OSCAR ELIASON

THE ORIGINAL 'DANTE THE GREAT'
His life and travels in Australia and New Zealand 1898 - 1899
by Kent Blackmore		 Oscar Eliason - Dante the Great

Ask almost any magician today to tell you about Dante and they will start to discuss Harry Jansen ( 1883 - 1955 ), the illusionist who took the name 'Dante' to great and deserved heights of fame.
But there was another 'Dante' before Jansen; a magician whose talents, although scarcely known today, deserve to be recorded.
Oscar Eliason ( 1869 - 1899 ) showed the potential to have become one of the magical greats of the early twentieth century. Only the tragic earliness of his death prevented his skill becoming more widely known.
In these pages Oscar Eliason's story is told, with emphasis on his Australasian tours between 1898 and 1899. It has been possible, through newspaper research, to build up an almost complete tour route for this period, which together with theatrical reviews and portraits makes up an interesting history of the man who first performed as DANTE.
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