Harry Ransom CenterThe University of Texas at Austin

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Magic

Poster from the Performing Arts Collection.

Poster from the Performing Arts Collection.

The McManus-Young Collection contains 2,500 books on the art and history of conjuring, sleight of hand and stage magic, hypnotism, spiritualism, and witchcraft. This is supplemented by other Performing Arts holdings, including Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), the earliest work to contain a section on magic tricks and legerdemain. Related to this is a collection of books on spiritualism that belonged to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. To locate individual McManus-Young titles, go to the UT Library Catalog, click on Call Number on the left, and enter "ZM" in the Other Call Number field. The Harry Houdini Collection contains posters, programs, correspondence, and books on conjuring owned by the magician.

 

The Reading Room Will Be Closed:

March 10, 2012
March 17, 2012
May 19-28, 2012
July 4, 2012
August 18, 2012
August 20-24, 2012
August 25, 2012

Always closed on Sundays

Kings and Creators Celebration: March 2, 2012
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