Nevil Maskelyne (magician)


Nevil Maskelyne was a British magician and inventor.

Biography

Maskelyne was born in 1863 to stage magician John Nevil Maskelyne. Following his father's death he assumed control of Maskelyne's Ltd.
In wireless telegraphy he was the manager of Anglo-American Telegraph Company which controlled the Valdemar Poulsen patents.
He was a public detractor of Guglielmo Marconi in the early days of radio. In 1903 he hacked into Marconi's demonstration of wireless telegraphy, and broadcast his own message, hoping to make Marconi's claims of "secure and private communication" appear foolish.
He married Ada Mary Ardley about 1890 in England, United Kingdom. They had three sons: John, who was to become a noted author on railway matters in the early 20th century, Noel and Jasper, who continued the family tradition of professional magic.
He died in 1924.

Works

Maskelyne wrote several books on magic, including Our Magic: The Art in Magic, the Theory of Magic, the Practice of Magic and On the Performance of Magic.