Mahatmaland came about as a result of my decision not to write a book on the history of magic in Philadelphia. I have been collecting information on magic and magicians in this area for years, and in fact, wrote monographs on Frederick Eugene Powell and Kellar’s Egyptian Hall several years ago.  I have also lectured on Philadelphia magicians. However, it became apparent to me that the market for magic history publications has always been somewhat limited (300-400 people), and also, many more people are using the Internet than ever before.  And, the Web allows much more dynamic presentations of magic history. So, I decided to create this online journal of magic history instead.