Servais Le Roy by Mike Caveney, William Rauscher

Details: 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sources including William Rauscher’s long friendship with Le Roy’s chief assistant Elizabeth Ford, Le Roy’s previously unpublished notebook and on years of dedicated research, the authors were able to include previously unpublished illusion secrets, Le Roy’s inspirational rise to international fame and finally, his catastrophic final performance and heartbreaking demise.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.

Contents:

003 Title Page
005 Dedication
007 Limited Edition (“This is number 740 of 1,000 copies”)
009 Table of Contents
013 Publisher’s Note (Mike Caveney)
015 Introduction (William Rauscher)

019 Chapter 1: Discovering Legerdemain 1865 – 1880
– Growing Up in England
– Horse Doctoring
– Soccer
– First Trick

023 Chapter 2: The Devil in Evening Dress 1881 – 1895
– Captain Henry Hill
– Mary Ann ford
– The Three Graces
– The Flying Visit
– The Red Hat
– The Man of the Moment

035 Chapter 3: Le Roy, Fox & Powell – The Triple Alliance 1896 – 1900
– M.B. Leavitt
– Crowned Kings of Magic

043 Chapter 4: Mercedes Talma – The Queen of Coins
– Oxford Theatre of Varieties
– T. Nelson Downs

051 Chapter 5: Le Roy, Talma and Bosco 1900 – 1905
– Magic Waters
– Legend of the Silkworm
– Leon Bosco
– Card and Ball Manipulations
– Paper Flowers
– Flying Cage
– Duck Pan
– A Riot of Quacking
– Duck Tub
– Wrong Heads
– Dress Box
– Asrah Levitation
– Magic Circle

083 Chapter 6: International Success 1905 – 1906
– Australia
– New Zealand
– England
– France

103 Chapter 7: Lady Kinton’s Necklace 1906 – 1907
– Playwrite
– Theatrical Producer
– Germany
– Austria

109 Chapter 8: The Servais Le Roy Company 1908 – 1913
– Halton, Jansen & Le Roy Company
– Wilfred Zelka
– Max Sterling
– The Magicians’ Club
– Percy Naldrett
– Servais Le Roy’s Magical Monthly
– Strange Disappearance
– Devil’s Cage
– Le Guillotine

139 Chapter 9: Bosco
– Leon Bosco
– Dr. James Elliot
– Seven More Boscos
– Napoleon the Dog

145 Color Plates: A Veritable Feast for the Eyes

161 Chapter 10: World Tour 1913 – 1914
– Palanquin Illusion
– Evelyn Nesbit
– Thrown to the Lions
– Hindu Rope Trick
– Australia
– New Zealand

173 Chapter 11: American Vaudeville 1915 – 1917
– Giant Duck Tub
– Dante Lawsuit
– Carmo
– Maggie Levitation
– Materializing Easel
– Eva Tanguay

191 Chapter 12: A Thief in the Poultry Yard 1918 – 1919
– Dr. Hooker
– Keansburg, New Jersey
– Doc Nixon
– Where Did the Ducks Come From?
– N.V.A
– V.M.P.A
– Vanishing Horse

205 Chapter 13: To Saw or Bayonet a Lady Asunder 1920 – 1922
– South America
– The Unseen World
– Sawing in Half
– Subduing A Woman with Bayonets

227 Chapter 14: The Politics of Magic 1923 – 1929
– SAM
– Exposure Committee
– New York to Bagdad
– Protective Union of Magicians
– Red Magic
– Exposure Wars

247 Chapter 15: Retirement by Accident 1930 – 1939
– Crash!
– Original Trifles
– Appearing Elephant
– Radio City
-Martin Beck
– The Lady and Her Dogs
– Floating Head
– Talking Head of Plato

263 Chapter 16: Nightmare at the Heckscher Theatre 1940
– Sam Margules
– The Last Harrah
– “I Can’t”
– Dusty Boxes and Cob-Webbed Tables
– A Broken Man

273 Chapter 17: Finale 1941 – 1953
– Smashed to Splinters
– Rajah Allaboom
– Goodbye Sweet Talma
– Reunited Forever

278 Appendix 1: Memories of the Past
– Maskelyne
– Hartz
– Verbeck
– de Kolta
– Lafayette
– Soo
– Houdini
– Thurston
– Powell
– Egyptian Hall

293 Appendix 2: SAM Documents
– Exposé Committee Rules
– A Mandate for Protection

303 Appendix 3: Metropolitan Magazine
– The Mechanics of Magic

307 Photo Credits

309 Bibliography

313 Index

submitted by Evan Shuster

• Publisher: Mike Caveney’s Magic Words
• Pages: 320
• Location: Pasadena, CA, USA
• Dimensions: 9″x11″
• Date: 1999
• Binding: hardbound

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