The Life of Merlin, Surnamed Ambrosius; His Prophecies and Predictions Interpreted and Their Truth Made Good by our English Annals: Being a Chronological History of all the Kings and Memorable Passages of Their Kingdom, from Brute to the Reign of King Charles.

Though he was best known for his impossible feats of escapism, in later years Harry Houdini devoted himself to the world of mediums and spiritualists, first in an effort to determine if there was truth to the dark art, and later, to debunk and expose fraudulent swindlers. Throughout his career, Houdini amassed a massive collection of antique books on magic, spiritualism and a variety of mystical and supernatural topics. Though the bulk of his library constitutes a vast number of works on spiritualism dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, the collection also includes a variety of magic-related books inscribed by well-known magicians. In 1927, Houdini bequeathed over 5,000 volumes from his library to the Library of Congress including nearly 2,000 books on magic and over 3,000 on spiritualism.