Who was Wiljalba Frikell?

Wiljalba Frikell (1818–1903) was a Prussian magician and author, born in Sagan and known by several spellings of his name. His name appears on a string of 19th-century conjuring books, including Hanky Panky (1872) and Magic No Mystery (1876), both edited by W. H. Cremer. He is often credited with making evening dress the magician’s costume, though that credit is disputed. Harry Houdini went to his home in Kötschenbroda, Germany, in 1903, but Frikell died before the two could meet.

Where did Wiljalba Frikell come from?

Frikell was born on 27 June 1818 in Sagan, in what was then Prussia. His name turns up in several forms: he is also recorded as Friedrich Wilhelm Frickel, and as W. Frickel or Wiljalba Frickel. If you search old books and playbills, it helps to try every spelling.

What is Frikell known for?

Two things come up most often when you read about Frikell today: the books that carry his name, and a costume question. He is often credited with being the magician who swapped the wizard’s robes for evening dress. One account states it outright, saying it was Frikell, not Robert-Houdin, who made the change. Lybrary’s biography of him is more cautious, calling him “widely but perhaps wrongly credited” with introducing black evening clothes for magicians. We haven’t found a source that settles it, so we’d treat it as an open question. For more on the other name in that debate, read who was Robert-Houdin?

Which books carry his name?

Frikell’s name appears on several popular conjuring books of the mid- to late 1800s. Library and bookseller records credit him with titles including:

• The Magician’s Own Book
• The Secret Out
• The Parlor Magician
• Hanky Panky: A Book of Conjuring Tricks, published in London by John Camden Hotten in 1872 and edited by W. H. Cremer
• Magic No Mystery, published in 1876 and also edited by W. H. Cremer

Many of these books list other writers or editors alongside him, and exactly which parts Frikell wrote isn’t clear. Lybrary, for example, says the authorship of The Magician’s Own Book “is not entirely clear”. So when you read these books, think of them as carrying his name rather than as his own words from cover to cover.

What is inside Magic No Mystery?

Magic No Mystery is the easiest of these books to read today. It covers conjuring tricks with cards, balls and dice, gamblers’ tricks exposed, the three-card trick, loaded dice and thimblerig, the ring in an egg, Robert-Houdin’s watch trick, magic writing and ciphers, and even the training of performing animals. It also includes an early ball vase that magicians trace to the modern chop cup. Our history of the ball and vase tells that story.

Did Houdini meet Frikell?

No, though he tried. Houdini wanted to meet the old magician and travelled to his home, the Villa Frikell in Kötschenbroda, Germany, in 1903. Frikell died before the two could meet. Houdini was photographed standing in front of the villa, and he wrote about Frikell in his book The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, which prints that photograph along with portraits of Frikell. For more on Houdini, read who was Harry Houdini?

When did Frikell die?

Frikell died on 10 October 1903 in Kötschenbroda, Germany, aged 85.

What should you look at next?

• Magic No Mystery by Wiljalba Frikell. A free, complete 342-page PDF of the 1876 John Grant edition, edited by W. H. Cremer, with tricks with cards, balls and dice, magic writing and performing animals, and many illustrations.
• Modern Magic by Professor Hoffmann. A free, complete 594-page PDF of the 1876 textbook, published the same year, covering cards, coins, watches, handkerchiefs, the cups and balls and stage apparatus with the original engravings.

To download either book, you check out at $0 and the file arrives by email and on your order page. Browse more old books in our free ebooks collection.

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