GERMAIN, KARL (CHARLES MATTMUELLER). KARL GERMAIN?S ONE-MAN SPIRIT CABINET. Circa 1910. Simple pipe-and-drape cabinet resting a raised wooden platform with decorative carved wooden header framing the roof. In performance, Germain sat in a wicker-backed chair in the cabinet and fell into a trance. While under this trance, spirit manifestations took place; bells rang and tambourines clattered, while ghostly forms appeared in and around the cabinet as other ghostly occurrences took place. Includes specially gimmicked apparatus, costumes, lifelike paintings, a gimmicked wicker-backed chair, and other props used by Germain to conduct the s?ance without the aid of concealed or costumed assistants, including a lifelike papier-mache mask of Germain?s face. Cabinet stands approximately 8 x 5 x 5', exclusive of elaborate four-legged stand. Housed in the original custom-made traveling trunk, with Germain?s name stenciled on its side in black lettering and an additional label identifying the subsequent owner as Paul Fleming. Sold with two folding screens (one gimmicked), both of them well-worn and tattered, used as part of the routine. Black side curtains lacking; all remaining elements show considerable wear and tear from use, with some apparatus fragile but intact. The secret behind Germain?s s?ance has never been fully revealed in print, though elements of it are made clear from a study of these props. A number of the devices enclosed in the trunk reveal methods likely unknown to other magicians, both of Germain?s era and the present day.