The copy by Universal Music Roll Co. (of Rye, Great Britain) of the
QRS copy of the original Scott Joplin recording of Magnetic Rag is
marked with a tempo of 70, and it includes the slow introduction.

I find that the best speed is somewhere between 60 and 65.  This makes
the introduction slightly laboured but the rest of the piece comes out
at a comfortable tempo.  This is the speed I used to play it when I
spent more time playing the piano, rather than restoring them.  Of
course, not every player piano has its tempo adjuster set correctly
so my advice is to set the tempo for this roll from the main body of
the piece, not the intro.

With any rag, the correct playing speed should be a matter of comfort
when playing manually, as the musical content dictates the correct
speed.

With regards to favourite performers, I find the RCA Red Seal boxed
set of Dick Hyman playing the Joplin complete works to be less serious
than Rifkin and has the correct feel in terms of speed.  For Joseph
Lamb I prefer John Jensen on Genesis GS1045.

Nicholas Simons
England

 [ Dick Hyman is a classically trained jazz pianist with a deep
 [ respect for ragtime.  He's also terrific performing stride piano
 [ styles.  -- Robbie