This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/11/2021
BOSCO, Giovanni Bartolomeo (Italian, 1793-1863). Satana Raccolta Europea. Milan: Giovanni Silvestri, 1855. 8vo. Publisher’s printed wrappers. Frontispiece of Bosco. Includes advertisement for Gabinetto Magico on back of book. Contemporary signature on front cover. Ink stains. Giovanni Bartolomeo Bosco is remembered as one of the first “honest” magicians, eschewing the flowing, Orientalized garb of his contemporaries in favor of a short, tight-fitting jacket with snug sleeves which made it harder for him to conceal anything inside of them. In his memoirs, Jean-Euegene Robert Houdin described Bosco’s stage show as being decorated with skulls and candelabras, lending it an operatic atmosphere which set Bosco’s performances apart from those of other conjurers. Bosco’s style of magic would become so renowned that for decades after his death a slew of imitators would use his name as their own in promoting their own acts.