This year we celebrate David Devant’s 157th birthday. He was born in 1868. As one of Great Britain’s most influential magicians— an exemplum of skilled conjuring, creativity, and good taste—Devant was Maskelyne’s second partner and a star of British Music Hall. Devant always insisted that he learned the art by begging an itinerant magician, a master of old-world braggadocio, for lessons. The magician arranged a complicated trade: He would give all his secrets to young David as soon as the boy could deliver a grand portrait of the magician, painted by David’s artist friend. When the portrait was finally completed the magician harrumphed, “Just buy the book by Hoffmann. It’s all in there.”
