Angelo Lewis, a British lawyer, was born on this day in 1839. As an amateur conjurer, he scoured magic shops for the most interesting equipment, and most sophisticated secrets. He wrote them up in children’s magazines and magic books using the now-famous nom de plume, Professor Hoffmann. Those books were Modern Magic, More Magic, Later Magic, and many others.
There’s no question that his amazing books inspired generations of boys to become great magicians. But not every magician was charmed by Hoffmann’s career. Stanley Collins wrote to Sam Sharpe: “I look upon [Angelo Lewis] as the arch-exposer, and have no respect at all for him. This man gave to urchins practically all that was known at the time of the science of conjuring, and his only interest [was money].”