Henry Ridgely Evans

author

Henry Ridgely Evans

1861–1949

A journalist turned authority on magic and illusion, he wrote lively books that opened the world of conjuring, spirit tricks, and famous performers to general readers. His work helped preserve the history of stage magic at a time when vaudeville and theatrical illusion were thriving.

2 Audiobooks

The Old and the New Magic

The Old and the New Magic

by Henry Ridgely Evans

Hours with the Ghosts or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft

Hours with the Ghosts or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft

by Henry Ridgely Evans

About the author

Born in 1861, Henry Ridgely Evans was an American writer and journalist best known for books about magicians, spiritualism, and theatrical illusion. He wrote for a broad audience, mixing reporting, history, and show-business curiosity in a way that made unusual subjects feel approachable and entertaining.

Evans is especially remembered for works such as Hours with the Ghosts; or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft, The Old and the New Magic, and Later Magic. In these books he explored stage conjuring, exposed fraudulent spirit phenomena, and recorded the careers and methods of notable performers, making him an important early popular historian of magic.

He died in 1949. Today, readers interested in the borderland between entertainment, deception, and belief still turn to his writing for its vivid picture of how magic was presented and understood in his era.