ABSTRACT
All the Victorian professionals whose livelihood or public image depends upon secrets, the conjurer was the most paranoid. The prestidigitators who made their living from the effects described in this chapter had much at stake in their objections, especially during an era which would witness the increasing professionalization of magic and the rise of conjuring journals, organizations, and codified standards of conduct. In 1876, journalist and entertainment historian Thomas Frost describes the perception of conjuring in the previous century: The social position of the professional conjuror at this period even more dubious than that of the actor. To understand the progressive changes mid-to-late Victorian conjurers made in their approach to the craft, look at the typical image of the stage magician earlier in the century. While some magicians were abandoning the gaudy costumes favored by fairground performers like Gyngell, many continued the vogue epitomized by the Frenchman Phillippe, who dressed as a wizard, complete with decorated robe and conical hat.
