Join Dr. Eric Colleary, the Harry Ransom Center’s Cline Curator of Theatre and Performing Arts, for a special reading and discussion of his book Houdini's Library (2026) on Thursday, September 17 at 6 p.m. A landmark volume in the history of magic, this is the first book on Houdini’s legendary personal collection, published on the centennial of his death. This program is held in conjunction with the Ransom Center's newest exhibition, Houdini’s Library, on view through January 24, 2027.Dr. Eric Colleary, the Harry Ransom Center’s Cline Curator of Theatre and Performing Arts, is a historian, and writer who has spent more than two decades bringing the stories of theatre, performance, and popular culture to life. As Curator of Performing Arts at the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin, he has organized award-winning exhibitions that uncover how performance shapes and is shaped by history, and his work has been featured in major national outlets.
Houdini’s LibraryAugust 29, 2026 – January 24, 2027Discover the hidden treasures of Houdini’s Library, an exhibition that delves into the life and extraordinary collection of Harry Houdini, one of history’s most famous illusionists. On stage, Houdini crafted his performances with a deep sense of history and the magicians who came before him. Off stage, he spent years building a collection of books, manuscripts, and ephemera documenting the long global history of magic and theatre. From a first edition of Reginald Scot’s 1584 classic The Discoverie of Witchcraft to the handwritten travel diary of legendary actor David Garrick, delve into how Houdini’s collection reflected his quest to preserve history—a tradition continued by the Ransom Center since it acquired his collection in 1958. Commemorating the centenary of Houdini’s death in 1926, Houdini’s Library invites visitors to explore the intersections of magic, history, and collecting.
This exhibition is organized by Dr. Eric Colleary, Cline Curator of Theatre and Performing Arts.
A landmark volume in the history of magic―the first-ever book on Houdini’s legendary personal collection, published on the centennial of his deathHarry Houdini (1874–1926) was not only a great magician but a great collector. Every corner of his townhouse at 278 West 113th Street in New York was filled with books, pamphlets, prints, clippings, playbills, and photographs documenting the history of magic and theatrical performance. “It would cost fully a million dollars to forge the collection of evidence now in my hands,” Houdini wrote in 1908. “These programs, advertisements, newspaper notices, and crude cuts trace the history of magic as no romancer, no historian of a single generation possibly could. They are the ghosts of dead and gone magicians, rising in this century of research and progress to claim the credit due them.”
This handsome oversize volume is published to coincide with a major exhibition at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, where much of Houdini’s library is preserved. It traces the growth of the legendary illusionist’s collections throughout his career and illustrates hundreds of his treasures―many for the first time. They range from a priceless copy of Reginald Scot’s 1584 volume Discovery of Witchcraft, the first book to reveal the secrets of sleight-of-hand; the irreplaceable collection of playbills and programs that Houdini obtained from the British conjuror Henry Evans Evanion; the travel diary of David Garrick, the eighteenth-century actor who defined modern theatre; and much more. Houdini’s Library will be a source of fascination for anyone interested in the history of magic and performance.
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"I would not think of carrying a lock of hair," he said. "To me that is the true sign of the hardest of hard luck. Once I bought a collection. In it was a letter written by the Duke of Wellington to an artist who had painted his portrait. In the letter was a lock of the Duke's here. All the time I had it hard luck pursued me.Finally I tossed the thing into the fire. The very next day bad luck and Houdini parted company.I once had a lock of Edwin Booth's hair that I bought in another collection. Hard luck seems to creep upon me again. I gave that away–and once more, hard luck left me."
Discover the hidden treasures of Houdini’s Library, an exhibition that delves into the life and extraordinary collection of Harry Houdini, one of history’s most famous illusionists. On stage, Houdini crafted his performances with a deep sense of history and the magicians who came before him. Off stage, he spent years building a collection of books, manuscripts, and ephemera documenting the long global history of magic and theatre. From a first edition of Reginald Scot’s 1584 classic The Discoverie of Witchcraft to the handwritten travel diary of legendary actor David Garrick, delve into how Houdini’s collection reflected his quest to preserve history—a tradition continued by the Ransom Center since it acquired his collection in 1958. Commem-orating the centenary of Houdini’s death in 1926, Houdini’s Library invites visitors to explore the intersections of magic, history, and collecting.
This exhibition is organized by Dr. Eric Colleary, Cline Curator of Theatre and Performing Arts.
