Book Description

This book is an exploration of 19th century conjuring books, based on the authors own personal collection. It comprises over 800 pages, identifying 210 different titles, representing 972 different editions, and accompanied by almost 400 colour photographs. It will be a valuable document for magicians, collectors, librarians, and historians alike. It is primarily a bibliographic study, but also includes a range of other topics about the 19th century including the evolution of society, book production, bindings, and performers, as well as a brief history of conjuring bibliographies. The bibliographic study, representing the main body of work, includes a description of each book with details of; (i) all known editions, (ii) any known variant editions or issues, and (iii) the author, publisher, bookseller, printer, title (including date and address), pagination, illustrations, bindings, content and any other physical details. All books identified are cross-referenced against previous bibliographies by Raymond Toole Stott, Milbourne Christopher, and Trevor Hall.