One of Marsh’s earliest novels takes a heartily humorous look at the practice of magic.
Genteel John Redford is accosted by a seedy fellow who begs for the price of a meal. His name is Mr. Pye and he claims he’s a magician. […] It seems that an ancient spirit, a Mahatma, made a serious error of judgment: summoned by a Theosophist, the Mahatma chose to appear instead to the man’s servant. He then instructed the lowly Mr. Pye in the basics of wizardry. Unfortunately Mr. Pye makes a thoroughly muddled magician. His spells go wrong every time.
[…] The plot is pure comedy, if not downright slapstick, with lots of witty dialog and a dash of romance. Mr. Pye is thoroughly engaging as a luckless illusionist.
(—“Patto”, Amazon review)
==========
Richard Marsh (12 October 1857 – 9 August 1915) was the pseudonym of English author Richard Bernard Heldmann. One of the most popular and prolific authors of the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods, he is best known now for his supernatural thriller novel
The Beetle, which for a time outsold Bram Stoker’s
Dracula. Marsh produced nearly 80 volumes of fiction and numerous short stories, in genres including horror, crime, romance and humor.
==========
This book, first published in 1893, is in the public domain worldwide.
.
This work is assumed to be in the Life+70 public domain OR the copyright holder has given specific permission for distribution. Copyright laws differ throughout the world, and it may still be under copyright in some countries. Before downloading, please check your country's copyright laws.
If the book is under copyright in your country, do not download or redistribute this work.
To report a copyright violation you can
contact us here.