$5,500
[Levitation] Archive of levitation illusion ephemera, research, and drawings. Assembled by John McKinven over a 30+ year period, the archive is made up of his own notes on the methods magicians and theatrical companies used to suspend human beings and other objects in mid-air and make them float or fly about the stage. Included are original drawings by McKinven outlining the working behind several illusions; correspondence regarding various levitations; photographs and instructions produced by magic dealers and manufacturers teaching how to construct apparatus to present the trick; vintage ephemera; copies of patents; correspondence from Will Stone regarding the Maskelyne/Kellar levitation, and much more. Subjects covered include Winston Freer’s suspension illusion, Asrah, the Aerial Suspension, and other incarnations of the effect. Hundreds of individual pages. Documents range in age from 1890s – 1990s. An important trove of material gathered over the course of a lifetime of serious study. Condition varies from poor to very good. Should be seen. John McKinven authored a scholarly work treating the subject of levitations, Stage Flying, in 1995. Much of the material offered here was the basis of that volume.
Auctioneer:
Potter & Potter
Date:
2012-05-13
