Towards the end of my information-gathering process for this story, I stumbled across an online Facebook post in a Vaudeville fans page. A portrait image of the Fakir of Oolu was accompanied by a comment from the proud great-great-granddaughter of Alfred Silvester, and shortly afterwards I was able to make contact with both Lyn Myers and Leo Harwood, Fifth-generation descendants and still connected to the performing arts in Western Australia. Many of the images you will see here (with attribution) have been handed down through the family, probably never seen before, and they are reproduced with their very kind permission. The images date back to their mother, Ida Harwood, and through the generations to the original Fakir himself. I am thrilled to be able to share these treasures.

Alfred Silvester was born in Westminster on October 17, 1831 to parents Ann Windsor (1793-1875) and William Silvester (1790-1860), a bootmaker of Lambeth. Genealogical family trees show his siblings as Henry, Ruth and Ann (Henry would later be recorded as either a Comedian in 1845, or an Artist Photographer in later life).

Separately, however, is a connection to another apparent brother, William Henry Silvester (1814-1886) who adopted the professional name Martin Laroche. (3) In a time before birth certificates were issued in England, it can only be confirmed that W.H. Silvester’s parents were William and Ann, and that he was born in Lambeth. “Laroche” was a photographer, jeweller and painter of miniatures, and although not enjoying an especially prosperous career he did have some fame for photographing the Shakespearian actor Charles Kean, in a series of images which Prince Albert presented to his wife, Queen Victoria. Laroche also engaged in a significant legal case with William Henry Fox Talbot (1854), who was fighting to retain intellectual property rights in his “Calotype” photographic process. Laroche’s win resulted in the wet–collodion technique becoming freely available for use.

The connection to photography is important, as young Alfred is said (4) to have studied chemistry and medicine under a Professor Taylor. One obituary (5) states that he worked at several London hospitals where “his talents as an M.D. were recognized in the highest degree” but this claim should be treated with some caution. Certainly, he would later use the title ‘Doctor Silvester’ in his stage work.

By 1853 he was working at the Royal Panopticon of Science and Art in Leicester Square (6) as a demonstrator and photographic operator, “where his exquisite productions have long made the Gallery of that Institution the most popular in the Metropolis.” (7)

Alfred was married on May 9, 1852 to Mary Ann Christiana Smith (1831-1876), at that time residing in Pollen Street, close to where Liberty’s store is today.

By September of 1854 he had moved to Glasgow to work for the photographic studio of Stephen A.M. Young, who specialised in paper-based photographs and Sterescopic images. The stereoscope would become hugely popular, composed of two slightly offset images which, when viewed through a handheld frame, gave the impression of a three-dimensional scene. Silvester would become an expert in the composition, posing and photographing of such scenes, many of which may still be easily found and purchased online with his mark. In times of financial difficulty, some of his images were issued under the pseudonym, “Phiz”, appropriating the name used by Hablot Knight Browne, the well-known illustrator of Charles Dickens’ books.

Alfred’s obituary of 1886 makes the claim that he founded the London Stereoscopic Company, but this is not supported. The company was founded in 1854 by George Swan Nottage (8) and sold many thousands of stereoscopic images. Alfred Silvester was one of a number of photographers employed by the company, and he had his own studio at 5 and 8 New Dorset Place, Clapham Road London from which, in 1859, he was advertising “a series of new Photographic slides is in course of publication every month.” The business was not merely a matter of pointing a camera, but required a careful arrangement of background properties and artistic composition of the scenes. A frequent technique was to re-create known paintings or illustrations. (9)

Alfred was recorded as being in business at New Dorset Place with Henry William Smith, but the partnership was formally dissolved on December 31, 1859. He declared bankruptcy in October 1860 but by November this was annulled. In September 1862, while photographing a set of brass musical instruments manufactured by Henry Distin, Alfred’s studio was destroyed by fire, amounting to a loss of thousands of pounds. Distin arranged a successful benefit night for Alfred at Canterbury Hall.  It appears that Alfred already had another studio at 118-119 New Bond Street and he relocated there, but was further afflicted when a man fell down the coal-loading bay of his premises and was awarded one thousand pounds in damages. Alfred was compelled to take on a partner, Richard Thomas, with whom he successfully carried on business for some time; Thomas would eventually purchase the whole business.

Alfred Silvester Silvester (whom we will occasionally call Alfred2 for clarity) was the oldest brother, born in January 1853. How is it that he came to be called “Silvester Silvester?” From a family anecdote related to Harrie Ensor, it seems that when father Alfred1 took the young child to be christened, the clergyman was very deaf. The minister asked for the boy’s name and his father said “Alfred Silvester”. The curate put his hand to his ear – “What?” In order to make himself heard, Alfred senior shouted, “Alfred Silvester – SILVESTER”. The curate followed up by writing down the boy’s name as “Alfred Silvester Silvester”!

Daisy Maria Silvester, born 1858, became the chief assistant to her father for many years in England and Australia.

Curiously, all three were variations of the reflective properties of glass, although their applications were quite different. It is undoubtedly this period that brought about the undying catch-cry regarding magicians – “It’s all done with mirrors!”.

The complexity of the histories of these three illusions, their vast influence over the fields of not just magic, but photography, film-making, theatre, holography and more, is such that we will not attempt to cover the subject in any depth. As much as possible, Alfred Silvester’s connections to the Ghost and The Sphinx will be examined, and the reader is recommended to find any of a wide range of scholarly documents on the broader histories of these illusions. For the magician, the works of master illusion creator, Jim Steinmeyer (12), are the go-to books; his research into the multitude of magical applications of illusionary glass (especially the creations of Charles Morritt) is ground-breaking.

Alfred Silvester was already involved in a creative career, through his use of stereography and the artistic composition of his subjects; he had even produced a number of stereographs with a ghostly theme (Hamlet, Dream of the Wedding, Hero’s Wife). With the financial problems he was facing, it seems that he turned his inventive mind towards the theatre, and his first focus was a novelty causing a sensation at the Royal Polytechnic in Regent Street.  It debuted on December 24, 1862, and was followed by a fifteen-month season of Charles Dickens’ story, “The Haunted Man”. Audiences witnessed the transparent figure of a ghost, apparently standing and moving on the stage, interacting with other actors.

The Polytechnic was an institution opened in 1838 to provide the public with instructive displays and demonstrations of science and technological developments. Under the management of John Henry Pepper, its fortunes were reviving in the 1860s and the Polytechnic straddled the line between respectable scientific education and the attraction of entertaining demonstrations, such as the Magic Lantern exhibitions which were given in the theatre within the building.

British engineer, Henry Dircks (1806-1873), had created a concept for what he termed ‘Dircksian Phantasmagoria’, using a huge sheet of glass across the front of the stage into which, from a blackened pit below stage level, was reflected an actor, lit up with a hydrogen/oxygen lamp. To the audience, the actor assumed a ghost-like appearance, walking the stage. Dirck’s concept, impractical and expensive to put into a theatre, nevertheless sparked the interest of John Henry Pepper, and together they patented the Ghost on February 5, 1863. Pepper provided the theatrical know-how to make the illusion a practical reality, although even his method was extremely cumbersome. As the theatre ghost became a sensation at the Polytechnic, Dircks’ role was pushed into the background, with the illusion quickly becoming known, to Dircks’ ongoing displeasure, as “Pepper’s Ghost”.

The fact was that neither Dircks nor Pepper had hit upon an ideal technique for creating the illusion. Dircks’ method had the sheet of glass sitting flat-on to the audience, who would then be required to sit in an upper balcony to view the illusion at the correct angle. Pepper’s improved method was to angle the sheet glass (originally nine by fifteen feet) towards the hidden stage pit. This meant that the audience could sit in the usual position in the theatre stalls; but the angles of reflection required that the ghostly actor had to lie on an inclined trolley and pretend to ‘walk’ – a thoroughly impractical method that greatly restricted movement and hence the ability to create any meaningful action on stage. Some of the contemporary illustrations of the trick are still being published today, seemingly without awareness that the angles of reflection do not work as illustrated.

It is notable that the secret of the Ghost does not seem to have been well guarded, nor a source of unfathomable mystery to the viewing public, who probably enjoyed the novel display while being at least partly aware of how it was being created.

Alfred Silvester certainly knew the techniques in use, and he went a step further by creating his own improvements to the Ghost, by adding a second sheet of glass (mirrored) below the stage level, and set at an angle which would reflect the ghostly actor accurately to the glass above, and making the image appear to be further back on the stage. The ghost was now free to wander in the stage pit without being confined by Pepper’s methodology. On June 30, 1863, Silvester took out British Patent 1630 for ‘improvements in apparatus to be used in the exhibition of dramatic and other like performances.’

There were multiple other claimants to the invention and performing rights to Ghost illusions, with at least four other patent applications being made up to August of that year. These would seem to be mainly attempts at getting around Dircks and Pepper’s patent rights, but Silvester’s was a genuine improvement on what had gone before. Admittedly he had introduced yet another unwieldy sheet of glass into the equation, and the Ghost as a whole was a cumbersome, fragile, and probably transparent stage effect which was impossible to travel and difficult to display in most theatres (the first room used for the Ghost presentation, the Polytechnic Lecture Room, had a relatively small proscenium). While Jim Steinmeyer characterises the Ghost as an “anachronistic, impractical and unnecessary Victorian mystery”, it caught London on fire and started a ghost mania which made Pepper famous for life. Immediately, other stage productions (such as “Hamlet” and “Macbeth”) were introduced in Britain and Ireland, some with Pepper’s authority, others without. The Ghost was the first in a long series of evolutionary uses of glass.

By June, J.H. Pepper had travelled to Paris to supervise a franchised production of his Ghost. Meantime at the Adelphi Theatre in London, another ghost production appeared, and the press remarked that the Ghost “appears to be ubiquitous”.  

The June 30 date of Silvester’s patent application is notable as, in a public advertisement dated only one day earlier (June 29, 1863)  Silvester announced (13)  “I, Alfred Silvester, Photographer of 118 New Bond Street, beg to state publicly that I regret having inadvertently attempted to INFRINGE the patent of Messrs. DIRCKS and PEPPER for the Ghost illusion; and I hereby state that I will not attempt to perform the same, except with a licence and permission of Professor Pepper. A. Silvester, June 29

It should be mentioned that, although some sources place Silvester at the Polytechnic as a lecturer, or even an assistant to Pepper, the evidence is lacking; and Silvester’s Bond-street address above would indicate that he was still operating his photographic business.

Pepper seems to have heard of Silvester’s intention to produce his own ‘improved’ version of the Ghost, at Canterbury Hall in Lambeth. Certainly there was some intervention and presumably a financial arrangement, and just days later, on July 4, the London ‘Sun’ announced, “On Monday, the 13^th inst. Mr A. Silvester will (by permission of Professor Pepper) exhibit at the Picture Gallery of the above hall, which we believe will be produced in a very superior manner. Mr. Alfred Silvester is well known …. We feel certain, therefore, that any undertaking of his will be successfully carried out, and have no doubt but the Ghost will reappear for many a night and astonish the patrons of Mr. Morton’s well conducted establishment.”

From this we conclude that Pepper recognised the value of the Silvester improvements, did a deal with Silvester, and that Alfred’s patent application was to protect his contribution to the great Ghost saga (but see also note 22). It would certainly pay off, probably for both parties; as the Ghost fanned out all over Britain, advertisements regularly announced their productions as having “made arrangements with Professor Pepper, of the Polytechnic Institution, for the production of his startling illusion THE GHOST, with all the newest improvements by Mr. A. Silvester” – a successful franchising operation.

There was, as might be expected, an encore, and on the fall of the curtain Mr. Silvester was vociferously called for, and loudly cheered when he presented himself on his ghostly stage. In addition to Mr. Graham, Mrs. Graham was the dumb actor to the ghost, and that "spiritually" important character was very tastefully enacted by the shadow of a pretty young girl, a Miss Fanny Russell, in a white muslin ball costume, the wearer of which was never before seen on any stage. We compliment Mr. Silvester for his undoubted success, and Mr. Morton upon his new venture.”

“Bell’s Life in London” of November 14 sounded a note of caution to Silvester:- “The wondrous illusion of Messrs Dircks and Pepper has quite revolutionised the spectral department of public entertainments all over the country. A great many ‘professors’ of various kinds have sorely tortured the apparition to do their bidding until, “Alas, poor ghost!” has become a fitting exclamation of pity. But Professor Pepper had disciples of another kind – persons who made themselves sufficiently acquainted with his process, so as to be enabled to continue the marvel. The first of these, and, certainly by far the most successful and deserving is Mr. Alfred Sylvester [sic] the well-known photographic artist of New Bond-street. He brought his ghost out at the Canterbury Music Hall some months ago, added several contrivances of his own invention, and has run a most prosperous career ever since … We regret, however, to say that … the literary portion of the amusement is a woeful way behind. Even Ariel and Prospero have been far too long before the public and ought to give way to some novelty … why not have a little ghost drama to play about twenty minutes? We recommend this change … or Mr. Sylvester’s ghost will be literally suffocated in its own haunting ground for want of a change of air.”

Alfred was by no means resting on his inventive laurels. In January 1864 the Canterbury Hall announced “entirely new effects – the Ghost in the Fancy Fountain”, while at the same time the Regent Hall in Westminster announced that Mr. Silvester himself would solve the mystery of the Kalispinthechromic Peegee.

At Weston’s Grand Music Hall in Holborn, a “Crystal Fountain” was introduced by Silvester on February 29. Mr. Weston, and Mr. Morton of the Canterbury were apparently joint venturers in this new production.

None of this seemed to prevent Silvester from again declaring bankruptcy in April, but it seems that he was something of a serial bankrupt, happy to take advantage of the protections it offered, while happily continuing his usual business.

On May 10, 1864, Alfred was granted a provisional patent, No.1179 for what would eventually be advertised under the various names ‘The Kalispinthechromic Peegee’, ‘Hydrotallomena or Prismatic Dancing Waters’, ‘Minnehaha’ (later, ‘Minniehaha’) or, more prosaically, “The Fairy Fountain”.

By his own description, the invention was “a mechanical arrangement applicable to public places of amusement, whereby a pleasing dramatic combination resembling in character and appearance crystal fountains of water encircling figures of fairies, or personifications thereof is obtained, which under the influence of ordinary light and variations of colour admit of being developed or subdued at pleasure through the medium of the translucent effect of the water surrounding the same, and consist in fitting within the ceiling or beneath the floor of the stage a room or compartment furnished with a pedestal, upon which the figure of the fairy is placed, so as to admit of being raised or lowered therefrom by means of a rope passing over a drum or roller …. Pedestal being surrounded by circular jets or tubes from which water is caused to play through the medium of flexible pipes communicating with the main … as also oxyhydrogen burners of the usual construction for supplying lime light to the same, together with jets of water from the ceiling descending upon the lower fountain.”

In short, he had a fountain with an internal stage lift, and coloured lights which played upon the water. This may sound, to today’s ear, like nothing more than a passing novelty, but the success of the Fairy Fountain was a success for Silvester beyond that of the Ghost, and would be franchised widely for years to come, to fairs, theatres and exhibitions.  Considering the times, with no electricity to create lighting effects, and limited facilities to provide water pressure, it must have been a considerable attraction.

It was still going strong the following year when, at the Islington Philharmonic Hall, it was remarked (14), “Professor Silvester’s Minnehaha loses none of its attraction; and the introduction of Old Father Christmas, personated by the Professor himself, with a short speech apropos to the season, meets with a well-deserved recognition.” The fountain would also be featured at the Crystal Palace.

Silvester, according to Harrie Ensor, also made some appearances as King Neptune, seen here in rare images of the original fountain. The ‘Era’ remarked that great improvements had been made from its first appearance, which now concluded with a shower of fire, and that 'there is no smoke or smell, and how this is managed is one of those mysteries that we are unable to solve.'

Further towards the end of the year, a small advertisement in the London Evening Standard (15) listed a series of artistes appearing at “The Oxford”; and among the names was mentioned “The Fakir of Oolu” but with no description or indication of who the Fakir might be. It must be assumed that this was Alfred Silvester in an early venture into magic, and by 1866 he would travel to the United States of America on his first major entry into performing. The “Fakir”, however, would not appear again for some years.

In some ways, the “Ghost” was a forerunner of the Cabinet of Proteus, in its use of reflective principles. However, Proteus moved away from the transparent properties of glass and used mirrored glass in a way which made its use invisible, secret, and revolutionary.

There would be a number of new illusions put into use over the next couple of decades, using the mirror principle. Most of those during the nineteenth century were along the lines of floating or disembodied heads, but the technique was also used to provide an invisible tunnel whereby an assistant could disappear from the stage. For practical purposes, these could be as cumbersome and impractical as the Ghost illusion – difficult to erect or move, and hindered by problems of angles and lighting, not to mention mischievous audience members who might throw peanuts or spitballs at the concealed glass. Tobin and Pepper also experimented with “The Oracle of Delphi”, the illusion of a floating head, in December 1865; an odd hybrid of the Ghost and the Sphinx techniques.

Tobin’s genius invention was yet to come. It was a direct use of the same principles as the Cabinet of Proteus, but built into a far smaller illusion which was not only easily transported, but could be presented on most stages with a little attention to proper lighting. It was The Sphinx.

All of these illusions, and the “Aerial Suspension” to be mentioned later, would soon be fully exposed and explained in detail by Angelo Lewis (Professor Hoffmann) in his seminal 1876 book, “Modern Magic”.

On October 16, 1865, the Egyptian Hall in London debuted the “Sphinx” illusion, which Tobin had offered to magician Colonel Stodare (Joseph Stoddart) (17) to present. The reason why Prof. Pepper was not offered the illusion is unclear, though as Tobin and Pepper continued to collaborate, no falling-out seems to have happened.

To quote Prof. Hoffmann on the Sphinx:
“This stands in a curtained recess of ten or twelve feet square, open on the side towards the audience. The performer comes forward bearing a cloth-covered box, fifteen to twenty inches square, and places it upon the table already mentioned. He then unlocks the box, the front of which drops down, so as to give a perfect view of the interior, in which is seen a head of Egyptian fashion, and coloured in perfect imitation of life.
The performer now retires to a position in the very midst of the audience, and raising his wand, says in a tone of command, “Sphinx, awake!” The Sphinx slowly opens its eyes, looking first to the front with a strong gaze; then, as if gradually gaining consciousness, to the one side and the other, the head moving slightly with the eyes. Questions are put by the performer to the head, and are answered by it, the play of the mouth and features being in perfect harmony with the sounds uttered. Finally, in answer to a query of the operator, the Sphinx declaims a neatly turned oracle in verse. This concludes the exhibition, and the performer closes the box.”

If Pepper’s Ghost had set London aflame, The Sphinx landed like a bombshell. Within a month, the public interest led Stodare to be commanded to Windsor Castle where the Sphinx opened its eyes before Queen Victoria and the royal court. But by the end of 1865 the secret had leaked, and piracy had already begun (17). Illusionist Dr. Lynn took it to Paris, a German version soon appeared, and in London the Christy Minstrels were advertising the “Christy Sphinx or Philadelphic Oracle” at St. James’ Hall. By April 1866, the mysterious head made its way to the other side of the world, brought back to Australia by actor and sometime magician, William Maxwell Brown.

From January 15, 1866, George Wood opened his new “Wood’s Theater” on Broadway, New York,  with an ambitious production entitled “The Balloon Wedding” by Thomas B. DeWalden, “in which is introduced for the first time in America THE ENCHANTED FOUNTAIN imported from the Alhambra Palace, London, the invention of PROFESSOR SYLVESTER who directs its marvelous and dazzling effects.”

The Balloon Wedding went down like the proverbial lead balloon. The New York Clipper declared (January 27), “The piece called ‘The Balloon Wedding is another one of those trashy affairs that have lately been produced on the New York stage … had it not been for the Hanlon Brothers  … the only redeeming thing in the whole piece … the play would have been damned the first night, and would not have seen a third.” The New-York Daily Tribune (January 24) said, “As to ‘The Balloon Wedding’ there is nothing to be said, because the piece amounts to nothing .... will probably soon be a thing of the past. We certainly hope so. The Hanlon Brothers appear in its second act; but one finds it difficult to understand what possible connection can exist between gymnastic exercises and the drama."

It did last a couple of weeks at Wood’s, and the fountain, which was the grand finale to the show, was seen there until January 29, after which it seems that the Hanlon purchased the Fountain and continued presenting it, though the six acrobats split into two separate troupes of three, leaving Silvester to travel with William, George and Alfred. On March 17, the New York Clipper mentioned, “At the Continental [Boston], the Hanlons, the Enchanted Fountain, and the Sphynx appear, for the last time, this evening.”, but they were still there in early April.

July saw the Hanlons and Silvester in Ohio, at Ellsler’s Atheneum where, curiously, the Sphinx had just been seen. However the Daily Ohio Statesman remarked, “Professor A. Sylvester’s Sphynx is a wonderful and mysterious thing in its way, and surpasses any other Sphynx that has yet made its appearance before a Columbus audience… Prof. Sylvester’s Shadow Pantomime elicited great applause last night. The illusions produced in the latter performance produced no little curiosity as well as laughter.”

The Shadow Pantomime is not fully known, though back in May the New York Clipper mentioned it as a “ghostly shadow pantomime, and this week he [Silvester] brings out his Ghost”; though it can hardly be thought he was carrying around the equipment for Pepper’s Ghost. Later in 1866 a shadow Pantomime was being produced by others in New York and advertised as something which could be set up for parlour entertainment, with dialogue and figures”, so it can be assumed that this was a shadow-puppet theatre, but the Lubin Brothers were presenting it in a fashion that “is weird and spiritual, and in it we see hundreds of spectres floating before our vision.”

By the end of July, the performers were at the Nashville Theatre for six nights. In August to the 24th, advertisements for McVicker’s Theatre, Chicago, promoted “the Wonder of the Age, Prof. Silvester’s Sphynx”. It is unclear whether Alfred was operating on his own in Chicago, but the Hanlons were at the Corinthian Hall, New York from September 3 , on the same bill as “the Enchanted Fountain and the Sphynx under Prof. Sylvester’s direction.” On September 1 they had advertised “the Far Famed Minnehaha or, The Enchanted Fountain”, also the celebrated Optical Illusion, The Sphynx, the invention and patent (!) of Professor A. Silvestor (sic) and now the sole property of George, William and Alfred Hanlon.”

The suspicion is that, with the purchase, Alfred’s involvement came to an end. On September 19 he (and Mrs. Silvester) arrived back in England and by October 22 he  was showing at the Canterbury Hall, the Philharmonic Islington, and other halls around London with a full show which would continue right to the end of the year and into 1867.

This appearance, though building on the later part of his U.S. travels,  marks his first real entry on the stage as a magician. He was “Professor Silvester”, and he was billed to present “his Wonder of Wonders, ‘The Mystery!’ and other illusions, amongst which are The Cherubs Floating in the Air, the Proteus, the Shadow Pantomime, and various marvellous effects.” (The ‘Cherubs’ was another outgrowth of the mirror-glass principle, giving the illusion of several heads floating in the air).

Never one to pass up an opportunity, Silvester again declared himself financially embarrassed, and entered into a ‘deed of composition’ whereby his creditors would receive two shillings in the pound. (19) His filing mentioned Alfred’s addresses as ‘late of Gaisford-street, Kentish Town-road, afterwards of Bleecker-street, New York, and  now of No.5 New Dorset-place, Clapham-road … Photographic Artist.’

Quite what “The Mystery” was is something of a mystery in itself. There is little description in the press, other than to say it was an optical illusion based on his previous works; and Silvester’s advertisements included mentions of “Mystery No. 2 - The Enchanted Canopy”, which might suggest that Mystery No.1 may have been the Cherubs.

Clearly, Silvester was still making use of variations on the illusory principle used in the Protean Cabinet and the Sphinx; two angled mirrors. His latest creation, however, started to show the theatrical creativity which would become a feature of his shows. Silvester, not content to merely display a magic trick, had a knack for framing his magic within a story or a scene which was decidedly theatrical. His later adoption of the title “Fakir of Oolu” came from this same theatrical sense.

This description of the Enchanted Canopy comes from 1875; reading the description, it is clearly based on a secret channel between the bed and a trap in the stage, or a rear exit point; confirmed by the testimony given at a court case in 1870 where the stage carpenter of Tammany Hall stated that “the glass used came from Niblo Gardens.” (30)

The Leader, Melbourne, February 27 1875:- “At the St. George's Hall on Saturday night, the Fakir of Oolu introduced a novel feature in his performance, that will rank among the cleverest of his wonders. This was called the Enchanted Canopy, and consisted of an enclosure something like a square four-post bedstead, with curtains around their four sides, but not coming within a couple of feet of the ground. The audience could consequently clearly see under the structure, and the curtains were drawn aside so that the spectators might be sure there was no place of concealment, and that the canopy was isolated from all connection with the surrounding scenery. Dr. Sylvester then proceeded to explain the mysteries of the canopy, but was interrupted by Ophelia (Miss Alice Doerwyn), whose head appears above the short curtain, and charges the Fakir with having made a ghost of her father. He protested, she was reconciled; and the scene ended by Ophelia disappearing as mysteriously as she came. The Fakir then began a narration concerning a professor troubled with the lock-jaw, but Chatterbox, Esq. (Mr. A. Sylvester [ie, Alfred2] ) put in an unexpected appearance, and discoursed volubly on things in general till exhausted. He, too, retired in some puzzling fashion; and the lock-jaw narrative was resumed till interrupted by another visitor, Pandora (Miss Deorwyn again), who presented the Fakir with a magic ring, and explained its use. In vocal numbers she tunefully assured the audience that Spring and Summer never fade, and then presto! she was gone, and Chatterbox, Esq. re-appeared and entered into an altercation with the Fakir, who took a shot at the loquacious intruder soon after he had bobbed behind the curtain. Ophelia jumped out from the canopy instanter, and clamoured for her father, while almost instantaneously Chatterbox, Esq., appeared amongst the audience at the back of the hall and poured forth a well-simulated torrent of abuse on the Fakir, and was so forcibly carried out by two attendants, that the audience were half inclined to believe that it was a genuine rumpus. The characters throughout the little comedy come like shadows, so depart, and the mixture of mystery and farce was so intermingled that the enchanted canopy was highly interesting to the large audience.”

The Canopy illusion, which Silvester continued to use for many years, was a useful contrivance for introducing all kinds of characters and performances to a magic show. The female performer frequently featured a song during her appearance, so the Canopy was almost a magic doorway through which the next novelty would make an entrance.

Confusing the issue, at the Egyptian Hall during the same period was one Ernst Schulz, giving an entertainment titled “Masks and Faces – Studies of Character and Physiognomy”, in which he gave facial impressions of characters, nationalities, and emotions, in rapid succession; but less as a comic entertainment than an educational performance (23). “Herr Albert Schulze”, whose act was different, was probably playing off Ernst Schulz’s greater fame; and it is possible that Schulze was a pseudonym, since this name is not seen after 1868.

Schulze may not have lasted long in the annals of magic history, but his “Masks and Faces” routine was adopted by Silvester and became a featured part of his show for years to come, presented by his daughter, Daisy, or one of his female assistants.  

Herr Schulze is not seen again past February 1868, and in July 1867 Alfred Silvester once again listed himself as bankrupt (21) with debts of £960, mentioning his partnership with Schulze. On October 12, 1867, following a successful appearance in court by Silvester to have his bankruptcy annulled, John Henry Pepper of “Ghost” fame, wrote to the London Evening Standard to insist that Silvester was not the inventor of the Ghost, “which belongs to Mr. Henry Dircks and myself. Some months after the ghost was brought out, he certainly added looking-glass to place the figure erect, but that is never used by persons who exhibit the ghost – it is too costly and troublesome to adjust. I paid Mr. Silvester for this addition and the patent fee, but no person ever adopted it successfully but myself at the Polytechnic … some time ago I expostulated with Mr. Silvester for laying claim in advertisements, not only to the Ghost but to other inventions made by Mr. Thomas Tobin and myself…”

Silvester hit back on October 15 that “your correspondent has taken a great deal of trouble to prove that he is not (although he has hitherto called himself so), the inventor, but merely an illustrator of the far-famed ghost. The primary creation being that of Mr. Dircks (to whom all honour is due) and the improvements (see patent, June 30, 1863, No. 1630) to myself.”

According to his obituary, Silvester spent the latter part of 1867 engaged by the giant Belgian glass manufacturers, J. Defries and Sons, paid well to manage three separate prismatic fountains at the Agricultural Hall, Islington. He also appeared at the Crystal Palace, and in August visited Dublin’s Exhibition Palace for a short season.

Alfred Silvester was still working during 1868 but is mentioned in the press a little less frequently. In March he was presenting “a New American Entertainment, Which is Which; or, Where Are We Now.” (the Canopy illusion). His inventive mind was certainly at work, creating a highly novel variation on the Sphinx Illusion, introduced to the public in January 1869. Instead of the now-familiar Egyptian talking head, Silvester’s talking prodigy was the head of a lion, presented with a conversation made up of a series of the excruciating puns which were popular in the day. Charles Waller (26) says that, at least by the time of his Australian appearances, Leo “The Educated Lion” was brought onstage in a sort of wheelbarrow with a large box inside, and that the lion’s head was floating inside the box (more along the lines of the later uses of the mirror-glass principle). It was presentation that set Silvester apart from the competition, and indicative of the theatrical slant which he would bring to much of his later magic.

The 1886 obituary (4) states that in July 1869 Silvester left London, engaged by Messrs. Jarrett & Palmer of Niblo Gardens, New York, for production of all the stage effects in musical spectacular “The Black Crook” (27). This seems highly unlikely since the Black Crook had been running since 1866, and in any case Silvester began at the politically-notorious Tammany Hall on 14^th Street, also managed by Jarett & Palmer, almost immediately upon arrival. On August 8 it was announced that he would “with his magic fountains, hold forth in the lower saloons, where Logrenia will also will exhibit his trained mice, cats and birds.” (28) By the sixteenth, amongst an astoundingly long and varied list of performers in the Hall’s assortment of theatres, cafes and salons, the Tammany promoted “Sylvester Family – Professors Alfred, Alfred Second, and Miss Sylvester, from the Royal Polytechnic Institute, London, Chemical Colaborateurs, Illusionists, Wizards of the Elements, Rare Devisers of Startling and Phenomenal Combinations. Their first appearance at The Tammany.”

The list of performers is interesting. Almost exclusively during his tour, Alfred was referred to as “Sylvester”. Alfred Second was his son (‘Alfred2’) and Miss Sylvester was Mary Ann Amelia Silvester (or ‘Polly’ to the family), then aged about fourteen. Alfred2 had earlier been noted as a performer in the Enchanted Canopy routine, and Polly was no doubt the “Mdle. Marie” who had performed Masks and Faces back in England, and now took part in this and the new ‘Mid-Air Suspension’ trick.
Later hotel records show that Mrs. Silvester (Mary Ann Christiana Silvester) was also with the family, but the two younger siblings, Charles and Daisy, do not appear to be on the tour and may have stayed at their schooling in Britain.

Starting with presentations of ‘Masks and Faces’ and the Talking Lion, the Silvesters played at Tammany through October on a variety bill which included pugilist James Mace. From October  18 -30 Silvester featured in a revue show, ‘Robinson Crusoe; or, Harlequin Friday and the King of the Caribee Islands’.

Also during October, Alfred presented “Sylvester’s Hanky Panky”, which was essentially a gift show in which were given away many items including vases, comics and toys, chess boards, canes, umbrellas and, according to the advertisements Hundred Dollar greenbacks and real Ten Dollar gold pieces. The distinguishing feature of Silvester’s distribution is that, as ‘the most skilled and generous man in the world’, he produced all these gifts out of a common hat.

The Tammany engagement continued, and in November Silvester once again found himself on the bill alongside the entire Hanlon Brothers acrobatic troupe; he was by now presenting the Enchanted Canopy routine. Suddenly, however, he disappeared from Tammany advertisements and it would be 1870 before he re-surfaced, this time from January 10 – 22 at the Waverley Theatre NY.

           

Hatton on the Floating Wand:
Hatton was critical of author ‘Professor Hoffmann’, Angelo Lewis, for his sometimes inaccurate crediting of magic effects. In Hoffmann’s “Later Magic” p.108, he had stated that the “self-supporting wand” trick had been originally exhibited by Silvester, using a technique where short pieces of black wire extended from the wand, allowing it to apparently cling to the performer’s fingers. Hardly a stunning mystery, but Silvester made exceptionally good use of it as the prologue to his most famous illusion, “The Entranced Lady”.
Hatton corrected the record :- “One of Carl Herrmann's tricks that night was the floating wand. Sylvester took a fancy to it and after puzzling over it for two or three days, finally hit on the way of doing it with needles in the stick. That was not Herrmann's way, but Sylvester was satisfied with it. So satisfied, that he may be said to have carried it to extremes, for one night when he had "indulged" a little too freely, he suspended the wand from the end of his nose.”  (37)

... “Sylvester was best known by his suspension act, which he was the first to present with various costumes. I suggested the trick to him, and took him to Henry Stone, then the leading maker of apparatus. From Stone, Sylvester purchased a rusty second-hand suspension, for which he paid fifteen dollars, and with this crude machine he successfully introduced his suspension. Another proof that it is the man, not the trick. He knew nothing about the trick when I first mentioned it, but his artistic sense at once suggested changes of costume.”

Henry Stone was a New York magic dealer at 297 Pearl Street. The ”suspension act” was the illusion, created by legendary French magician Jean Robert-Houdin, in which a person was magically suspended horizontally in the air, supported by nothing more than a single metal rod under one arm. We will return to Entranced Lady further along in the story, as it has a major part to play in the life story of all the Silvester magicians.

The year 1870 began with Silvester having departed from Tammany Hall after a dispute. On January 10 he opened a season at the Waverley Theatre in New York, “Music, Mirth and Mystery” in conjunction with British mimic, James ‘Jas.’ Taylor.  Of interest is that a later story about the acclaimed ventriloquist, Val Vose, says that Vose made his professional debut during this season with Taylor and Silvester. He performed the "talking hand" act, working under the name of Davis. (His real name was Thomas Davis Eaton)  (29)

The New York Clipper of January 29 reported a court case against Tammany, for unpaid wages. There had been a fundamental lack of understanding between the two parties as to who would provide the stage properties needed. Silvester had engaged for a period of three or six months and provided his personal services and wardrobe, including some two wagon loads of baggage, but not the ‘scenery’ or props which made up the act; these were to be built at the Hall. The Tammany bosses, Jarrett & Palmer, alleged that he did not perform some of his contracted acts, including the Canopy, which Silvester replied were not fully built in time. Likewise, the machinery for the Fountain had not arrived. Tammany had suspended, but not dismissed, Silvester, and ultimately he won the case and received a verdict for $200.

Said the Charleston Daily News, “the Hibernian Hall was largely attended last night, and the performance presented by the Taylor & Silvester Combination Troupe was every whit what had been promised to the public. Taylor, as a comedian, was a perfect success …  Professor Silvester proved himself to be a thorough adept in the black art, and the illusions, sleight-of-hand, &c. were superior to those attempted by most modern necromancers. The ladies of the troupe … were the stars … gave an increased zest to the performance.” By the 12^th, the Daily News would say “the Taylor & Silvester Troupe … are one of the best combinations that have ever appeared in this city .. varied and full of fun. “

Despite the high praise heaped upon the Silvesters by the Charleston press, the show was later said to have had very poor business, and that the troupe returned immediately to New York. Far worse was to come, however, for in early March, Mary Ann “Polly” Silvester died.

New York Clipper, March 12, 1870
“Miss Sylvester, daughter of Prof. Sylvester, died in this city on March 2d. This lady, who died at the age of about seventeen years, came to this country during the present season with her father, and together made their debut at Tammany in startling and phenomenal combinations. The principal business of Miss Sylvester was called "Lights and Shadows of Character in the Human Face," while Mr. Sylvester did several other things. They came to this country under engagement to Palmer & Jarrett, for the Tammany, from the Polytechnic Institute London. In consequence of some misunderstanding with the managers, Mr. and Miss Sylvester did not remain at the Tammany their full time, and a few weeks ago they started for a tour through the south, accompanied by James W. Taylor. They reached Charleston S.C. the only place they performed, where the business was so bad that they were glad to return immediately to New York, arriving here on the 1st inst. Miss Sylvester was very ill when she arrived here and died the following day, leaving the family in such straitened circumstances that collections were made at the various theatres to defray the expenses of the funeral.”

The Clipper’s report does not align with comments in the Charleston Daily News that the show “was largely attended”, and it hardly seems likely that a scheduled tour would have been abandoned after what was only a three-day season in Charleston, however poor the business.

According to notes in the Ensor scrapbooks, Polly died on March 3 at quarter past eleven, at Wardens Hotel on 14^th Street. Henry Hatton’s recollections from 1906, however, state she had “died from injuries received from a falling scene.” Polly was buried at Evergreens Cemetery.

Unsurprisingly, there are no performances recorded for another six weeks. A combination of family grief, the apparent collapse of the Taylor/Sylvester combination, finances and the huge gap in the repertoire left by Polly’s death meant that Alfred, even with the most pragmatic “show must go on” attitude, would have his work cut out to return to the stage.

Miss Schott continued to perform, and in January 1875 she is seen in the New York Clipper as “Angie Schott, Queen of Illusionists” with Masks and Faces, and a magical sketch, ‘Le Salon du Diable or the Devil’s Statue’ (33). She was still performing in the U.S. as late as 1880. Although the few biographical notes referring to Schott say that she married Henry S. Truax around 1880 and ‘it is not known what happened to her’, a record exists of a copyrighted production (30), “The Origin of Champagne, a musical spectacular burlesque in 4 acts with original effects words and songs … Angie Schott Truax, Saratoga N.Y, 1889: 39728, December 27 [30957]”. She had also written a considerable number of fruity melodramas (33)
Also, in 1889 it appears that Madam Truax became the inventor (see 32) of an electric vehicle!

- May 9-21 (and July 5-7 ) Tony Pastor’s Opera House, where Miss Schott now performed a Second Sight routine which was most likely a message-reading trick rather than a "mental transmission" in the style of Robert Heller. Also featured were the Talking Lion and the Aerial Suspension, Growth of Flowers and coins from the air.

- Noted at June 3 playing Front Street Theater Comique, Baltimore

- December – noted as seemingly “available”

- January 27-28 – Portland Music Hall;, noted as previously at Adelphi Theater, Boston

- In March, the act was enhanced with a talking automaton, and the Second Sight routine with Miss Schott.

- April 3-5 – Stockton Theatre (another Maguire house)

- From June 23 – July 1 at Salt Lake City (Salt Lake Theatre) where Alfred is said to have performed for Brigham Young. “Which is Which, or Where are we now?” was the Enchanted Canopy sketch in another guise. For the final evening of his show, Alfred announced that he would produce the Pepper’s Ghost illusion; an astonishing illusion to introduce, considering the staging difficulties. However the Ghost did appear at the theatre June 30, the equipment having been imported by John W. Young to be installed at the Museum. (34)

- August 3 – 7 McDaniels Theater, Cheyenne Wy.

- August c.11-12 at Denver, featuring A.Silvester Jr, Champion Skater.

- August 15 – Benefit night for Silvester and Schott at Denver Theatre
Travelling across east, little is seen of the troupe through September, but they are mentioned at the Academy of Music in Omaha around the start of the month. On October c.10 they were at the Harmonia Hall, Lexington Missouri, and noted in late October or early November in Kansas. By December they had returned to New York, where from 15 – 23 Silvester and Schott were seen at the Theatre Comique on Broadway amongst a vaudeville lineup.

The 1872 travels of Silvester are rather more difficult to locate; however he is noted at Fox’s American Theatre, Philadelphia, in early February, and then at the Institute Hall, Wilmington Delaware from March 1-5 as the “Great Sylvester”; but the audience was small, due to inclement weather.

THE FAKIR OF OOLU! Three hours in Fairy Land combining Wonders of the Black Art, Magic, Necromancy, Demonology, Mesmerism, Ventriloquism, and the Minuet Family of Automatons by Master Leavitte. The performance will conclude with the great Mahommedan Mystery, when the Fakir, after placing a lady in a mesmeric state, will suspend her at will in mid-air, forming twelve of the most beautiful Tableaux ever placed upon any stage, representing Prayer, Justice, Liberty, Flight, Columbia, Angel Gabriel etc.

This relatively short season at San Jose concluded with the departure of the family back to Britain in mid-June, where they arrived on June 21.  Miss Schott remained in the United States, and a certain Phil Hartman [Felix Grundy] opportunistically started performing for a few months as the Fakir of Oolu, meeting with disaster in late June when his horse and wagon became stuck in quicksand. (35)

England, and fame, awaited Alfred Silvester, the Fakir of Oolu.

(1) Daisy Emma Louisa Silvester can be found as early as 1912 on bills with “Hart and Kenny”, musical duettists. Will Kenny was a baritone who also worked with the “Garty and Kenny”  duo, and as late as 1933 with his own “Musical Comedy and Burlesque Co.” In 1920 the Will Kenny Costume Comedy Co. was working on the same bill as Alfred3 (Zodiac and Sylvester). Some further research may shed light on the fact that a “Lawrence Kenny” is also mentioned performing on the same bill as Daisy, raising the question whether Will and Lawrence were the same person.

On Nov 11, 1925,  ”Everyone’s” magazine announced that the couple had borne a son. Daisy, at this point, was said to be retired from the stage. The difficulty with Mrs. Kenny is that she is recorded on electoral roles and her death notice as Daisy Emma Louisa MCDONALD, meaning most likely that “Will Kenny” was a stage name only. Genealogical sites show Daisy married a William J McDonald in 1921. She died in Queensland on January 9, 1957.

(2)  https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/person/tree/87075231/person/32554072504/facts

(3) For a deeper investigation into Silvester/Laroche, see: https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20100311230236/

http://www.midley.co.uk/laroche/silvester.htm    
The available evidence does appear to place him as a brother of Alfred Silvester.

(4) Obituary, ‘West Australian’ January 18, 1886. The obituary does make some incorrect statements such as Alfred’s founding of the London Stereoscopic Company and his ‘invention’ of the Ghost illusion.

(5) The Lorgnette, Melbourne, January 25, 1886

(6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Panopticon_of_Science_and_Art

(7) ‘Commonwealth’ (Glasgow) September 30, 1854

(8) https://www.londonstereo.com/

(9) http://stereoscope.canalblog.com/archives/2015/05/03/31993163.html

(10) Henry Hatton, “Looking Backwards” in the Sphinx magazine, August 1906.

(11) Amongst the many other documents concerning Pepper’s Ghost, refer to:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/series/cambridge-history-of-the-gothic/F75288B584C2694D5385D6B6E1D8286C  (esp. Volume Two)

(12) Jim Steinmeyer’s principal investigations into the Ghost and its many evolutionary forms may be found in his publications “Hiding The Elephant”, “Art & Artifice”, “Lost Morritt” and “The Science Behind the Ghost!” https://jimsteinmeyer.com/shop/

(13) See, for example, the advertisement published July 9 1863 in the Bath Chronicle, with the date June 30.

(14) Weekly Dispatch, London, January 15, 1865

(15) London Evening Standard, September 1, 1865

(16) Thomas William Tobin – https://jimsteinmeyer.com/2022/05/11/what-we-hide-the-master-magician-who-disappeared/

(17) Colonel Stodare - http://sydneymagic.net/brown.html

(18) See ‘Stodare / The Enigma Variations’ by Prof. Edwin A. Dawes, Kaufman and Company 1998

(19) The London Gazette 5460, October 12, 1866

(20) The Era, April 21, 1867

(21) The Edinburgh Gazette, July 12, 1867

(22) In 1867, Pepper would claim that no other presenter of the Ghost used Silvester’s improvements, a statement which conflicts with the large number of advertisements mentioning the use of those improvements. In the Anglo-American Times, November 2, 1867, a letter from Pepper states that Silvester’s patent was only granted provisional protection, and that Pepper had completed the second patent “at my own expense, and, thinking it might be useful, I purchased it from him to my cost, as practically his quasi improvements turned out to be almost useless.”

(23) https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1085816/cartes-de-visite-of-ernst-photograph/

(25) In addition to newspaper archives, the following sources provided some of Silvester’s second U.S. tour information:
- ‘The Miner’s Dream – Magicians and Mystagogues in Gold Rush California’, an extensive essay by John Benedict Buescher, 2020. http://iapsop.com/jbb/

(26) Charles Waller, “Magical Nights at the Theatre”, 1980 Gerald Taylor Productions

(27) The Black Crook, famous for its spectacular special effects and daring costuming, is often named as the first show to fit in to the modern idea of a “Musical”.

(28) The New York Herald, August 8, 1869

(29) Val Vose – New York Clipper, September 8, 1877

(30) A detailed report of the Tammany court case against Jarrett & Palmer can be found in The Sun (New York),  January 20, 1870

(31) Dramatic compositions copyrighted in the United States, 1870 to 1916 ... v.1
1918 Library of Congress Copyright office https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=%22Angie+Schott%22&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

(32) https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8099&start=550

New York, July 13 [also see Newark Evening News July 10]
It is reported that a novel invention in the shape of an electrical carriage is now being used at Saratoga by the inventor, Mrs. Angie Truax, who resides at the well-known Frank Leslie place, "Wintergarden." She is known to the stage as Madam Schott. It was from a love of travel that she conceived the idea of her invention, which resembles a two-seated side bar surrey wagon, with top, and of about the same length and truck. The wheels are like those of a bicycle, but heavier. The steering apparatus is placed in front, and connects with the front axle by a gearing segment. The propelling power is connected with and turns the rear axle by a system of gears. The electric motor is placed in the center and on the bottom of the carriage, and takes up but little room. It has a "vibrating" armature instead of a rotary; and this is where the little woman inventor looks for the greatest results in her electric motor, claiming that more power can be obtained than from any other form of rotary motor, and that the horse power can be increased without the necessity of constructing a larger motor by simply using more battery. A constant current can be kept up for three hours, and this, too, at a test speed of fifteen miles an hour. A dry primary battery is to be used. Underneath the carriage are air-tight metal tubes, cigar shaped, of suitable size to buoy up the carriage and its load while crossing deep streams, and to the spokes of the hind wheels are ingeniously secured little brass paddles to propel the carriage through the water, and so nicely arranged that they are in no way liable to injury, nor do they interfere with road travel. The carriage has many novel features, such as electric lights, tent, electric stove for cooking and heating, and is altogether a wonderful affair. A speed of fifteen miles an hour is now easily obtained, and the fair inventor is confident of being able to increase to thirty. Mrs. Truax thinks she can apply all these principles to aerial navigation, and she expects to skim the air yet on electric wings.

(33) Many of Angie Schott’s melodramas, including “La Salon Du Diable” are held in the Harvard Theatre Collection:
https://hollis.harvard.edu/primo-explore/search?query=any,contains,angie%20schott&tab=everything&search_scope=everything&vid=HVD2&lang=en_US&offset=0

(34) Ghost performance – Salt Lake Herald Republican July 1, 1871

(35) Phil Hartman – San Jose Weekly Mercury, June 20, 1872