BEN ALI-BEY (Max Auzinger, 1839 – 1928). Important Archive of Correspondence, Photographs, and Ephemera. 1880s – 1920s. Over 150 items, including holographic letters, typed notes, postcards, programs, glass slides, silver print photographs, clippings, magazines, and other ephemera related to the life and career of the magician and his family. Included are many ALSs from members of the Auzinger family, as well as correspondence from various sources written to Ben Ali-Bey; glass slides and negatives depicting the black art performer or images related to his career; small portraits of Auzinger from the last years of his life; a partial ALS from Auzinger to John Nevil Maskelyne (written in English); correspondence from a younger member of the Auzinger family billed as an equilibrist, on elaborate pictorial letterhead; theater programs featuring Auzinger; issues of Das Programm and Houdini’s Conjurer’s Monthly from Auzinger’s papers; brochures and handbills; clippings; and much more. An important grouping of ephemeral material related to this influential performer long considered the first famous presenter – and perhaps the inventor – of Black Art.