John Henry Anderson

John Henry Anderson(1814–1874) was a Scottish professionalmagician.^[1]Anderson is credited with helping bring the art of magic from street performances into theatres and presenting magic performances to entertain and delight the audience.

Career

Anderson was born nearTorphinsin Aberdeenshire.Orphanedat the age of ten, he started his career appearing on the stage with a travelling dramatic company in 1830. At seventeen, he began performing magic and in 1837, at the age of twenty-three, he performed at the castle ofLord Panmure,whose endorsement of Anderson inspired him to put a touring show together which lasted for three years.^[2]^: 37In 1840, Anderson settled in London, opening theNew Strand Theatre.^[2]^: 37Anderson said thatSir Walter Scottgave him the stage name, The Great Wizard of the North.^[2]^: 37

Anderson's success came from his extensive use of advertising and popular shows which captivated his audience.^[2]^: 38The Wizard was committed to philanthropy and expertshowmanship,making him one of the earliest magicians to attain a high level of world renown. As he declared, "It is the duty of all magicians to give entertainment".^[2]^: 38He would remove tricks from his performances if they were not enthusiastically received.^[2]^: 39Anderson is famous for a lifetime of successful performances of thebullet catchillusion.^[2]^: 38Although he did not invent the trick, he made it widely popular and several of his rivals copied Anderson's version in their own shows. Anderson is also credited to be the first magician to pull a rabbit out of a tophat. The trick had existed before in different forms, yet, Anderson was the first magician that performed this classic trick on stage.^[3]^[4]

In 1842, Anderson married Hannah Longherst fromAberdeen,an assistant with his show.^[2]^: 39The following year their son John Henry Jr. was born. In 1845, Anderson's mistress Miss Prentice gave birth to Philip Prentice Anderson, but died in childbirth.^[2]^: 39Anderson, however, supported the child for his entire life. Anderson would also have two daughters – Helen and Alice – who assisted in their father's show and later became successful magicians, and a secondillegitimateson with a member of his touring troupe.

1845 also saw the completion of Anderson's second theatre, the City Theatre inGlasgow.In November, only four months after opening, the theatre burned and Anderson's financial losses were considerable.^[2]^: 39Through the aid of his show business friends, Anderson was able to launch a new show at London'sCovent Garden Theatrein 1846 and then toured Europe the following year, travelling toHamburg,Stockholm, andSt. Petersburg,where he metCzar Nicholas I,who arranged a command performance for Anderson after an awkward chance meeting.^[2]^: 39

In 1849, Anderson returned to London to perform forQueen VictoriaandPrince Albert.^[2]^: 40The following year, Anderson touredAmerica,Canada, Australia, and Hawaii. Upon returning toBritain,Anderson found that he had a rival in fellow magicianRobert Houdin.^[2]^: 40

Robert-Houdin's inventions were pirated by his trusted mechanic Le Grand who was arrested for making and selling duplicate illusions. Many of those illusions fell into the hands of his competitors like The Great Wizard of the North, Robin, andCompars Herrmann.It is not known whether Anderson or the others bought the illusions directly from LeGrand or from another source. But, they willingly performed the illusions after knowing that those were invented by Robert-Houdin.

Herrmann too was performing in London with Robert-Houdin's pirated tricks. Anderson took Houdin's tricks and returned to America in 1853 and performed inBoston.An illusion involving Anderson's dispensing of various alcoholic beverages to the audience caused a legal controversy regardingtemperancein that city.^[2]^: 41

In 1859, after a brief period as an actor, Anderson began another world tour. In 1862, at the age of eighteen, John Henry Jr. left his father's troupe and began his own independent career as aconjuror.^[2]^: 45This started a bitter feud between father and son and the two never spoke again. Greatly in debt, Anderson returned to England in 1864, and went bankrupt again in 1866.^[2]^: 45

Anderson died in 1874 at the Fleece hotel in Darlington, County Durham.^[5]He was buried next to his mother in theKirk of St Nicholaschurchyard.^[6]MagicianHarry Houdini,who was born in the same year as Anderson's death, revered Anderson as one of his inspirations and in 1909 arranged for the upkeep of the gravesite, which had fallen into disrepair.^[2]^: 45

Spiritualism

In 1854, Anderson held a farewell performance in Aberdeen. The success of this show was enough to inspire Anderson not to retire. Rather, he began to concentrate his efforts on exposing the tricks ofmediumsandspiritualistfraud. In his shows, he used his daughters to duplicate spiritualist effects. Anderson was one of the magicians of his day who exposed the frauds of theDavenport brothers.The show played at theLyceumin London and then moved to theCovent Garden theatrein 1855. The following year, after a gala performance andbal masquéthe theatre caught fire and was destroyed in the early hours of 5 March 1856,^[7]destroying all of Anderson'spropertiesandbankruptinghim for the second time in his professional career.

Anderson stated that spiritualism was a "delusion that has driven ten thousand persons mad in the United States."^[8]

Stage Name used by Hind after his Death

Sometime between 1879 and 1881, self styled "Professor of Magic" Philip Prentis Hind (1844–1920) began using Anderson as his last name and the stage name of Professor Anderson for his magician's act in Australia presenting himself as the successor to the original Wizard of the North. His act included his wife, Louisa, as a clairvoyant.^[9]

Publications

Shilling's Worth of Magic: Or Tricks to be Learnt in a Train(1853)
The Fashionable Science of Parlour Magic: Being the Newest Tricks of Deception, Developed and Illustrated: With an Exposure of the Practices Made Use of by Professional Card Players, Blacklegs, and Gamblers: To which is Added, for the First Time, the Magic of Spirit Rapping, Writing Mediums, and Table Turning(1855)
Capital Tricks and Deceptions with Cards(1894)

References

^Booth, John. (1986).Wonders of Magic: A Veteran Magician's Book of Original Tricks, Concepts, Pictures, Memoirs, and Conjuring History.Ridgeway Press. p. 26
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^qRandi, James(1992).Conjuring.New York: St. Martin's Press.ISBN 0-312-08634-2.OCLC 26162991.
^"The Beginning & Maybe The End of Rabbits From Hats".themagicdetective.Retrieved14 November2016.
^C, Bayer (December 1990).The Great Wizard of the North (John Henry Anderson).Magic Art Studio.ISBN 978-9992493328.
^"Death of Professor Anderson The Wizard",Miners' Advocate and Northumberland Recorder (Newcastle, NSW, Australia),p. 4, 29 April 1874,One of the oldest of the prestidigitateurs, Professor Anderson, "the Wizard of the North", died on Tuesday morning, at nine o'clock, at the Fleece Hotel, Darlington.
^Northern Scotland.Centre for Scottish Studies, University of Aberdeen. 2003.
^Sheppard, F. H. W., ed. (1970). "Covent Garden Theatre and the Royal Opera House: Management".The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.Survey of London: Volume 35. British History Online. London: London County Council. pp. 71–85, para. ¶47.Retrieved15 April2017.
^Lamont, Peter. (2013).Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem.Cambridge University Press. p. 150.ISBN 978-1-107-01933-1
^"Professor Anderson at St Georges Hall",Western Mail,p. 43, 23 April 1887,PROFESSOR ANDERSON appeared for the first time in Perth, on Monday evening at St. George's Hall. For over two hours the professor kept his audience in a state of great wonder and amusement. He performed a vast number of marvellous feats and proved himself a master of the mystic arts, scarcely second to the original Wizard of the North. Many of our readers will, no doubt, remember the delight with which years ago they attended the entertainments of the first Professor Anderson. There were few ways of spending an evening equal to that of witnessing the marvellous feats of the Professor and his family. The deftness of hand, the wonderful skill in conjuring which made the great Professor famous, seem to have descended to his successor who is now amongst us.

Hay, Harry.Cyclopedia of Magic.(1949)ISBN 0-486-21808-2
Randi, James.Conjuring.(1992)ISBN 0-312-09771-9
Obituary,New York Times,5 February 1874, p. 2

External links

[1]–Diane Duane's Errantry Concordance entry, "claiming" he was actually a practising wizard using stage magic as cover
John Henry AndersonatEncyclopædia Britannica

[1] Booth, John. (1986).Wonders of Magic: A Veteran Magician's Book of Original Tricks, Concepts, Pictures, Memoirs, and Conjuring History.Ridgeway Press. p. 26

[randi-2] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^qRandi, James(1992).Conjuring.New York: St. Martin's Press.ISBN 0-312-08634-2.OCLC 26162991.

[3] "The Beginning & Maybe The End of Rabbits From Hats".themagicdetective.Retrieved14 November2016.

[4] C, Bayer (December 1990).The Great Wizard of the North (John Henry Anderson).Magic Art Studio.ISBN 978-9992493328.

[5] "Death of Professor Anderson The Wizard",Miners' Advocate and Northumberland Recorder (Newcastle, NSW, Australia),p. 4, 29 April 1874,One of the oldest of the prestidigitateurs, Professor Anderson, "the Wizard of the North", died on Tuesday morning, at nine o'clock, at the Fleece Hotel, Darlington.

[6] Northern Scotland.Centre for Scottish Studies, University of Aberdeen. 2003.

[7] Sheppard, F. H. W., ed. (1970). "Covent Garden Theatre and the Royal Opera House: Management".The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.Survey of London: Volume 35. British History Online. London: London County Council. pp. 71–85, para. ¶47.Retrieved15 April2017.

[8] Lamont, Peter. (2013).Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem.Cambridge University Press. p. 150.ISBN 978-1-107-01933-1

[9] "Professor Anderson at St Georges Hall",Western Mail,p. 43, 23 April 1887,PROFESSOR ANDERSON appeared for the first time in Perth, on Monday evening at St. George's Hall. For over two hours the professor kept his audience in a state of great wonder and amusement. He performed a vast number of marvellous feats and proved himself a master of the mystic arts, scarcely second to the original Wizard of the North. Many of our readers will, no doubt, remember the delight with which years ago they attended the entertainments of the first Professor Anderson. There were few ways of spending an evening equal to that of witnessing the marvellous feats of the Professor and his family. The deftness of hand, the wonderful skill in conjuring which made the great Professor famous, seem to have descended to his successor who is now amongst us.

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