William Ellis Stanyon (January 1870 – September 1951) was a professional magician and magic dealer in London.

Ellis Stanyon
BornJanuary 1870
DiedSeptember 1951 (1951-10) (aged 81)
OccupationMagician
Known forCard manipulation, coin magic, creator of Stanyon's Magic, sleight of hand

History

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Stanyon published and edited his own journal known as Magic.[1] The journal's aim was to‚ 'popularize the Art of Sleight of Hand'.[2] It was first published from October 1900 and ran for 177 issues with a break during World War I; the final issue was published in June 1920.[3]

Stanyon in his journal published a method of escaping from packed boxes. Biographer Kenneth Silverman has written that the magician Harry Houdini "accused Stanyon of having posted a bounty of several pounds for his secrets... Houdini dismissed the methods purveyed by Stanyon and others as being nothing like his own, "puny attempts at duplication."[4]

Magic historian Henry R. Evans wrote that Stanyon was "one of the most prolific writers on legerdemain in the world, and his hand-books on magic are largely sought after."[1]

Published works

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  • Conjuring With Cards (1898)
  • Hand Shadows (1900)
  • New Miscellaneous Tricks (1900)
  • New Coin Tricks (1900)
  • New Juggling Tricks (1901)
  • Card Tricks (1900)
  • New Card Tricks (1900)
  • Conjuring For Amateurs (1901)
  • New Handkerchief Tricks (1909)
  • Magic (1910)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Evans, Henry R. (1902). Magic And Its Professors. George Routledge & Sons. p. 88
  2. ^ Stanyon, Ellis (October 1900). "Introduction". Magic. Vol. 1, no. 1. p. 2.
  3. ^ Alfredson, James B.; Daily, George L. (1986). A Bibliography of Conjuring Periodicals in English: 1791–1983. York, Pennsylvania. p. 163.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. (1996). Houdini!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 65-66
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