Servais Le Roy: Monarch of Mystery with Additional Ephemera

Caveney, Mike; Rauscher, William

ISBN 10: 0915181339 / ISBN 13: 9780915181339

Published by Mike Caveney's Magic Words, Pasadena, California, 1999

About this Item

Limited First Edition. Hardcover. Signed and inscribed by Mike Caveney and William Rauscher to previous owner and dated 1999 to title page. Edition limited to 1000 copies, this being number 136. Additional ephemera laid in: reproduction Le Roy, Talma & Bosco publicity handbill (1905), Le Roy, Talma & Bosco promotional folder from (1915), a Percy Naldret poem about Talma produced compliments of author William Rauscher, and two color post cards associated with this book. 11 3/4" X 9 1/4". 320pp. Light cover wear to pictorial dust jacket. Bound in full slate gray cloth, with upper board and spine lettered in gilt. Light shelfwear, if any, to binding. Binding is firm and sound. Pages are clean and unmarked. Illustrated throughout, including 28 posters reproduced in full color. A very presentable limited edition, signed by both authors, of this full presentation of the work of the Belgian magician and illusion designer Servais Le Roy, eighth in Magic Words' series of Magical Pro-files. This book is oversize and will require additional postage to ship internationally; please contact us for a quote. ABOUT SERVAIS LE ROY: MONARCH OF MYSTERY: As a performer and inventor of magic and illusions, Servais Le Roy had no peer. Harry Houdini praised him, Howard Thurston feared him and Harry Kellar called him the most finished artist he had ever seen. Mrs. Le Roy, known around the world as Talma: The Queen of Coins, was often compared to that great sleight-of-hand expert, T. Nelson Downs, and the rotund Leon Bosco induced gales of laughter by switching the heads on two living birds. Together, as Le Roy, Talma and Bosco - The Comedians de Mephisto, they produced a full evening of magical entertainment unlike anything the world had ever seen. This is the story of their rise to fame starting with Le Roy's early visits to Egyptian Hall in London with his boyhood friend David Devant, his first success in England's music halls and American vaudeville during the 1890s, and finally, international fame as a recognized star of the Variety stage. During Le Roy's amazing life he rubbed shoulders (and did battle) with many of the biggest names in show business. Drawing on a number of primary sources including William Rauscher's long friendship with Le Roy's chief assistant Elizabeth Ford, Le Roy's previously unpublished notebook and on years of dedicated research, the authors were able to include previously unpublished illusion secrets, Le Roy's inspirational rise to international fame and finally, his catastrophic final performance and heartbreaking demise. If you enjoyed Mike Caveney's biography on Carter the Great and William Rauscher's book on The Great Raymond, you won't want to miss Servais Le Roy - Monarch of Mystery. The book measures 9 by 11-1/2 inches, contains 28 posters reproduced in full color, over 150 rare photos and drawings and is protected by a beautiful color dust jacket. 320 pages. An incredible production value.

Seller Inventory # 6312

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Servais Le Roy: Monarch of Mystery with Additional Ephemera
• Publisher: Mike Caveney's Magic Words, Pasadena, California
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0915181339
• ISBN 13: 9780915181339
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: Limited First Edition.
• Condition: Near fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: very good +
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Limited Editions
  • Signed Books & Materials
  • Magic, Conjuring, & Illusion

About this title

Synopsis

In a collaborative effort with writer and publisher Mike Caveney, Rauscher has produced this riveting biography of a Magical Genius. complete with vast amounts of photos, articles and accounts of LeRoy, Talma and Bosco. Based on insight gained from Rauscher's long friendship with LeRoy's chief assistant Elizabeth Ford, LeRoy's previously unpublished papers include insights from Elizabeth Ford sister of LeRoy's wife Talma. For onwards of forty years Rauscher gathered information about LeRoy, kept files, reproduced photos and gave lectures about the LeRoy, Talma and Bosco -Worlds Monarchs of Magic show. In his youth Rauscher lived near Keansburg , New Jersey, where LeRoy lived and died. This book is an in-depth portrait of one of magic's greatest performers and inventors. This is the story of a GREAT MAGICIAN, his rise to international fame and finally his catastrophic final performance and heartbreaking demise. The book measurer 9 by 11-1/2 inches, contains 28 beautiful lithograph posters reproduced in full color, over 150 rare photos and drawings and is protected by a beautiful color dust jacket showing a lithograph portrait of LeRoy. Printing was limited to 1000 hand-numbered copies – probably why the book is now out of print and available only through resellers.