This was in an envelope by itself, and I was completely baffled to what the heck the letter writer was talking about. I understand that this was written in 1917- but did an ad for a "guessing contest" have to be worded so strangely?
Via Magicpedia, I learned: Joseph Ovette (January 20, 1885 - August 5, 1946) born Giuseppe (Joseph) Olivo in South Italy was a prolific author and top ranking magician.
I was still a bit puzzled by the letter, but I was able to track down the "terms" of the contest via google books:
So, Ovette wrote the book, Advanced Magic, and in the middle of the book he describes this new trick- The Mysterious Angel- but he does not explain the entire thing. Instead, he invited people who purchase his other stuff to have a crack at "free guesses" on how the trick works. If they guess correctly, they win the entire instructions to the trick, including illustrations.
I wonder if anyone ever won.....I could not find a single example of the winning prize anywhere!
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