Literary illusions : performance magic and Victorian literature /

"Literary Illusions explores the dialogue between Victorian literature and one of the nineteenth century's most popular modes of performance: conjuring. It explores the ways in which Victorian literature frequently deployed the figure of the magician to explore performance magic as a metap...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Pittard, Christopher (Author)
Format:	Book
Language:	English
Published:	Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2025]
Series:	Nineteenth-century and neo-Victorian cultures.
Subjects:	English literature > 19th century > History and criticism. Magic in literature. Littérature anglaise > 19e siècle > Histoire et critique. Magie dans la littérature.

Table of Contents:

Introduction : taking magic seriously
V for ventriloquism : vocal magic in Henry Cockton's Valentine Vox
A cabinet of curiosities : Dickens, magic and secrecy
The travelling doll wonder : from Khia Khan Khruse to Bleak house
Unprecedented arts : conjuring in Cranford
Bullet catches and second sight : conjuror biography and Robert-Houdin's Memoirs
Conclusion : Edwardian and neo-Victorian conjuring
Appendix : Khia Khan Khruse's UK performances.