Harry Houdini's copy, with gift inscription to him on the front free endpaper, in pencil, dated 1923, from Edw. W.P. Colusa(?). "Houdini's formal education was slight; his self education, immense. 'My mind,' he is often quoted as having said, 'is the key that sets me free.' The magician informed and developed that mind through intensive reading; as he did so, he built a formidable library. When, in the 1920s, Houdini strode into the public arena to confront fraudulent mediums, he proceeded from an inner fortress lined with books and manuscripts." (Higbee, LOC exhibition, 1996).