‘Encounter the unexpected’: Harry Houdini exhibition commemorates the famed illusionist on the centenary of his death
Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the escape artist's death on Halloween, ‘Houdini's Library’ at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas spotlights his vast collection of books and other ephemera
The Harry Houdini exhibition at the University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center commemorates the famed illusionist on the centenary of his death. Houdini, born Ehrich Weiss in 1874, dreamed of retiring to his library and writing about his interests in the history of conjuring, witchcraft, psychic phenomena, and the drama of the stage.
He died at the age of 52 from a ruptured appendix in 1926. His magic collection was donated to the Library of Congress, while his drama collection, which includes rare materials from the 18th century, is held by the Ransom Center. Eric Colleary, the center's curator of theatre and performing arts, has spent over a decade unraveling the depth of Houdini's bibliophilia, which is showcased in the exhibition and a book of the same name.
Houdini's collection included engravings of mechanical automata and theatrical playbills, and he was particularly interested in magical history, aiming to bring together enough primary sources to write a better record of magical history. His annotated 1881 edition of Thomas Frost's The Lives of the Conjurers expressed his disappointment with the book and fueled his collecting efforts.
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