Winter Magic Auction

Bertram, Charles (James Bassett). Charles Bertram ALS Regarding his Performances. Undated holographic missive in Bertram’s hand, on printed letterhead from 1 St. Stephen’s Villas. The court magician to British royalty writes that he has “to do a show at Kensington on Wednesday 18th,” and that he is also performing at St. James’s Hall. Bertram then asks the unnamed correspondent if he will work the Kensington show in his place. One sheet, folded to 8vo. Signed boldly, “Charles Bertram.” Rare. Bertram was a favorite of King Edward VII of England, for whom he performed over twenty times. Equally adept on stage and in a drawing room, Bertram presented illusions at Egyptian Hall (including de Kolta’s Vanishing Lady), but is today perhaps best remembered for his sleight-of-hand feats, and many of the pictures he posed for in C. Lang Neil’s seminal work, The Modern Conjurer, considered one of the foundational texts on magic and sleight-of-hand, and one of the first to use photographs to explain the working of conjuring tricks.