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M. H. Spielmann

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M. H. Spielmann
BornMarion Harry Alexander Spielmann
1858
London, England
Died1948

M. H. Spielmann (1858-1948) was an amateur magician who took lessons from Charlier from around 1880 till 1884. Started conjuring after seeing magic tricks for sale in the window of Hellis's shop. Spielmann was friends with Professor Hoffmann, John Nevil Maskelyne and Charles Bertram.


Biography

He studied Engineering at University College London but his main interest and career was in the study of art. In which he became an authority, becoming the foremost art critic of his day.

Spielmann's interest in magic sprang from a dislike of card playing. As described by his son;

"When walking down the Church Street from Notting Hill Gate, he saw some conjuring tricks in the window of a shop that was selling photographic apparatus. It flashed across his mind that if he took up conjuring, he would be for ever free from card playing, in which chaff on a run of luck, however pleasantly meant, would be intolerable. He found the main attraction to lie in legerdemain, by reason of his joy in the delicate manipulative skill that was required, to which his sensitive and elegant fingers were so suited. Long practice before a mirror was necessary; and when despair and fatigue were nearing their limit, the trick would suddenly be performed as it should be... The earliest records of his proficiency were in letters of appreciation in 1878, and it was in this vear that he gave a friendly entertainment to the Jewish Workingmen's Club and Institute (then in Hutchinson Street, Aldgate) on Sunday, December 1 , 1878. There was nearly a disaster here to a trick, when he saw in the reflection in the glass of a picture hanging on the wall, that he had "forced" the wrong card on a member of the audience... On another occasion, he announced himself as "Professor Spielmann, Wizard of the NNE by N" in chaffing reflection on an established professional who called himself "The Wizard of the North"(sic)... (Great Wizard of the North) He delighted Ruskin, too, with his conjuring tricks on one of his visits to his friend at Coniston."[1]

He wrote a draft of an unpublished book on card magic around 1879.[2]

References

  1. Annals of Conjuring
  2. The Conjuring Arts Research Center exhibition "The Card Men of Mystery"