Harry Houdini claims to house the largest collection of original Houdini artifacts in Europe. The Houdini Museum of New York is located at Fantasma Magic, a retail magic manufacturer and seller located in Manhattan. The museum contains several hundred pieces of ephemera, most of which belonged to Harry Houdini. Houdini published numerous books during his career (some of which were written by his good friend Walter B. Gibson, the creator of The Shadow) Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (; born Erik Weisz, later Ehrich Weiss or Harry Weiss; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-born American illusionist and stunt performer,
Julius Weiss talked of the great composers, and especially of the famous operas." Berlin says that Weiss, through his teaching, had "a profound influence on the young Joplin" and that "the essence of what Weiss accomplished was to impart to Scott an appreciation of music as an art as well as an entertainment. Weiss helped shape Joplin's aspirations and ambitions toward high artistic goals" by introducing him to theories of music composition, European culture, and the benefits of education. During that time, Joplin's father left his wife and six children. His mother had to take housekeeper jobs for income. To ensure that