This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/17/2024
[HYPNOTIST]. Prof. Carpenter’s Grand Combination of Mesmerism and Psychology. [United States: ca. 1870s]. Pictorial letterpress broadside playbill advertising performances by an American hypnotist, bearing a wood-engraved image of spectators on a theater stage behaving in unusual ways after being influenced by Mr. Carpenter. The text states “Men, Women, and Youths are actually made to see, feel, hear and think whatever the operator wills them to, and act with an intensity that far exceeds the wildest imagination.” 12 ¼ x 4 ½”. Horizontal center crease, toning. In his History of Magic in Boston 1792 - 1915, commissioned by Houdini, H. J. Moulton had this to say about Prof. A. E. Carpenter: “Said to be a successful mesmerist… and he deserves a passing notice. He had good audiences and good control of his subjects, the latter of whom did all sorts of stunts at the will of the mesmerist.”