IN PRAISE OF... MAGICIANS

The passing of Ali Bongo is marked the guardian with an article "In praise of... magicians" which says, Part of the magic of magicians is that they seem to have found the secret of longevity. A skill that goes back thousands of years, almost as old as the oldest profession, has survived against all odds. From the burning of Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft in 1584 - arguably the first book about conjuring - to the coming of television, its demise has often been predicted but never realised. Instead it generated its own TV stars, such as the much-loved Ali Bongo, who died this week having been taken ill while preparing to perform before fellow magicians in Paris, at the age of 79." It also mentions the longevity of Davenports Magic shop which opened in 1898.