This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/26/2024
[MASKELYNE] The Coming Race. St. George’s Hall Program. London, 1905. Bi-fold program for the “magical drama in a prologue and three acts,” filled with magical special effects, and which nearly bankrupted the Maskelynes. 4to. Torn and worn with a loss in the lower left corner and mended with paper tape; sold as-is. Regardless, a RARE relic of the first Maskelyne production at St. George’s Hall. The Coming Race was replete with imaginative stage effects and magical moments built on the stage illusions and principles developed at Maskelyne’s Egyptian Hall. But the combination of drama, science fiction, and magic show was a flop, closing after eight weeks. It was David Devant’s return to London – he had been on tour in the provinces – that helped bring financial stability (and appreciative, robust audiences) to England’s “New Home of Mystery,” St. George’s Hall.