This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/29/2022
HILLIARD, JOHN NORTHERN. GREATER MAGIC. [EXPURGATED EDITION]. Minneapolis: Carl Waring Jones, 1938. Number 48 of fifty numbered copies in the publisher’s “expurgated” edition. Red cloth stamped in gilt with pictorial dust jacket in three colors. Illustrated. Thick 8vo. Very good. Scarce. After almost a decade of planning and preparation, and the death of John Northern Hilliard, Greater Magic was released with much fanfare in December of 1938. It remains one of the best-loved and widely read books in the field. Publisher Carl Waring Jones produced fifty copies of this “expurgated” edition, gifting them to friends and colleagues. While the front matter and first chapter are present in these copies, everything after page 26, excepting the last two leaves, are blank. Considering that the 1000+ page tome was so highly anticipated, undoubtedly those who received these “gift” copies were equally amused and frustrated upon receipt of their books.