This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/26/2024
HOFFMANN, Professor (Angelo Lewis, 1839–1919). Modern Magic. A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring. London: George Routledge and Sons, [1876]. FIRST EDITION, with publisher’s engraved seal to title page. Bright blue cloth elaborately stamped in gilt and black, with black hat and gold cone to front board. Engraved frontispiece of The Sphinx illusion (partially loose), profusion of illustrations. Thick 8vo. Dawes bookplate, ownership signature and rubber stamp to half-title. Rubbing to joints, corners, and spine caps, lacks tissue guard, front joint starting, small bubble and bump to rear board. Bright and attractive; good to very good condition. Toole Stott 386.
Hoffmann, a barrister by trade, eventually gave up the law for writing and authored dozens of works on games, home amusements, and conjuring. Modern Magic was not his first book, but remains his most famous and has been continuously in print since its London debut. The book remains a cornerstone of conjuring literature and a bibliographic demarcation point between “old” and “new” works on legerdemain. This is one of only 1000 examples of the first edition printed.