Secrets of the Dead

A place where beginners can participate, ask questions, and post their views. However, beginners typically ask a lot of questions about sources, tricks, books, and so on. In fact, all magicians are interested (or should be) in the provenance of tricks, ideas, and related matters. This department will service these needs.
Guest

Secrets of the Dead

Postby Guest » May 11th, 2006, 4:31 pm

Hello,

I'm looking for more info on this booklet
"Secrets of the dead" by Josling Albert, 1932

It's a typed manuscript... and would like to know more about the author who was he?

Thanks for the help
Jacky
www.magicbooks.be

Jim Maloney_dup1
Posts: 1709
Joined: July 23rd, 2001, 12:00 pm
Location: Northern New Jersey
Contact:

Re: Secrets of the Dead

Postby Jim Maloney_dup1 » May 11th, 2006, 4:41 pm

Here's an ad for the book when it was released:

Secrets of the Dead.
By ALBERT JOSLING (Edited by Eric F. Impey.)

A manuscript crammed full of hitherto unpublished tricks and illusions
by magicians of the past. The author, having travelled extensively, now
discloses for the first time some of the information imparted to him by
magicians great and small, at home and abroad.
Among the Magicians whose effects are included are :

Chung Ling Soo. The Great Lafayette. Martin Chapender.
Imro Fox. Chevalier Thorn. Bernard Segall, and others.

The names of some of the Tricks included are :

The Vanishing Man. Magnetic Aluminium. Magic Alarm Clock.
Houdini Watch. Supreme Matter Thro' Matter. Pierced Woman, etc.

Eight whole pages of illustrations.
Price 4/-, postage 2d. U.S.A 1 dollar.
I wasn't able to locate any info on Albert Josling outside of the fact that he wrote this book.

Here's some additional info on the book:

This paper bound manuscript of fortyone
pages, as told to Cecil E. Griffin and
edited by Eric F. Impey, contains some
ten tricks by well-known magicians of
yesterday. Besides the interesting
tricks disclosed, Mr. Josling gives interesting
data about the magicians who
invented them.
-Jim

Guest

Re: Secrets of the Dead

Postby Guest » May 11th, 2006, 4:53 pm

thanks for the info,
i have the manuscript, i just want to know more about who the author was...it's a very strangly typed manuscript..
with a strange mention :

...I feel qualified to write a manuscript of effects disclosed to me by various magicians...as all the magicians reffered to..are Dead...
Thanks
Jacky
www.magicbooks.be

Jim Maloney_dup1
Posts: 1709
Joined: July 23rd, 2001, 12:00 pm
Location: Northern New Jersey
Contact:

Re: Secrets of the Dead

Postby Jim Maloney_dup1 » May 11th, 2006, 5:24 pm

It appears that Cecil Griffin and Eric Impey worked together on a number of items. Given that Albert Josling doesn't seem to show up anywhere else, and that the book was written "as told to Cecil E. Griffin", perhaps Josling is a creation of Griffin & Impey's imaginations. The Josling character could be a deceased magician who Griffin "channelled" in order to write the book. It might explain the odd excerpt you posted.

No clue if that's true at all, but it sounds like a good guess (or I'm just crazy...take your pick ;) )

-Jim


Return to “Reference Room”