*not a serious theory, but it was fun to think about*

S.W. Erdnase. Is it a reversal? An illusion? An anthropomorphic nose?
Well, here it is... S.W. clearly stands for Sherlock and Watson. S.W. Erdnase was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Why did he do it? And why hide his identity? I surmise that Doyle was, in reality, a prankster. Similar to the things that Andy Warhol did and claimed in earnest not to know anything of chicanery involved in. Houdini was, as you know, obsessed with card magic- once billing himself as the "King of Cards." Doyle, with a hint of the hyperfocus that his most famous character had, must have then dedicated himself to mastering the art. He created a system to master it. As a doctor, he had an inherent manual dexterity, sensitivity, and analytical mind. Then for a time he kept it to himself. A private joke when lavishing praise on Houdini's talent- "Oh, you're soooo magical, it must totally be ghosts, bro..." Remembering that Doyle was definitely Jack the Ripper, this satisfaction was similar to his notes to the constabulary regarding those crimes.
But a funny thing happened on the way to Reichenberg...
He had no anonymous notes in varied handwriting this time. He needed to somehow share his latent cleverness without exposing the ploy. So he wrote the book. Anonymously. He created a new class of magicians that maddened the long-suffering Houdini. He created Dai Vernon- who flattened Houdini with a card trick after mastering Art the Ripper's system. And what of the name "Erdnase?" As has been pointed out- it could translate as "Earth nose." Dirt on the nose, the opposite of "keeping your nose clean." Through teaching a gambling system he encouraged others to enter a criminal underworld. To not keep their noses clean.
And there you have it- the perfect Erdnase theory.

This is pretty good. You should think about writing a fictional short story or full length book about this entire premise. You could have one hell of a mystery thriller here!

Doyle as the ripper... a portrait in black/white or Dorian Grey? Maybe Barrie wrote Peter Pan to taunt him? S. and W. Huh? have fun!

Just realized my finger typed "Warhol" where I meant to say "Kaufman." Apologies.

Ha! Interesting!

That is definitely an interesting theory. To be honest, I want the mystery to keep going.

It sparks all sorts of great ideas as to who the identity of Erdnase really was.

Is S.W. Erdnase buried in Taft, Montana? According to an article in today's New York Times ("Unearthing a Wild West Boomtown, Grave by Unmarked Grave"), archeologists and railroad historians are exhuming unmarked graves at a cemetery near a railroad-era boomtown once labeled "the wickedest city in America." Researchers may eventually be able to identify some of the bodies.

Taft "only really existed from late 1906-1910," but during that brief time established reputation as "a rough-and-tumble place (where) many disputes were settled by fistfights, knives and gunfire. One of the town's reported 500 prostitutes was said to have parrot trained to proposition men." The former Boot Hill, where the excavation is taking place, may be home to as many as 72 bodies, including "gamblers and wastrels."

The turn-of-the-century time period fits the Erdnase profile, and Taft sounds like his kind of town.

Maybe the researchers will find a coffin containing the remains of someone named Andrews holding a copy "The Expert at the Card Table" in its skeletal hands.

Some good ingredients there. Parrots can live a long time too.
Add a scratchy audio recording of a guy giving a lesson in card handling and a few daguerreotypes and you're set with a story.