This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/9/2023
WEATHERLY, Lionel (1852 – 1940) and J.N. Maskelyne (1839 – 1917). The Supernatural. Bristol: J.W. Arrowsmith, [1894]. Publisher’s orange cloth lettered in gilt and black. Frontispiece spirit photograph, illustrations. 8vo. Half-title foxed, spine caps and corners rounded, general light shelfwear and soiling, with centermost signature loose, but very good or better overall. With Devant’s bookplate on the front pastedown. INSCRIBED AND SIGNED, “David Devant Esq / with / J.N. Maskelyne’s / kind regards / March 1894.”
The importance of this association copy is hard to overstate, as the professional relationship between J.N. Maskelyne and David Devant shaped the world of magic in England and abroad for decades. Devant joined the Maskelyne organization at London’s Egyptian Hall in the late nineteenth century, eventually succeeding George Cooke to become Maskelyne’s partner in England’s Home of Mystery at St. George’s Hall. This book was inscribed in Devant’s formative years while still the junior partner in the enterprise. It is the first item inscribed and signed by one of these two greats of British magic to the other we have encountered and offered for sale at public auction.