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To: alt.lucky.w,alt.magick,alt.magic
From: catherine yronwode 
Subject: Black Arts Pamphlet 
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 18:48:36 GMT

Crossposted to alt.magick and alt.magic and no, this is not a mistake. 

Here we have an odd topic, crossing the line between occultism and stage
magic. It arose when Nick (devils_prophet@yahoo.com) asked my help in
identifying a booklet he had bought on ebay. First, thanks to his most
recent clear description of the booklet's contents, i can confirm that
his copy of

Secrets of Black Art
The Devil's Legacy to Earth's Mortals
    or
The Sciences of Magic, Witchcraft, Alchemy, 
Demonology, Omens, Mesmerism, Necromancy Etc.   
Johnson Smith & Company 
Detroit, Michigan
(no date, possibly 1930s)

has contents identical to and is therefore a reprint of my copy of

Herrman's Book on Black Art 
     or 
The Sciences of Magic, Witchcraft, Alchemy, 
Necromancy, Mesmerism Etc. 
Wehman Bros.
New York, 
1898

-- and, as i said before, the Wehman Bros. edition is definitely a
reprint of an older book, because Wehman Bros. was what prublishers used
to call a "bucket shop" -- that is, they published anything they could
find in the public domain. 

My guess is that the original was written circa 1875, when presenting a
straighforward history of diabolism, a respectful exegesis on mesmersism
AND exposing fraud among "manifesting" spiritualist mediums while 
examining their performances as a form of stage magic would have
converged. It is very odd to see chapters on these subjects printed side
by side in one book, for sure. 

If one wanted to do some research on the "Davenport Brothers 'Spirit
Mysteries'" -- a program of dark-stage phosphorescence tricks,
quick-release knots, and gimmicked cabinet get-aways that are
specifically exposed in the book -- one could get a clearer sense of the
original publication date and the tenor of the times. 

As for the identity of Herrman, the author, i know nothing. 

I do know, however, that there was a 19th century American (or German?)
stage magician called Prince Herman because an African-American stage
magician of the late 19th and early 20th century adopted the name after
Prince Herman died and called himself Black Herman. Black Herman in turn
wrote a book called 

The World's Greatest Magician
Black Herman
Secrets of Magic - Mystery & Legerdermain [sic]
A Missing Key to Success, Health and Happiness

Black Herman's book, like Herrman's, straddles the line between stage
magic and occultism, although it comes down far more firmly on the side
of stage magic. It is a third-person account of Black Herman's
adventures as a touring prestidigitator-cum-detective and presents some
simple coin, handkerchief, and card tricks a child could work wiothout
special props. However, it also includes lengthy boiler plate
astrological information for people of various birth-dates and an
exhaustively long dream-interpretation chapter, with lucky numbers for
playing policy, as well as some Christian religious material ("My
Mother's prayer") -- plus a brief account of hoodoo folk magic,
specifically, "crossed conditions." It is illustrated with photos of
Black Herman on stage, producing roses, ducks, and so forth. 

Like many other occultism and stage magic pamphlets of its type and era,
Black Herman's book went through several publishers. To judge by the
date in the preface, it was originally published in 1925, but every copy
i have ever seen is "fifteenth (de luxe) edition, copyright 1938." 

I have it in two copies, one published (probably in 1938 or soon
thereafter) by 

Empire Publishing 
New York City, N.Y. 

and another in a 1960s reprint (with a zip code, and with many
illustrations deleted, but still bearing the 1938 date) from  

Dorene Publishing 
Dallas, Texas

I have inquired in the past in the newsgroup alt.magic about Black
Herman, but the only reply i got was a mention that someone had written
a book on him -- however, when i wrote to the email adress of the
supposed author, i received no answer. This is being cross-posted to
alt.magic, in the hope that someone might direct me to a source of
information about Black Herman, to alt.magick, since it deals with
occultism, and to alt.lucky.w since it deals with hoodoo.

cat yronwode 

Hoodoo in Theory and Practice -- http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoo.html
Freemasonry for Women ------- http://www.luckymojo.com/comasonry.html

No personal e-mail, please; just catch me in usenet; i read it daily. 

Lucky Mojo Curio Co. http://www.luckymojo.com/luckymojocatalogue.html
   Send e-mail with your street address to catalogue@luckymojo.com
and receive our free 32 page catalogue of hoodoo supplies and amulets

     Copyright (c) 2000 catherine yronwode. All rights reserved.

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Subject: Black Arts Pamphlets
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John M. Hansen wrote:
> 
>     The 'Black Arts' became a catch phrase in the 1860 - 1910
> period, when magic, at least in the predominant white middle class
> commuity was considered to be both titilating, sexual, and
> forbidden.   This titualtion was taken advantage of by any number of
> stage magicians, and others,  for their own purposes.  (Because of
> vaudville, there were a great many more professional stage magicians
> practicing then than there are today.)
>     Black Herman was one of the leading stage magicians of his time.
> He was an American Negro who was very successful as a vaudeville
> entertainer.
>     I personally doubt that he had anything at all to do with the
> book of the 'Black Arts' which bears his name.

Hi, John -- Thanks for the above. You are right, and the confusion is
not mitigated by the fact that there are two different books with
similar titles that both carry cross-over material about stage magic AND
occultism. They are:

        Herrman's Secrets of Black Art 
and 
        Black Herman's Secrets of Magic  

I have copies of both books and have written descriptions which should
help distinguish them, already posted.  

By the way, a copy of the Dorene reprint of the Black Herman book is
currently for sale at ebay. Unfortunately, the seller is of the mistaken
impression that this is actually the 1938 edition (Dorene never took the
old copyright date off) and so he or she has set some unworkably high
"reserve" price on it. 

The Dorene edition is incomplete in that it deletes several
illuatrations and those that remain are very muddy and hard to see (They
show Black Hrman producing ducks (a speciality of his) and roses, and
performing before large African-American sudiences.) The Dorene edition
has a pink cover made of a very poor grade of "construction paper" type
stock that invariably fades to tan upon exposure to light. The actual
1938 Empire Publishing edition is a bright, clear dark orange that does
not readily fade. 

In short, what this person is selling at ebay is not worth much -- but
for drills, y'all might go there and check it out. I'd give about $5.00
for it myself as it is STILL IN PRINT at that price, with the same
erroneous 1938 copyright date and the same muddy illustrations. 

Here is the info:

Item #:   477004469 
Item:     1938 MAGICIAN BLACK HERMAN BOOK OF SECRETS !
Price:    US $9.99 
Currently $9.99 (reserve not yet met)
Bids:     0
Started:  10/22 20:11 
Ends      Oct-29-00 19:11:37 PST
URL:      http://grass.ebay.com/go/101/12611650/1/477004469 

-- and, as i said, this incomplete reprint edition of the book in the
obviously faded condition shown is not worth the opening bid of $10.00
-- but there is a hidden "reserve price" above that, so even if you bid
ten bucks, you won't get it. 

But you can at least see the cover :-) 

cat yronwode 

Hoodoo in Theory and Practice -- http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoo.html

No personal e-mail, please; just catch me in usenet; i read it daily. 

Lucky Mojo Curio Co. http://www.luckymojo.com/luckymojocatalogue.html
   Send e-mail with your street address to catalogue@luckymojo.com
and receive our free 32 page catalogue of hoodoo supplies and amulets

     Copyright (c) 2000 catherine yronwode. All rights reserved.