STODARE'S FLY NOTES OR CONJURING MADE, EASY FOR AMATEURS
Book Details + Condition: George Routledge and Sons (London). First Edition, 1867. Hardcover. 126 pages with advertisements. Colonel Stodare (1831-1866), born Joseph Stoddart in England, was a ventriloquist and magician who entertained the Royal family at Windsor. He was celebrated for performing the "Sphinx illusion", in which a seemingly disembodied Egyptian head sat in a box set on an empty table. The Sphinx would open its eyes, smile, and speak in verse. It would give replies to questions. Stodare would finish by closing the box and reopening it to discover a pile of dust where the head had been. Chapters include: Palmistry and Passes; Tricks Without Collusions; On the Continuity of Tricks and Chemical and Electrical Tricks. Specific Notable Tricks Include: Cook Pancakes over a Birthday Candle; The Invisible Hen; The Dancing Egg and Walking a Shilling. Firm binding; wear to boards, with some of the paste-down paper worn off; spine covering not present, with written labeling; interior is clean and free of markings.
