Stewart James (May 14, 1908 – November 5, 1996) was a Canadian postman who became one of magic's most prolific inventors. He spent most of his life in Courtright, Ontario.
Biography Stewart James was highly respected for his creativity and invention of magic tricks; inventions of James's are used by many magicians despite his low name recognition Martin Gardner described him as "a magician who has probably devised more high-quality mathematical card tricks than anyone who ever lived". James ran a publishing company named Jogestja, Ltd.
Books One More Thought on Cards (1955) Compiled and edited the Abbott Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks, Vol. 1 (1941) Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks, Vol. 2 (1968) Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks, Vol. 3 (1980) Stewart James in Print: The First 50 Years (1989), edited by P. Howard Lyons and Allan Slaight The James File, Vol. 1 and 2 (2000) by Allan Slaight, contains nearly 1700 pages of Stewart James's magic. The Essential Stewart James (2007)
Awards The Academy of Magical Arts Creative Fellowship (1981)
References
Further reading James Bibliography, Ibidem #22 (October 1960), and reprinted in Ibidem, Vol. 2 (2001). Cover Linking Ring, November 1990. Cover Genii 1991 March Obit - Genii 1996 November The Life and Magic of Stewart James online exhibition David Ben post on Genii