[Hofzinser, Johann Nepomuk] | A rare broadside advertising "An Hour of Deception"

[Hofzinser, Johann Nepomuk]

Stunde der Täuschung. [Vienna]: Wallischauffer, [1863]

Letterpress playbill (220 x 120 mm). Printed in black in Fraktur types; old horizontal fold, light creasing. Matted, framed, and glazed in Plexiglas.

A highly accomplished magician, Hofsinzer performed for high society in Vienna, but was nonetheless an elusive figure—he most frequently performed, "as shown on this broadside, in salons under his wife's surname," Wilhelmine Hofzinser (EE). In addition to his work as a magician, he was a poet and critic, and an employee of the Austrian Ministry of Finance.

"Although much new material has surfaced, playbills of Hofsinzer are rare. This broadside advertises a performance of May 1863. ... Among the pieces presented was an effect called 'The Library,' with which he often ended his show. Hofzinser exhibited nine volumes of poetry by writers such as Heine, Schiller, and Goethe. He transcribed one line of verse out of 300,000 possible choices and sealed it in an envelope that was passed to an observer. Four spectators now chose at random an author, a page, a poem, and a specific line. The envelope was opened and shown to contain four additional envelopes. On the first was written the name of the selected author, on the second the page number, on the third the poem, and on the fourth the line of verse. Hofzinser then transformed the four envelopes into a single sheet, a printed broadside, on which was revealed, in bold type, all the choices made by the spectators" (EE).

When asked which magician he wished he could travel back in time to see, Ricky Jay said, "My time machine would have to travel to nineteenth-century Vienna to witness Hofzinser" (EE).

REFERENCE:

EE, p. 142