Law and Magic Blog

The Houdinis In the Maritimes @CanadasHistory @DeanJobb

For Canada's History, Bruce McNab tells the story of Harry and Bess Houdini's abortive tour of the Maritimes in the summer of 1896. Their hopes of success with the Marco Magic Company led instead to trouble with the law and retirement from performing (although only for a short time). 

This article originally appeared in the June-July, 2009, issue of The Beaver magazine.

 

Via @CanadasHistory @DeanJobb.

ICYMI: Kurlander on Hitler's Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich @ekurlander @yalepress

ICYMI:

Eric Kurlander, Stetson University, has published Hitler's Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich (Yale University Press, 2017). Here is a description of the book's contents.

The Nazi fascination with the occult is legendary, yet today it is often dismissed as Himmler’s personal obsession or wildly overstated for its novelty. Preposterous though it was, however, supernatural thinking was inextricable from the Nazi project. The regime enlisted astrology and the paranormal, paganism, Indo-Aryan mythology, witchcraft, miracle weapons, and the lost kingdom of Atlantis in reimagining German politics and society and recasting German science and religion. In this eye-opening history, Eric Kurlander reveals how the Third Reich’s relationship to the supernatural was far from straightforward. Even as popular occultism and superstition were intermittently rooted out, suppressed, and outlawed, the Nazis drew upon a wide variety of occult practices and esoteric sciences to gain power, shape propaganda and policy, and pursue their dreams of racial utopia and empire.

Forbidden Histories: An Interesting Website, Blog, and Twitter Feed

If you're particularly interested in the intersection of science and spiritualism, check out the website Forbidden Histories, run by Dr. Andreas Sommer. Contributors study the history of research into the paranormal. There are suggested readings, a YouTube channel, and a Twitter account (@ForbidHistories). 

Witchcraft and Witchcraft Trials in Early French Canada @steph_pettigrew @andreaeidinger

A very interesting post on witchcraft and witchcraft prosecutions in early French Canada, by Stephanie Pettigrew, a doctoral student in history at the University of New Brunswick. From Andrea Eidinger's wonderful blog Unwritten Histories.

The Ghosts of Early Modern England

Via Stefan Bauer @BauerStefan: very interesting posts from Laura Sangha at the many-headed monster on the subject of the ghosts of early modern England.

 

Here, part I: Dramatic news of the horrid ghosts of early modern England.

Part II: Horrid ghosts of early modern England: creeks, screeks and...bacon?

Part III: The ghosts of early modern England: a ghost story.

A New Book on Witches From Stacy Schiff

Stacy Schiff (Cleopatra (2010)) is publishing a new book, this time on the witches of Salem, a perennially favorite topic. Here's more on the tome, The Witches, due out in October from Little, Brown.

 

 

The Washington Symposium on Magic History Opens Up Registration

From our friend Ken Trombly:

The Washington Symposium on Magic History, set for April 25-27, 2013 is now accepting on-line registrations, at www.magicposters.com  Styled very much after the famed LA
Conference on Magic History, this three day east coast event will feature an
exclusive exhibit for its attendees only at the Library of Congress, consisting
of highlights from the Houdini and McManus-Young Collections. In addition,  the Symposium will host a huge dealers room offering vintage magic collectibles, an auction of vetted material, the screening of a new documentary film about magic, and a number of speakers on arcane topics of interest to magic history enthusiasts and collectors. Except
for the Library of Congress exhibit, all events will take place at the
award-winning Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, in
Bethesda, MD, where a greatly discounted room rate is available for Symposium
attendees. For more information, or to register on-line, go to at www.magicposters.com. This unusual and special event is likely to be a sell-out.

 

An Upcoming Conference On Magic History

From our lawyer/magician colleague Ken Trombly:

 

The Washington Symposium on Magic History will be April 25-27, 2013 at the Bethesda North Marriott
Hotel & Conference Center in North Bethesda, MD.

In the coming weeks we will set up Internet links for registering for the convention and for booking rooms at the special symposium rate.

But for now please save the dates.

You can look forward to a memorable weekend, featuring, 

A variety of unusual and provocative speakers and topics

A huge dealer’s room, teeming with vintage magic
collectibles

A unique and exclusive Library of Congress Magic Exhibit on Friday April 26, featuring numerous highlights from the Houdini and McManus-Young collections

An auction of vetted magic collectibles (apparatus, books, posters, ephemera etc), something for everyone!

And a surprise or two that we are keeping up our sleeve for now.

Special convention Room rates $119 night, with free wifi in
all rooms and discounted parking for all

This is a four star hotel, conveniently located near the
easy-to-use Metro system.

Bring your significant other so you can play tourist. April
is the best time to visit DC, with pleasant weather and the newly bloomed
cherry blossoms.

Questions? Email [email protected]

Bloody Good

The Hollywood Reporter offers a review of the new historical/horror mashup Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, here. Apparently, it's something you can get your teeth into.

An Essay on Canon Law, Chaucer, and Magic

Of interest: Henry Ansgar Kelly's Canon Law and Chaucer on Licit and Illicit Magic in the 2010 collection Law and the Illicit In Medieval Europe (Ruth Mazo Karras, Joel Kaye, and Ann Matter, eds., University of Pennsylvania Press).