THE WHOLE ART OF LEGERDEMAIN, OR HOCUS POCUS LAID OPEN AND EXPLAINED BY THOSE RENOWNED MASTERS SENA SAMA, HAMED BEN ALLA, AND ALL THE CELEBRATED AND MYSTERIOUS PROFESSORS OF THE ART OF NATURAL MAGIC,

Published by Leary & Getz, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1853

  • First Edition
  • Hardcover
  • Used
See all details
Item image 1 of 4.

Seller: Tennyson Williams Books and Fine Art, Williamsburg, VA, U.S.A.Tennyson Williams Books and Fine Art

3-star seller

AbeBooks seller since March 15, 2018

View this seller's items
Hardcover

Condition: Used

£ 2,664.74

£ 4.80 shipping 
Ships within U.S.A.

Quantity: 1 available

Add to basket
Free 30-day returns

Item description from seller

[The title continues:] WITH FULL INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO PERFORM THE VARIOUS TRICKS, ON CARDS, DICE, BIRDS, RINGS &c. Engraved frontispiece, 71 pages of text, and a 64 page catalogue of "historical, theological, juvenile, and miscellaneous" books published by Leary & Getz. 16mo. First Philadelphia edition, preceded in the United States only by editions published in New York and Boston. Like all early editions, this one is rare--WorldCat locates only 3 copies in libraries worldwide. First published in 1722, the book drew extensively on Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) and William Vincent's Hocus Pocus Jr. The Anatomie of Legerdemain (1634) for its description of magic tricks, many of which are performed by magicians today. The book's popularity among magicians was so strong that there were numerous editions published in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, but paradoxically demand was so limited that few copies of any of those editions have survived. Little is known about the author, who has been described variously as a magician, a bookseller, a publisher, a seller of magical apparatus--some even suggesting that there was no Henry Dean. Some recent scholarship indicates that he may have been a surgeon with an interest in magic. Whoever he was, Henry Dean has had a significant impact on the practice of performance magic. Among the magic "tricks" explained are many that clearly draw upon Scot's attempts to debunk beliefs in witchcraft (e.g., restoring a fly to life and making a bird appear to be dead) and others that explain the performance magic of Hocus Pocus (e.g., "the dancing egg" and "the card nailed upon the wall by a pistol shot"). Our copy of the book has been sympathetically rebacked with Japanese paper and is clean and tight, with relatively minor foxing scattered thoughout; there is some rubbing and old soiling of the paper covered boards, but the printed text and decorative borders remain intact, bright, and legible. Size: 16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall.

Seller Inventory # W1796

Bibliographic details

Title
THE WHOLE ART OF LEGERDEMAIN, OR HOCUS POCUS LAID OPEN AND EXPLAINED BY THOSE RENOWNED MASTERS SENA SAMA, HAMED BEN ALLA, AND ALL THE CELEBRATED AND MYSTERIOUS PROFESSORS OF THE ART OF NATURAL MAGIC,
Author
Dean, Henry
Publisher
Leary & Getz, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Publication year
1853
Condition
Collectible-Very Good
Book Type
Book
Binding
Hardcover
Edition
First Philadelphia Edition.
Seller catalogs
Magic

Tennyson Williams Books and Fine Art

Williamsburg, VA, U.S.A.

3-star seller

AbeBooks seller since March 15, 2018

Shipping rates within U.S.A.

Item5 to 14 business days3 to 6 business days
First item£ 4.80£ 7.02
Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.

Payment methods

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay
  • Bank Wire Transfer
  • Paypal

Store description

Tennyson Williams, Books and Fine Art is both a general antiquarian bookstore and a fine art gallery. In our open by appointment shop we have 3,000 books for collectors and researchers. In the next few months all of that inventory will be listed on Abebooks; in the meantime, please feel free to make requests. We also have collectible photographs (including hundreds of stereoviews), autographs (many astronauts), original lithographs & etchings by important artists, and much more. Please feel free to inquire.

Specialty

Modern First Editions, Americana, Military History, Magic, General Stock

Seller's business information

Tennyson Williams Books and Fine Art

VA, U.S.A.