later this bookseller was known to the world as Chung Ling Soo, the great Chinese Court Magician. Chung Ling Soo met his death attempting a bullet-catching trick which failed.

There were few noteworthy collections owned by professional magicians other than that of Robinson and

the extraordinary collection of the late Houdini.

The first books on magic describe those who could "abuse men's eyes and judgments by nimbleness of hand and thereby counterfeit the cunning of witches." The "Discouvery of Witchcraft," written by Reginald Scot and published in 1584, is the first of these books. It is a question how much effect Scot had upon the belief in witches, but his one chapter on magic gives an excellent summary of the performances of the time. Hundreds of books have followed this one and each hoped to convince the reading world of the normality of magic.

Later books were written to expose the secrets of the craft and some authors even held the hope that the books might be of help in learning magic.

The unknown writer of "Hocus Pocus Junior," published in 1651, describes his book as "the art of Jugling set forth in his proper colors, fully, plainly and exactly; so that an ignorant person may thereby learn the full perfection of the same, after a little practice."

There have also been a large number of books printed for children. A majority of these books were by authors ignorant of the foundation of magic, and often of the ways of the young. The juvenile magic books frequently had prefaces prophesying the pleasure children could have with tricks. As the tricks were seldom those that chil

dren could perform, the prefaces were unnecessary.

The first three kinds of books were all there were until the middle of the last century when there began to appear books whose writers had the professional viewpoint. Robert-Houdin and Prof. Louis Hoffman were undoubtedly the leaders. Since that time many books have been published by magicians for the benefit of their fellows. These, for the most part, have been issued privately, often under the auspices of organizations such as the Society of American Magicians, and the Magic Circle of England.

"Unto each trick is added the Figure, where it is needful for Instruction," is an idea that has been followed, as almost invariably the books are illustrated. The illustrations run from the quaint and often crude woodcut to the accurate drawings of the technical draughtsman.

The writers of the books of magic have not all been showmen. Among the writers are found ministers and doctors, lawyers and school teachers, as well as the manufacturers and purveyors of shoes and ships and sealing wax. Neither do the books hold to the subject, for we find such odd combinations as: "The Whole Art of Jugling, to which is added the Complete VerminKiller," and "Hocus Pocus, to which is added the New Quizzical Valentine Writer," and to "Tricks upon the Cards" another adds "Cockfighting and Bowling."