A limited-edition book featuring never-before-seen glass plates of Houdini from 1903 to 1911 came out in April. The 10-inch by 10-inch Exposing Houdini includes images that the escape artist had planned to use for his personal biography, a project that he ultimately abandoned after he lost his original draft.
The story of finding the plates is arguably as fascinating as the images themselves. “The story of how the fragile glass plates traveled from Houdini to Dunninger, New Jersey, to Canada, and then made it to Ohio is more fascinating and involves a cast of characters,” publisher Charles Greene III told THE EYE via email.
Greene found the plates in Ohio at an auction house. “I was skeptical,” he said. “However, when I opened the first box, I was blown away. I was looking at Houdini images that had never been in print.”
Of the more than 60 images, most had never been published. The book also contains contemporaneous articles and sketches, and a Foreword written by Houdini expert John Cox.