Description
Harry Houdini’s Unpublished Manuscript — The Strand Magazine, Issue 79
A LOST WORK BY HARRY HOUDINI, PUBLISHED IN FULL FOR THE FIRST TIME—100 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH
On October 31, 1926, Harry Houdini died in Detroit at the age of fifty-two. Exactly a century later, The Strand Magazine marks the anniversary with an extraordinary literary discovery: a previously unpublished manuscript by the world’s most famous escape artist.
Titled “An Interesting Scrapbook,” this remarkable work reveals a side of Harry Houdini that few readers have encountered.
Here is Houdini not as the master of impossible escapes, the fearless showman, or the relentless exposer of fraudulent spiritualists, but as a historian of magic, fascinated by the extraordinary performers who came before him.
Drawing on old theatrical playbills and historical research, Houdini brings to life the colorful, often forgotten magicians and entertainers who helped shape his profession. Their stories, preserved in Houdini’s own words, offer a fascinating glimpse into the history of magic and the mind of one of the twentieth century’s most celebrated figures.
The manuscript survived among Houdini’s papers at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Despite Houdini’s prolific writing career and extraordinary gift for self-promotion, no previous publication of the work could be identified. Houdini scholars Matthew Solomon of the University of Michigan and John Cox, founder of Wild About Harry, confirmed that they knew of no earlier publication.
Why did Houdini never publish it?
Was the manuscript simply forgotten? Or did a man famously protective of his professional secrets deliberately keep this history of magic out of the hands of rival performers?
The answer remains a mystery.
Now, 100 years after Houdini’s death, readers can discover “An Interesting Scrapbook” in full in the pages of The Strand Magazine.
Also in This Special Issue
C. J. Tudor — “Still Life”
A haunting story of grief, art, and disappearance. Following the disappearance of his daughter, an artist begins painting, but his work conceals as much as it reveals.
Tim Newton Anderson — “The Second Strand”
Dr. Watson returns to Baker Street during Sherlock Holmes’s Great Hiatus, only to find himself drawn into a dangerous mystery that Holmes himself might have relished solving.
E. J. Carson — “Off to the Races”
A wickedly entertaining tale of a discontented husband, a winning bet, and an obsessively tidy wife—with consequences nobody quite anticipates.
An Exclusive Interview with Lee Child
The creator of Jack Reacher discusses the relationship between writer and reader, the importance of narrative momentum, and the surprising nature of originality in fiction.
An Interview with Lucy Foley
The bestselling mystery writer discusses Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel, her new Miss Marple adventure, and the challenges of bringing Agatha Christie’s legendary detective to life while preserving her unmistakable personality.
Plus: Reviews of the latest mysteries, thrillers, and notable new books.
A Century Later, Houdini Still Has Surprises
For admirers of Harry Houdini, collectors of rare literary discoveries, historians of magic, and readers who love great mysteries, this is an issue worth keeping.
Discover Harry Houdini’s long-hidden writing in The Strand Magazine, Issue 79.
Order your copy today.
