Houdini, Goldston and The Magicians' Club
- PDT
- 2 days ago
- 9 min read
Updated: 17 hours ago
Having sold magic books professionally for over five years, I've come across many with interesting stamps, signatures and stories, but none quite as special as these.
They're not part of my collection, but I've had the pleasure to be their temporary custodian while selling them through CollectingMagicBooks.com on behalf of the owners, John Davenport and his wife Anne Goulden. If you're interesting in bidding on either of these sets, you can do so on the listing here, the first round of bidding closes on the 31st of October, 2025. You can read on the listing a bit about the books themselves, which are important early magic texts in their own right, but I thought I'd use this space to look a bit more at their history over the last 120 years or so.
Houdini was an eager collector of magic books and student of magic literature throughout his career and probably had the largest collection of magic books in the world at the time of his death. He took advantage of his extensive touring regime to visit booksellers and collectors. These books may have been picked up by Houdini while touring Europe, though he may have received them from one of his network of book dealers.
After purchase, Houdini proudly stamped all of these books on multiple pages and page edges with a distinctive rectangular "HARRY HOUDINI COLLECTION" purple stamp.
This stamp had a long life and was used after his death on occasion, but these were clearly applied in his lifetime. One book also contains two stampings of Houdini's signature, a stamp Houdini likely had for use on correspondence when busy, though he may not have used it often as it is very rarely seen.
Five volumes have also been bound in blue/grey paper and have simple paper labels often seen on books in photos of Houdini's bookshelves. These were probably applied by Houdini and appear to be written in his hand.
That brings us to the next stage of the books life, moving into the library of The Magicians' Club. So what was The Magicians' Club and what did Houdini have to do with it? That all starts with Will Goldston. Goldston was born in Liverpool to Polish parents in 1877, just three years after Houdini's birth.1 Like Houdini, he was Jewish and, also like Houdini, his parents had emigrated from central Europe. Add magic into the mix and they had much in common when they met each other in their late twenties. Goldston recalled the event in Sensational Tales of Mystery Men and remembered it being in 1899, though David Tait, an expert on Houdini's times in Britain, thinks it probably actually happened in 1904.2 Below is an edited extract of Goldston's recollection of their first meeting:
"...it was quite by accident that I first ran into him. About twenty-nine years ago, I was walking down Lime Street, one of the main thoroughfares of Liverpool. It was winter and snowing hard. As I hastened along with my thoughts on nothing in particular, I noticed a short figure, coming towards me, with coat collar turned up and head bent to the ground.
As the man got nearer, I observed that he was carrying a small dog beneath his left arm. His clothes shabby and unkempt, and it was this fact more than anything else which caused me to stare at him with more than usual interest. To my surprise, his face was familiar.
'Excuse me,' I said, grasping him by the arm. 'Are you Harry Houdini?'
'Yes,' was the reply. 'Who are you?'
'I'm Will Goldston.'
'Goldston, my dear fellow!' cried Houdini, shaking me by the hand as if I had been his lifelong friend, 'this is indeed a pleasant surprise.' His manner suddenly changed. 'Tell me,' he resumed, lowering his voice for no apparent reason, 'where can I get a pair of patent leather boots?'" 3
Goldston took him to a boot shop and a friendship quickly formed. Goldston was one of the leading magic dealers of the time as well as being a prolific author of magic books and a theatrical agent. Goldston ran the magic and theatrical departments of the London department store and sports outfitters Gamages from 1905 until 1914, before setting up independently.
It was during Goldston's time at Gamages that he decided to form a new magic club, The League of Magicians. In his 1910-1911 annual for his house magazine The Magician Monthly he laid out in detail his view for a new professional body which would support the art and provide a ranking system for professionals to amateurs, similar to the membership levels of The Magic Circle today.4 Indeed, there was some backlash from Circle members who felt Goldston was ignoring their society.5 It seems likely Goldston was inspired by The Magic Circle and saw the commercial potential in having a club of his own, rather than joining in with someone else's. [Update: Goldston also had a falling out with The Magic Circle, as recorded in Edwin Dawes' book Glimpses of Goldston. Thanks to Ian Keable for pointing this out. -PDT]
Goldston's relationship with some of the biggest magic stars of the day, along with the financial freedom associated with having the backing, for now at least, of Gamages, were a good footing for founding a club. Houdini would be key for this start and their friendship was clearly already close with him contributing an effect to the same annual as the above notice.
The annual was first available in November 1910 and the next Goldston writes on the subject is in the March 1911 edition of The Magician Monthly, where he addresses the reactions of Circle members and invites them to join him in forming the new club at a preliminary meeting soon to be announced.6 Though the article was respectful in tone, it was accompanied by a Fred Velasco cartoon of a comic looking figure with The Magic Circle's symbol as its head being startled by a fire bowl labelled "The League of Magicians" and bearing Goldston's portrait. It's interesting that the cartoon shows that in Goldston's view, or at least Velasco's, Goldston was the symbol of the new club.
The April issue of The Magician Monthly saw the cover change, with Houdini front and centre. It also contained a big update on the forming of the new society. A Saturday in May was to soon be chosen for a preliminary meeting and Houdini has agreed to be in the chair. Goldston encouraged as many people as possible to attend and ended with a level headed statement, indirectly referring to The Magic Circle, on the new club being a complement to existing ones, not competition.7 The choice of Houdini as chair could give the founding of the club an appearance of independence from Goldston.
The following month's issue did bring news that on 3pm on the 27th of May all magicians were invited to the Crown Room at the Holborn Restaurant for the inaugural meeting of the league.8 This issue was published just days after the untimely death of Lafayette in Edinburgh, a close friend of Houdini and Goldston.
June's issue reported on this meeting, which seems to have been a great success. The attending magicians voted Houdini to be the club's president, with Stanley Collins the Honorary Secretary and Goldston the Honorary Treasurer. Vice-presidents and a committee were elected, with Goldston ruling himself out of both. Collins made it clear the club should have "a well equipped library". Concerns were raised from attendees about whether the whole venture was financially viable, to which Houdini pledged to cover the first six months rent of the club's premises.9
The report also shows that the club's name had been changed from The League of Magicians to The Magicians' Club. It's unclear why attention was not drawn to this in the article or editorial, perhaps it was a change decided in the meeting that Goldston was not happy with. Given Houdini's fast-paced global career most members must have been aware that the club was ultimately Goldston's to run, a point made gently in his caption on the cartoon summary of the first meeting.
After that excitement, the club entered a long period of limbo while suitable premises were found. This finally lifted in February 1913 with the news that premises at 2 Gray's Inn Road were ready and would be opened shortly by, who else, Harry Houdini. The article also stated that "The Club's museum and library are being rapidly formed. Already they contain many valuable articles and books." 10 Stanley Collins, the honorary secretary, would probably have been tasked with building this library and himself donated books to it, along with Goldston and, or course, Houdini. It is likely it was at this time that Houdini donated the books now offered for sale, though it is possible he gave them to the club later.
This donation, whether in 1913 or at some point later, are the next phase in these books' history evident from their marks. All are stamped in multiple places with a bold "THE MAGICIANS CLUB" stamp, showing their place in Houdini and Goldston's society.
They also all bear a "Presented by..." stamp, each signed by Houdini from the time he donated them. Two other examples owned by John and Anne from the same library had the Houdini name written in Stanley Collins' hand, possibly because Houdini had posted them to the club, but all of the books currently for sale are written in Houdini's hand, suggesting he donated these examples in person.
Returning to 1913, the club opened on the 16th of March with a busy and informal meeting attended by Houdini, Devant, Goldin, Cecil Lyle and many others.11 Houdini performed his needle effect and toasts and speeches were made. From this point on the club held regular meetings and events. One significant one, which Houdini attended, was the first Ladies' Night. It was illustrated by Elcock in a double-page spread in the May 1913 issue of The Magician Monthly.12
This issue also contains a remarkable photograph from the evening showing the calibre of performer attending the club.
Houdini's friendship with Goldston and presidency of the club remained strong for the rest of his life, so it is impossible to say for certain when between 1911 and 1926 Houdini gave these books to the society. In my view, the most likely time would be in the excitement of the initial fitting out of the clubs rooms, themselves funded by Houdini. The reading room of the club looked like this in the December 1913 issue of The Magician Monthly and it's probable these books were thumbed on these tables.13
The books remained in the club library as it went through four further presidencies until the club quietly closed following Goldston's death in 1948. The Davenport Family purchased the businesses from the Goldston estate for £200 in 1949.14 After issuing one or two retail lists, Goldstons became Davenports' wholesale arm and was run by Gus Davenport.15 Gus also became the owner of the books from The Magicians' Club library, including these of Houdini's.
Gus looked after these books for the rest of his life and they passed on to his son John Davenport upon Gus' death in 1973. Today, they are jointly owned by John and his wife Anne Goulden. They've decided to pass these remarkable books on to a new owner, or owners, and bids are now open on this dedicated page on CollectingMagicBooks.com:
References:
A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, Fergus Roy.
The Great Houdini, His British Tours, Derek Tait.
Sensational Tales of Mystery Men, Will Goldston.
The Magician Monthly Annual, 1910-1911, Will Goldston.
The Magic Circular, March 1911.
The Magician Monthly, March 1911.
The Magician Monthly, April 1911.
The Magician Monthly, May 1911.
The Magician Monthly, June 1911.
The Magician Monthly, February 1913.
The Magician Monthly, March 1913.
The Magician Monthly, May 1913.
The Magician Monthly, December 1913.
The Davenport Story, Volume Three, Fergus Roy.
Davenport, J. (2021) Gus Davenport – the man and the magician 1912 – 1973. Available at: https://www.davenportcollection.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Gus-Davenport-the-man-and-the-magician.-v1.pdf (Accessed on the 14th of October, 2025)
