August Roterberg
Encyclopedia
History
August Roterberg (1867–1928) was born in HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany and emigrated to the United States around 1883 as a teenager. He started out selling magic by mail order, and then opened a magic store in Chicago. It was housed in the lobby of the "old" Palmer House Hotel.
Roterberg really started the modern age of magic publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
. His books were the first in English, written expressly for magicians. Roterberg's books were published by a magic dealer specifically for sale in magical depots, rather than for wide distribution to the general public. He ended up selling his mail order business in 1908 to Ralph W. Read and his shop to Arthur & Carl Felsman in 1916.
Roterberg is best known as a magic inventor and is credited with inventing the "Multiplying Billiard Balls" trick.
He eventually retired around 1917 and eventually moved to California, where he lived until his death.
Published works
- The Modern Wizard (1895)
- Latter Day Tricks (1896)
- New Era Card Tricks (1897)
- Card Tricks and How To Do Them (1902)