Billed as ‘The Queen of Magic’ Adelaide Herrmann (1853-1932) was British born but started her magic career in the U.S. where she was assistant to her husband Alexander Herrmann. When he died in 1896 she carried on and became a major vaudeville star famous for her Bullet Catch routine and graceful ghostly illusions. Once described as “The world’s only woman magician” she said: “I shall not be content until I am recognised by the public as a leader in my profession, and entirely irrespective of the question of sex.” Her Noah’s Ark act involved leopards, lions, tigers, zebras and elephants.