The exhibition accompanies the new book Houdini’s Library by Dr. Eric Colleary, which explores the extensive personal collection of the escape artist. Houdini amassed a vast library that included books on safes, prison architecture, and lock manufacturer catalogs, materials he used to develop his stage act.
Beyond his professional needs, Houdini acted as an archivist, documenting and preserving items related to the history of magic, spiritualism, and theater. His collections were so extensive that they rivaled those held by Harvard and the British Museum. He maintained standing relationships with rare book dealers and placed advertisements in magazines to solicit new materials.
Colleary notes in the book’s introduction that Houdini’s fixation was profound, recalling a moment of airplane turbulence where the magician thought, “Honestly I thought of my wife and theatrical collection.”
The collection includes a fifty-three-page typed catalog where Houdini annotated his holdings, such as a 1901 book on magnetism. It also features The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, a work Houdini paid to have translated into French after realizing his early idol had plagiarized other performers.
Other notable items include a first edition of Reginald Scot’s 1584 Discoverie of Witchcraft, which Houdini shipped from England during World War I, and ephemera related to the 18th-century Diamond Necklace affair involving Count Cagliostro. The exhibition also highlights Houdini’s rivalry with collector Dr. Saram R. Ellison and his public feud with Arthur Conan Doyle over spiritualism.