The Art of Magic

Step inside one of the world’s most astonishing private collections of magic posters—now revealed for the first time. The Art of Magic chronicles one of the world’s finest collections of magic posters. The oversized book is, itself, a work of art. It is a collection dedicated entirely to the art and artistry of magic history.

Author Ken Trombly is one of the industry’s most fervent collectors of magic art: lithographs, posters, etchings–if it depicts a magician in history, Ken probably owns a copy in mint condition. His house is a wonderland from the golden age of magic. But few of us will ever get to see his collection in person. So…The Art of Magic brings that collection right to your fingertips. 

The size of the book is its most unique feature: the book is an enormous 16” by 12”. It’s too big and too beautiful to slide onto a shelf. The Art of Magic belongs front and center, on your coffee table, where you and your loved ones can visit these arresting images with the flick of a page. The book is filled with a mix of our most celebrated and forgotten heroes. 

You’ll learn about the heroes you know–Kellar, Chung Ling Soo, Thurston, Houdini–but you’ll see images here that you won’t find anywhere else. You’ll learn about John Henry Anderson and Robert-Houdin, who preceded the golden age of magic, and what’s particularly fascinating here is that you can see, literally, as the technology and art evolve, from broadsides of almost all types, to some wood etchings, to bursts of color in the stone lithographs we all know and love. 

For us, the real joy in The Art of Magic is in the unsung heroes we’ve never heard of. You’ll learn about Professor Hartz and Will Wood, as well as a strange magician who went by “Hellmann,” even though his most beautiful poster misspells his name. You’ll even see a beautiful advertisement for a magician whose claim to fame is…eating rocks! 

You’ll learn about Carlincourt, a traveling magician who Abraham Lincoln hired to spy on Confederate Troops during the Civil War. 

And it isn’t all people. Ken has an outstanding collection of hilarious animal broadsides, boasting about learned pigs, learned geese, learned dogs, and learned horses. 

Ken Trombly provides the commentary for each image. He tells brief histories of each performer, how he acquired the piece, and often why the piece speaks to him as a collector. It’s a deeply personal accounting of one collector’s journey in our craft. 

In addition to the profusion of amazing full color stone lithographs–a number of which have never been published before, anywhere–fhe book also includes equally rare ephemera–from sheet music featuring magicians to a one-of-a-kind Houdini documents and photos. On top of that, there is even a chapter dedicated to iconic prints and engravings of cup and ball performers.

The Art of Magic is a lifetime in collecting, but the book itself has been years in the making. World-class National Geographic photographer Richard Nowitz painstakingly photographed the images in Ken’s collection, and Andi Gladwin has given the book an elegant layout befitting of the splendor of the golden-age images it contains. 

If you love the visuals of our craft’s rich history (and how could you not!), this book is an essential piece for your collection. 

The Art of Magic is available in a regular edition and a deluxe set, featuring a stunning slipcase and a signed bookplate by the author. Only 300 deluxe sets were produced, and once sold out, they will never be reprinted.