Professor Hoffmann (1839–1919) was the pseudonym of Angelo John Lewis, an English-born

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and writer who has been described as "the most prolific and influential magic author and translator until modern times."Professor Hoffmann''
at lybrary.com. Retrieved 31 December 2021.

Life

Professor Hoffmann was born as Angelo John Lewis in London, England on 23 July 1839. He became a barrister in 1861. During the early 1860s he learned magic from a book and became an amateur

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

ian. In 1873, he published a series of articles in ''Routledge's Every Boy's Annual'' which "launched his career as the most prolific and influential magic author and translator until modern times." He also wrote on

card game A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...

s including

patiences Patience (Europe), card solitaire or solitaire (US/Canada), is a genre of card games whose common feature is that the aim is to arrange the cards in some systematic order or, in a few cases, to pair them off in order to discard them. Most are inte ...

Works

The following is a selection of Hoffmann's works:''Angelo Lewis'' (Professor Hoffmann)
at worldcat.org. Retrieved 31 Dec 2021.

(1876) * ''The Cyclopaedia of Card and Table Games.'' (1891). * ''The Illustrated Book of Patience Games.'' (1892). * ''Latest Magic, Being Original Conjuring Tricks'' 020 reprint* ''Bridge'' (1924) * ''Selected Patience Games'' (188?) * ''Card Tricks with Apparatus'' (1892)

References

20th-century English male writers 1839 births 1919 deaths Card game book writers {{England-writer-stub