Photographs of John Percival

These personal papers contain handwritten and typed correspondence, typescripts, drafts of articles and lectures, photographs, and personal letterhead, business cards, etc. Several folders of newspaper and magazine clippings document Percival’s life and performances; these give a good idea of the frequency and scale of Percival’s magic performances, as well as the other organizations with which he was involved. Percival’s notebooks chiefly contain notes on magic tricks and stage patter, both copied and original. Photographs consist primarily of portraits and close-up photographs of John Percival, both in magic settings and in his professional life at the telephone company. (Note that Percival may also appear in some groups in photographs in Series 3, Subseries 2 and Series 3, Subseries 5.) Two of Percival’s desktop files--a business card file and a subject card file--give insight into how he organized his correspondence, as well as how he organized, accessed, and utilized the materials in this collection.

Correspondence is organized chronologically; individuals with whom Percival frequently corresponded have their own folders, within which correspondence is also chronological.