EVANION, Henry (Henry Evans, c. 1832 – 1905). Evanion the Royal Illusionist. London: Williams & Strahan, Printers, ca. 1898. Three-color pictorial broadside with two large wood-engraved images of the British conjurer; in one he produces a giant pagoda festooned with flags while “The Mystic Parrot” sits atop a perch watching, and in the other he produces bunches of flags in his outstretched hands. 26 ½ x 13”. Border chips and small losses with some over-coloring; top margin cropped close. B. Linen backed. In addition to a career on the stage that included appearances before British royalty, Evanion was an inveterate collector of ephemera and showbills related to Victorian entertainments of all types. In 1895, before his death, the British Museum acquired some 5,000 pieces from Evanion’s horde. Later, Harry Houdini became acquainted with Evanion and recounted being “dazzled” by the treasures he had amassed. Houdini acquired many of Evanion’s conjuring-related rarities, some of which were used to illustrate his book, The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin (New York, 1908).