Thomas Frost

Thomas Frost (16 December 1821 – 16 July 1908) was an English writer, journalist, lecturer, printer and Chartist.

Early years

Thomas Frost was born in Croydon in Surrey (now part of Greater London) on 16 December 1821, the son of a tailor who had read William Cobbett's Political Register and took part in the agitation to secure the Reform Act 1832.

Career

In 1846 he took over the publication of John Goodwyn Barmby's Communist Chronicle, a monthly paper which had been discontinued for financial reasons. Frost revived the Chronicle as a weekly publication and reduced the price from 3d. to 1d. with Barmby retaining editorial control. Differences between Barmby and Frost on their aims caused publication to cease. Frost then started a short-lived Communist Journal. From 1847 to 1848 he was associated with the Fraternal Democrats.

Magic history

Frost wrote three books on the history of magic. His Lives of the Conjurers (1876) is considered to be the first significant history of magic. M. Thomas Inge described the book as "a full-fledged chronicle of magic and an invaluable reference work".

The magician Harry Houdini wrote that they were the "best books of their kind up to the time of their publication, but they are marked by glaring errors, showing that Frost compiled rather than investigated."

Frost's book Lives of the Conjurers is said to contain errors in relation to the magician Wiljalba Frikell. Magic historian Walter B. Gibson noted that "the information offered by Mr. Thomas Frost and his successors, concerning Frikell, is in the main incorrect and unreliable."

Death

Thomas Frost died 16 July 1908.