Thayer’s Catalogue Of Quality Magic No. 7, Plus Associated Ephemera (Former Copy Of Vaudeville Magician "The Great Leon" )

Thayer’s Magical Mfg. Co., Los Angeles, CA, 1928; 8vo, 287 pages. Thayer’s magic catalogue for 1928, containing over 1500 magic tricks, effects, illusions, programs with patter, magic apparati, etc., with descriptions and prices for each. Profusely illustrated. Former copy of vaudeville magician Leon H. Levy, known professionally as "The Great Leon" (1876-1951), creator and inventor of many celebrated stage tricks, such as "Fire And Water," "The Torture-Death Box Of Torquemada," "Death Ray Gun," and "The Haunted House." Tipped in at the back are three additional items: 1) A clipping from the printed program for Howard Thurston’s stage act at the Hanna Theater in Cleveland, Ohio, Dec. 22, 1929 listing each trick and illusion to be performed that evening, thirty-seven in all, in order of their presentation; 2) A written list, in Leon’s hand, of the twelve illusions and eight tricks performed by Thurston Oct. 21, 1931, in a 55 minute show in New York City, most probably at the Variety Arts Theater on 46th Street, as it is written on the back of a sheet of engraved Variety Arts stationery; and 3) Two printed pages from the program for Harry Blackstone’s act at the Shubert Detroit Opera House Dec. 15, 1929, containing an enumerated list of 48 illusions and tricks to be performed in the show. Accompanying the catalogue are two additional items: 1) A 1930 blueprint, with explanatory notes, for a design invented by Leon to prevent the warping of window frames. It is folded, addressed, stamped and mailed by Leon to himself at his home on Wilton Place in Hollywood as proof of invention and bears the postal cancellation of the Arcade Station in Los Angeles; and 2) A snapshot of a cabinet designed and constructed by Leon for an illusion in which a girl enters the apparatus, has her head placed in stocks and is decapitated, only to have the head reappear in a small box at lower right before eventually being restored to her body. Catalogue is Very Good, light to moderate external surface wear, internally clean and crisp, binding sound and square. Blueprint and photo both Fine. A unique grouping from a headline performer of the golden age of magic.