The 11th issue of Gibecière is finished, and we are very excited. This particular issue contains a real treat as we have finally persuaded the delightful Jim Steinmeyer to contribute an article, an addition to our list of contributors that we have been hoping for since the journal began. Additionally we have articles by Mitsunobu Matsuyama, William Kalush and Stephen Minch, and a translation from Lori Pieper!
Jim Steinmeyer’s article, “The Spider in the Flies”, neatly transitions from Joshua Jay’s “Tragic Magic” in the last issue, as it has to do with murder, although it is not the magician this time who is the victim. There is quite a bit more to this novel mystery which we leave you to work out by reading Mr. Steinmeyer’s enlightening article.
Mitsunobu Matsuyama provides a seventh(!) installment in his fascinating series, “An Investigation into Magic in Japan”. This time the history intertwines with several of magic’s biggest names: Maskelyne, Devant, and Chung Ling Soo. M. Gintaro may have performed at the Maskelyne and Devant theaters more than any other magician, possibly more than 6,000 performances! Frank Kametaro was Chung Ling Soo’s right-hand man who also, tragically, gave the order to fire during the performance of the bullet catch which cost the life of Soo. These and several other individuals are documented in this installment.
We round out this issue with a new translation of the magic section of Ozanam by the ever diligent Lori Pieper. The translation is introduced by Mr. William Kalush and Mr. Stephen Minch in their article, “The Influence of Ozanam”, which looks at where the text may have come from and the later texts that may have benefited from its popularity.
In all, we are very happy with this issue and are sure that you will find much of interest.
