Bronze token of noted magician and collector John Mulholland as issued in 1935. 30.7 mm (half dollar size).

 

John Mulholland  bust on obverse. Rabbit in a Hat with hand holding cards on reverse along with the text: "Magic is the art of creating illusion agreeably".

 

Medallic Art Co. NY is stamped to edge in tiny lettering.

 

1898-1970, American magician, b. Chicago, Ill. Mulholland came to be one of the most celebrated of stage performers of magic. Among his written works are Quicker than the Eye (1932), Story of Magic (1935), The Art of Illusion (1944), and Book of Magic (1963).

"The Art of Illusion" was also reissued as the popular book "Magic for Entertainment".

"Magic in the Making" was another of Mulholland's historical treastises on magic.

Essentially self-taught, Mulholland had never managed to obtain a degree of any type, but was recognized as perhaps the leading intellectual in magic in his time.

 He edited the prestigious magical journal, "The Sphinx".

 Mulholland gave up the editorshipof the Sphinx in 1953, and discontinued its publication.

 Recent scholarship has authoritatively suggested that at the time, around the height of the Cold War, Mulholland in fact went to work for the CIA, responding to their invitation to teach the rules and art of deception for use in covert activities.

 Mulholland's personal library of magic was one of the most comprehensive in history.