Select Secrets: Rare & Important Magicana

Scot, Reginald. The Discovery of Witchcraft. London: Printed by R.C. and are to be sold by Giles Calvert, dwelling at the Black Spread Eagle-at the West-end of Pauls, 1651. Second edition, second issue. Nineteenth century calf, rebacked. Gilt roan title label in upper compartment of banded and gilt-decorated spine (well worn). Woodcut illustrations, initials, and tail pieces. Double-ruled gilt borders to boards, marbled endsheets, gilt turn-ins; binding signed “J. Larkin.” 4to. Bookplates of Joseph J. Butler and John Henry Grossman. Title page cropped close, scattered stains, chips, and wear, with contemporary ink signatures and notes, primarily to blanks. Old tear to Q1 mended, former owner’s bookplate laid down below it. Margin of Pp2 clipped, grazing text. Rubbing and chips to extremities of binding. Good to very good condition overall. Toole Stott 1178. Scarce. While Scot’s book, first published in 1584, is acknowledged as perhaps the most influential work in the English language on the history of conjuring, only two of its sixteen chapters are dedicated to the exposure of and instruction in the methods of “juggling,” as conjuring was called in his day. The large woodcuts of the Decapitation Illusion, several gimmicked knives, and the “beadstone” trick combined with apparatus to “draw a cord through your nose” are among the most famous illustrations in the history of magic. Scot served as a Member of Parliament, and wrote one of the first practical treatises on the care of a hop garden.