KRATKY-BASCHIK, Anton (ca. 1821 ? 89). Nine Portraits of Kratky-Bashik, Magician and Musician. [Vienna?], ca. 1873. Handsome series of studio images picturing the Bohemia-born conjuror and inventor of musical instruments posed with electrical apparatus (including an early example of a Geissler tube), horns and string instruments of his own devising, and the trappings of the magician?s trade, including a fan of playing cards. The lowermost image, a spirit photograph, shows Kratky-Baschik, clad in a white cape, suit, and hat, confronting a semi-transparent ghost. 22 ? x 18 ??, in the original mat, with old mounting tape to versos of each image, minor foxing and a few visible scuffs to photographs and mat board. Kratky-Bashik learned the trade of prestidigitation from Samuel Bellachini and Bartolomeo Bosco, toured with P.T. Barnum, and used his formative years as a musician as a basis from which to invent his own instruments. In 1864, he constructed his first purpose-built magic theatre in Vienna. Other performers, including George Heubeck and Ottokar Fischer worked at a subsequent venue bearing his name, and it was there that the Martinka Brothers worked as managers and built illusions before moving to New York and establishing their world-famous repository for conjuring apparatus at 493 Sixth Avenue.