4,000 Years of Juggling by Karl Heinz­Ziethen of West Berlin . West Germany . Published by Michel Poignant, Cauvigny, Sainte Genevieve, France .

 

In his book, 4,000 Years of Juggling, Volume I, the West German writer and IJA member Karl­Heinz Ziethen has amassed an impressive array of facts and juggling memorabilia. The most notable attribute of this volume is the outstanding collection of photographs. Nowhere is the cliche 'one picture is worth a thousand words' more profound than in the documentation of juggling feats. The 290 photographs in 4,000 Years of Juggling not only depict the fantastic skills and ingenuity of jugglers through­out the ages, but also serve as evidence of the diversity that has always existed within the art of juggling.

 

Volume I begins by defining the word "juggler" and then pointing out that for many years the terms "juggler" and "magician" were considered the same. Ziethen claims that juggling is one of the "oldest occupations of the human play instinct," with his first official evidence of juggling showing upon the wall of an Egyptian tomb dated around 4600 B.C.

 

Volume I continues through time, eventually arriving in the 20th century where the names become more familiar and the pictures much clearer. All in all, over 600 jugglers are mentioned during this voyage through juggling's history.

 

The book is constructed with delicate care and the pages are of high quality gloss paper, which contributes to the weight and fineness of the publi­cation. The physical size of each page is 9 x 12 inches, facilitating the presence of two columns of copy per page.

 

Mr. Ziethen' s 22 years of research seems to have unearthed an unparalleled wealth of previously obscure information. Volume I is certainly the premier reference source on juggling.

 

However, the book does have some problems. The basic difliculty is with the style of writing, which is somewhat choppy and often a bit jumpy. Except for a few featured jugglers such as Bela Kremo, Paul Cinquevalli, Paul Spadoni, and Enrico Rastelli, too many jugglers tend to be mentioned scantily.

They appear and disappear more in the form of a list which precludes their images from coming to life. Some sentence structures become a bit tedious, though that can be partially attributed to the translation.

 

By the middle of the book, one gets the feeling that more consistent detail about fewer jugglers might have made for better reading. One very unfortunate omission of Volume I is the lack of an index. An index would greatly enhance the usefulness of Volume I, especially when considering it as a reference source. Also, the placement of the Table of Contents in the rear of the book causes it to be over­looked, although the division of chapters is quite clear .

 

Without meaning to sound harsh, I must admit that I found 4,000 Years of Juggling to be slow reading. At the same time, it is a unique accumulation of material and an accomplishment of great merit. What it lacks in literary style, it more than compensates for with integrity and insights into the history of an art form that has until now been without official heritage.

 

When Mr. Ziethen does single out a juggler for more extensive description, the stories are fascinating.  Jugglers throughout the ages were uniquely colorful people who mastered eccentric and wonderful physical skills. Any juggling enthusiast will appreciate the intensity and discipline that went into these accomplishments, which are vividly depicted by the rare and exciting photographs.

 

Volume I's collection of photographs is practically priceless to any collector of juggling memorabilia - which leads to the big question: Is this first volume of 4,000 Years of Juggling really worth the almost $100 price?.. Without a doubt, it's the one and only! That is, until Mr. Ziethen releases Volume II!

(Volume II will be reviewed when available.)

 

Founder & editor of JUGGLING announces its end

 

(Ed. note: The following letter was received from Andrew Schwartz, editor, announcing Ihe end of JUGGLING magazine and bankruptcy of JACS Publishing Co.  It is reprinted in part here with Schwartz's permission.)

 

The demise of Juggling is a hard issue for me. There are so many people involved, both directly and indirectly, that one can easily lose sight of the problems. My realization of what the real problem was, was within myself. Meaning, I was guilty of letting fantasy blot out reality. Fantasy being the excitement and challenge of trying something new. Reality, the facts; ie. lack of money, experience, support and the list goes on.

 

We certainly had no lack of confidence and courage. Making oneself vulnerable and taking risks for something you truly believe in is not a bad thing. In process it is a must in starting any new business.  People try to define the cause and blame for business failures. It's simple. Businesses fail for two reasons, poor management and poor financing. both of which I feel we were guilty of. Mostly we were guilty of trying to do something we weren't experienced enough to do. I suppose that is one way of gaining experience, but I'm not happy with the by product of that experience. I would be fooling myself by not accepting the fact that other people have been hurt by our endeavor. The hardest for me to deal with, being all those wonderful people who had interest, involvement and faith in what was created.

 

At times I've felt a need to apologize for our efforts and at other times a burst of pride. but mostly I realized a need to end what was going from bad to disastrous.

 

I feel Juggling played a role in motivating the IJA into its further development of the newsletter. I have high hopes and high expectations that the IJA JUGGLERS WORLD will live and grow to become everything I fantasized Juggling to become. I know the potential and interest is there...