[HOUDINI] EVANS, Henry Ridgley (1861 ? 1949). The Old and the New Magic. Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Co., 1906. FIRST EDITION. Light tan cloth decorated and lettered black. Portrait frontispiece of Robert-Houdin, illustrated with plates. 8vo. Old cellotape stains to pastedowns, front hinge broken, rear starting, general shelfwear.HARRY HOUDINI'S COPY, INSCRIBED AND SIGNED to him ?with the sincere compliments" of the author on the flyleaf, and with many annotations in Houdini's hand both in ink and pencil scattered throughout the book.Houdini has written throughout the book, boldly signing the title page and dating it June 7, 1906. On the flyleaf, below Evans' inscription, Houdini has penciled in the remark: ?I paid for this book, it was not given to me by Evans. He simply wrote the above at my request. Harry Houdini." Marginal notes on fourteen pages are primarily critical comments from Houdini about the writing, the subjects, or Evans' sources, frequently inserting his initials after the comments. On page 309, Houdini writes beside an image of an escape artist, ?[Arrow to photograph] This man is Pollard a plummer [sic] in Bradford Eng. And is a rot[ten] magician. H.H." On page 194 he writes an extensive annotation regarding the code act of Lorenz & Kennedy, again initialing the note ?H.H."A remarkable association copy and likely a source used by Houdini in the creation of his own work, The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, published just two years later.