The Whole Art of Ventriloquism, Arthur Prince, ex. E.A. Dearn library

Characteristics: Book on ventriloquism by Arthur Prince (no date, c. 1920), ‘The Whole Art of Ventriloquism’, London – Hardcover, black cloth covers, gilt lettering and edges, with author’s colored portrait as frontispiece, some minor wear, no jacket. From the collection / library of magician Edwin A. Dearn with his book plate “Ex libris E. A. Dearn”. It also carries on the title page the stamp “From EDWIN A. DEARN, SHANGHAI, CHINA” and the penned date 12/3/1920. Of the few Dearn books that we have found over the past decade, none carry such a stamp. Interestingly also, this book is often dated to 1921 but the penned note suggests that it was actually published in 1920.

Provenance: Edwin A. Dearn

Edwin A. Dearn (1892-1980) was a magician and friend of Max Malini. He also performed ventriloquism in Shanghai before moving to Australia in the 1950s. He is remembered as an avid collector of magic memorabilia and books. His collection was described in “The E. A. Dearn Collection” article in The Town Traveller (1926). A number of Houdini collectibles originate from the Dearn collection.

About us: We collect historic collectibles previously owned by famous collectors and/or institutions, and which represent milestones in the history of collecting. We consider all domains of collecting, from naturalia (minerals, meteorites, fossils, shells, etc.) to artificialia (coins, stamps, sport memorabilia, vintage toys, etc.). We consider objects with impressive pedigrees as well as rare collection catalogues and other unique documents. We have written articles on the history of collecting in various magazines and journals, including Meteorite, Colligo and Archives of Natural History. We make some of our specimens and documents available to other collectors from time to time.