John Nevil Maskelyne

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John Nevil Maskelyne

John Nevil Maskelyne (born December 22, 1839 in Cheltenham , † May 18, 1917 in London ) was a British stage magician and inventor.

His son Nevil Maskelyne (1863-1924) and his grandson Jasper Maskelyne (1902-1973) were later also active as stage magicians.

Magician

J. N. Maskelyne initially trained as a watchmaker . In 1865, the then twenty-six-year-old Maskelyne became known together with George Alfred Cooke (1843–1926; cabinet maker) when they exposed the Davenport brothers , who presented themselves as " spiritual media", as fraudsters. In 1873 the two founded their own theater as Maskelyne & Cooke in the Egyptian Hall in London. Due to the permanently playable theater, Maskelyne was the first to use the capacity of the stage and invented the genre grand illusion by making people disappear in boxes. Maskelyne was the first to let a person float through a tire. The secret was spied on by Harry Kellar . The Maskelyns often staged their shows in the style of theater plays. At this time, the duo set new standards in the art of illusion and influenced many later stage magicians, among them David Devant and the later film pioneer Georges Méliès .

Maskelyne was one of the first people ever to be filmed in 1896, although he did not do magic, but only juggled.

When Cooke died in 1904, David Devant (1868–1941) took over his role. He also appeared together with John Maskelyne's grandson Jasper Maskelyne as a "random boy from the audience" and wrote the book Our magic with John's son Nevil . The duo Maskelyne & Devant were very successful until Devant retired in 1914; then John continued to work with his son Nevil. John Nevil Maskelyne died in London in 1917.

Maskelyne today has a seat in the Society of American Magicians Hall of Fame .

Antispiritist

Maskelyne and Cooke saw themselves as Royal Illusionists and Anti-Spiritualists and made spiritualist tricks like those of the Davenport Brothers public. Maskelyne doubted the reports about the fabulous Indian rope trick in the press, but failed to explain the effects of the floating spiritualist Daniel Dunglas Home . He also made a name for himself as the author of a revelatory book about the tricks of card-cheats ( Sharps and Flats ).

Inventions for everyday life

In addition to his stage work, John Nevil Maskelyne was also active as an inventor. His most important invention is the first typewriter manufactured in England , which was manufactured in 1889 by Maskelyne British Typewriter & Manufacturing Co. Ltd. of London . Its specialty was that the letters were of different widths, similar to letterpress printing and unlike most typewriters. In addition, J. N. Maskelyne held about 40 other patents, including a. in the field of telegraphy and railway signals. Maskelyne also invented the coin operated toilet lock.

swell

  • John N. Maskelyne: "Sharps & Flats". A complete revelation of the secrets of cheating at games of chance and skill. Gambler's Book Club, Las Vegas 1971 (reprinted from 1894 edition).
  • Jasper Maskelyne: White Magic. The story of maskelynes etc. Stanley Paul, London 1936.
  • Jim Steinmeyer: Hiding the Elephant. How magicians invented the impossible and learned to disappear. Carrol & Graf, New York 2003, ISBN 0-7867-1401-8 .
  • Peter Lamont: The Rise of the Indian Rope Trick. The biography of a legend. Little Brown, London 2004, ISBN 0-316-72430-0 .
  • Peter Lamont: The First Psychic. The pendulas mystery of a notorious Victorian wizzard. Little Brown, London 2005, ISBN 0-316-72834-9 .

Web links

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