People have been fascinated by magic for thousands of years, magic has always taught them to fear and laugh, to tremble and be amazed. Once persecuted as heretics and sorcerers, sorcerers have always embodied a connection to a parallel world where practically nothing was impossible, whether it was summoning spirits, reading minds, or using sleight of hand to turn the laws of nature upside down.
When science fiction, virtual reality, computer games and the Internet were still a long way off, there was no more powerful fantasy world than that of magic. And even today, their representatives, the actual inventors of special effects, know how to amaze their audience again and again and to make the impossible possible.
Magic illustrates the dazzling craft of the greatest magicians of the past five centuries. Using around 800 rare old posters, photographs, flyers, engravings and paintings by Hieronymus Bosch, Caravaggio and others, Magic traces the history of magic from around 500 to the 1400s on over 1950 pages.
Spectacular illustrations and well-founded accompanying texts shed light on the development of the magic craft from the street performers of the Middle Ages to the brilliant stage performers who gave early cinema its first special effects, and from the golden age of magic in the 19th century to the vaudeville artists of the 20th century th century and pioneering daredevils like Houdini.
About the publisher:
After graduating from Princeton University, Noel Daniel went to Berlin on a Fulbright scholarship, did a masters in London and managed a photography gallery before becoming an editor in Los Angeles.
About the authors:
Author, publisher, collector, and professional magician Mike Caveney has published more than 50 books on the history of magic, as well as the biographies Carter the Great (1995) and Kellars Wonders (2003). In addition to showing in over 20 countries, Caveney has also appeared on the NBC television series Worlds Greatest Magic. He has been a passionate collector and stage magician for more than three decades.
This is the new edition WITHOUT cardboard slipcase.
