Illusion Builder To Fu Manchu (David Bamberg) by Robert Olson

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There is a 3”x 4” bookplate sticker of the previous owner on the inside cover. Check out my other listings for more rare magic books. Please feelfree to ask me a question or for more pictures.  Free DomesticShipping.  Shop with confidence-100% rating. Thanks for looking!
Morris Costume Company -- Philip Morris, Charlotte, N.C., 1986. Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Profusely illustrated with B&W photos, drawings, and diagrams (illustrator). This book has virtually nothing to do with the Chinese villain created in the early 20th Century novels of British author Sax Rohmer, instead referring to the parallel tradition of professional (European or American) magicians adopting Chinese garb and stage names to add an element of "Oriental Mystery" to their stage shows -- in this case, sixth-generation magician David Bamberg (of the "Bamberg Magical Dynasty,") who appeared as "Fu-Manchu" ("the greatest magician South America has ever seen"), and his friend, assistant, and illusion builder, Edmund Spreer, manufacturer of Okito's Sofa Illusion, Amac's Find the Lady, the Crystal Casket containing Okito's Floating Ball, the Spreer Expanding Die, etc. No ISBN found. The section describing how America's theatrical agents in the 1930s made it impossible to present the entire evening of magic which had done so well in Mexico, Havana, and elsewhere -- insisting that the show be cut down to a 58-minute intermission road show between film screenings at small-town movie theaters -- four shows a day from noon to midnight, which meant the cast could never even leave the theater for a full meal, all for less money than they'd been making in Latin America -- is either maddening or pathetic. Professional magic, stage illusions, sleight-of-hand. 219 pp. including index.