Henry Hay (writer) explained

Henry Hay
Birth Name:June Barrows
Birth Date:March 30, 1910
Death Date:July 27, 1985
Nationality:American
Occupation:Journalist and translator
Known For:Writing about magic and sleight of hand

June Barrows Mussey (March 30, 1910 – July 27, 1985), who wrote under the pen name Henry Hay, was an American journalist and translator who is notable for his writing about magic and sleight of hand and also of a large number of European authors including Lion Feuchtwanger.

He also was one of the anonymous translators of Hitler's Mein Kampf (1925–26) for an American edition by the publisher Stackpole Sons.[1] Stackpole advertised that it paid "no royalties to Hitler" and later played up the fact that the publisher was donating a percentage of the proceeds to refugee relief. 12,000 copies were printed but Stackpole had to stop selling because of a legal battle with the publisher Houghton, Mifflin who had bought the American rights.[2]

Mussey was born in New York and lived in West Germany after World War II. He was a friend of the famous coin manipulator Thomas Nelson Downs. His highly regarded The Amateur Magician's Handbook (1950) has gone through several editions and is still considered a standard reference work among magicians.

Publications

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Worthington, Jay. "Mein Royalties: Who Profits from Hitler's Bestseller?" Cabinet 10 (2003). http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/10/mein_royalties.php. Range, Bryant, and Maierhofer 73-74.
  2. Barns, J. J., Barns, P. P. (2008). Hitler's "Mein Kampf" in Britain and America: A Publishing History 1930–39. Cambridge University Press.
  3. Web site: Het verjaagde water by A. den Doolaard. WorldCat. 18 November 2022.