The 460-plus lots of books, specialist apparatus, posters, archival material and ephemera relating to conjuring and magic will include such items as a late-19th century French conjuring set featuring 18 turned boxwood props and 11 instruction sheets. It is estimated at $1600-2400.
Books offered in the sale include examples dating back to the 17th century, but a 19th century rarity is the work, The Whole Art of Legerdemain or the Conjuror unmasked, published by Thomas Richardson of Derby c.1830.
According to the frontispiece, it contains instructions on “how to perform tricks with dice, cards, birds, eggs, cups, balls etc by the most celebrated professors” and sports a hand-coloured engraved frontispiece showing a conjuror flanked by a demon and a coiled snake. It is estimated at $2500-3500.
