![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/magic-libraries.png\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>Source: https:\/\/in.pinterest.com\/pin\/253890497725616459\/<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n A magician\u2019s most valuable asset is not the rabbit in the hat or the magic wand. Rather, it is the secrets to his or her trademark tricks. For example, Houdini is remembered as one of the greatest magicians of all time because of his tricks and how remarkable (not to mention dangerous) they were for his time. This brings up the question of how generational secrets from magicians dating back to the time of the Egyptian magician, Dedi, in 2,700 B.C. right up to the present, have been brought back and improvised throughout the years. Well, believe it or not (as Robert Ripley would say), there are magicians today with libraries of their own, allowing knowledge of magicians\u2019 secrets to be passed on to generations of breakthrough magicians and the public alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the biggest names in magic (who also owns a magician library) happens to be none other than David Copperfield. Yes, the<\/em> famous Las Vegas illusionist, David Copperfield. This year, I had the privilege of attending the 2021 American Library Association Annual Virtual Conference and Exhibition in June, and one of the speakers was Copperfield. Copperfield is currently the owner of the International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts<\/a>, which contains the world\u2019s largest <\/em>collection of historically significant magic artifacts, books, and memorabilia. Additionally, the library houses \u201capproximately 80,000 items, including Houdini’s Water Torture Cabinet and Metamorphosis Trunk, Orson Welles’ Buzz Saw illusion, and automata<\/a> (created by Robert-Houdin<\/a>).\u201d There are also \u201c15,000 magic books, thousands of graphic images, prints, posters, playbills, photographs, manuscripts, letters, and scrapbooks of leading magicians throughout the years.” That being said, Copperfield\u2019s library is available exclusively<\/em> for researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
David Copperfield\u2019s History of Magic will be available to purchase on October 26, 2021. Pre-order on Amazon<\/a> if interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, however, there are other magician librarians that continually preserve the knowledge of illusionists. In fact, this next curator<\/a> that is about to be mentioned is also based in Vegas. His name is Leo Behnke, and aside from being a professional magician, he has been obtaining books on magic for the past sixty-five years. He even worked as a curator in David Copperfield\u2019s library for some time back in 1993. Small world indeed! When he first settled in Vegas, he established a small magic library that had \u201cwell over 2,000 volumes.\u201d Later on, though, he made the decision to close his library and start the company Ace of Books with his wife, Pat McCarty, who just happened to be the founder of the preservation lab at the University of Nevada Las Vegas Libraries. Currently, they receive numerous requests from magicians to preserve and\/or restore their magic books. For those interested in Behnke\u2019s archival techniques, he published a book in 2000 titled The Conservation of Magic<\/em>, which explains how to \u201c[preserve] and [organize] magic books, ephemera, and collectibles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n