Magician Harry Kellar in “Miracle Mongers and Their Methods” by Harry Houdini. NY: Dutton, (1920). First edition
American Magician Harry Kellar (1849-1922) presented large stage shows during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, performing extensively on five continents. He was a predecessor of Harry Houdini and was often referred to as the “Dean of American Magicians.” One of his most memorable stage illusions was the levitation of a girl advertised as the “Levitation of Princess Karnack.” Kellar would claim the woman onstage, sleeping on a couch, was a Hindu princess, who he would levitate and then move a hoop back and forth around the woman’s body to prove she was not being suspended. The levitation was a marvel of the age and “the crowning achievement of Mr. Kellar’s long and brilliant career,” according to Buffalo writer John Northern Hilliard.
Magician Harry Kellar in “Miracle Mongers and Their Methods” by Harry Houdini. NY: Dutton, (1920). First edition
American Magician Harry Kellar (1849-1922) presented large stage shows during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, performing extensively on five continents. He was a predecessor of Harry Houdini and was often referred to as the “Dean of American Magicians.” One of his most memorable stage illusions was the levitation of a girl advertised as the “Levitation of Princess Karnack.” Kellar would claim the woman onstage, sleeping on a couch, was a Hindu princess, who he would levitate and then move a hoop back and forth around the woman’s body to prove she was not being suspended. The levitation was a marvel of the age and “the crowning achievement of Mr. Kellar’s long and brilliant career,” according to Buffalo writer John Northern Hilliard.