The mystery and the trunk came to light in August 1987 when an upstate New York farmer contacted magic collector and stage magician Peter Monticup about a trunk found tucked away in a corner of the farmer's barn. The farmer had opened the trunk and found the magic memorabilia, then had considered throwing them away as so much junk. Luckily, he was a thrifty sort and made the phone call to Monticup instead.

A bitter, driving rainstorm set an eerie mood for Monticup's first look inside the trunk. Hidden in a corner of the barn was a thick, heavy wooden box reinforced with iron straps for sturdiness in travelling. The lock was missing (Monticup later learned that the lock was a magic one that had been unfortunately smashed by the farmer when he first opened the trunk) but otherwise the travelling box was in excellent condition. Because of the tightness of the trunk's construction and the dry and dark storage conditions inside, the contents of the trunk were in remarkably pristine condition.

As he slowly lifted the heavy lid of the trunk, Monticup was astounded by what he saw. The trunk was chock full of memorabilia: photos, clippings, clothing, small props and, still carefully packed in the printer's original wrappings, De La Mano's own stock of publicity materials.

Included were small quantities of magnificent 14" x 42" oversize broadsides, printed on rich goldenrod colored paper, detailing and illustrating the wide range of illusions in De La Mano's show. The broadsides are especially rare in 19th century ephemera, as such an oversized sheet had to be run through a printing press twice to cover the large area, thus making the process twice as expensive.

Also in the trunk were a number of beautiful 9" x 24" broadsides with woodcut illustrations, advertising the illusions of DE LA MANO - WIZARD OF THE EAST, 5" x 14" broadsides illustrating De La Mano and his EDUCATED PIG, and two different pastel two-sided 6" x 9" flyers detailing De La Mano's program. A number of 30- page pocket size souvenir books, all with hand-tinted and hand-lacquered covers, were also in the trunk, still tied together and wrapped in the printer's invoice.

Additionally, ten different one-sheet posters were found, still carefully rolled and in pristine condition. Needless to say, these were important examples of early American magic posters.

Best of all, some personal papers and possessions were also tucked into the trunk, including part of De La Mano's scrapbook, some cabinet photos (of De La Mano and his assistants), a few small magic props and one of his formal suits.

De L Mano was, in truth, Zell Dreitzehn, a wealthy Austrian whose family owned a successful European circus. By the age of 20, De La Mano was a highly skilled and most inventive illusionist with a most enthusiastic following. For over four decades, De La Mano toured Europe, becoming a most popular theatrical attraction.

During his 1875 season, De La Mano apparently met a performing spiritualist. He was evidently impressed, as the meeting would have a profound effect on his career.

In 1876, De La Mano came to the United States for the first time, traveling on a circuit of the better East Coast venues. All signs indicate that he was also gathering information on the Spiritualist movement, which had its start in the Rochester, New York area in 1848. There is no question that he was fascinated with psychic phenomena, though it is not clear whether he was interested from a personal or a financial standpoint.

Since his first tour proved a success, De La Mano repeated it in 1878. This tour, though, featured a spiritualist segment, quite possibly patterned after the act he had seen in Europe.

De La Mano's third tour in 1881 was never completed. Though he did perform in a number of places, he abruptly dropped his illusion show and became a "spirit investigator".

In his new career, De La Mano apparently visited a large number of alleged "haunted houses". With upstate New York's abundance of such dwellings, his dealings kept him busy in the area east of Rochester and south of Albany, New York. Whether De La Mano ever actually believed that the houses he visited were really haunted is not clear.

What is a fact is that De La Mano was last known to be investigating psychic occurrences at a farm in Westerlo, New York during the fall of 1882. While locked in his room during a particularly severe thunderstorm, De La Mano vanished from the face of the Earth. No one ever saw or heard from him again. His entire illusion show, packed and stored in some forgotten warehouse, has never surfaced.

De La Mano's trunk containing his magic memorabilia, however, was found in the barn of that Westerlo farm, untouched for over 100 years.

It was pure luck that preserved the trunk and its contents for over a century, and luck that brought the trunk to the attention of Peter Monticup. But it was more than just luck that compelled Monticup to removed the trunk from the barn on the night he first saw it, despite the terrible storm. Just hours after Monticup took the trunk from the barn, the building was struck by lightning and burned to the ground.

The mystery of De La Mano lives on.