BOOTH, John (1912 – 2009). Archive of Magicians' Correspondence to John Booth. 1930s – 90s. Correspondents to Booth include C.A. George Newmann (with signature, not rubber-stamped autograph), Marvyn & Carol Roy (“Mr. Electric"), Milbourne Christopher, John Pomeroy, Elizabeth Warlock, Orville Meyer, Eugene Gloye, David Charvet, Eric Lewis, Joan Maskelyne, Percy Press, Neil Foster, Walter Gydesen, Martin Gardner, James Randi, P.C. Sorcar Jr., Len Vintus, David Price, Tom Morley, Howard Huntington, John Calvert, Ackero, Bill McComb, Stuart Cramer, Bill Larsen Jr., Mark Walker, and dozens more. Many correspondents appear in the file more than once, with many letters running to three or four pages, and several on elaborate pictorial letterheads. Housed in a single letter file, generally in very good condition or better.
Booth was a well-known nightclub magician, author of many books on the subject of magic, and wrote a decade-spanning column in The Linking Ring; as such, the writers of these letters touch on subjects relevant to their own lives, profiles Booth is proposing to write of them, personal matters and gossip, and even the techniques and methods behind a wide range of tricks. In all, a revealing and fascinating trove of correspondence from many of the twentieth century's great magicians, dealers, and collectors to one of their peers.