A History of the Art of Conjuring by Kurt Volkmann

Details: Almost a century in the making, appearing for the first time in book form… Kurt Volkmann’s A History of the Art of Conjuring is here.

Kurt Volkmann’s complete “Geschichte der Zauberkunst” series has been fully translated into English by Lori Pieper and Maxwell Pritchard. Volkmann’s articles on magic history are considered by Steffen Taut to be “the best overall investigation on the history of conjuring.” In translating Volkmann’s work, Lori Pieper brought her extensive linguistic knowledge to the project, drawing from over a dozen languages.

The first volume of Kurt Volkmann’s peerless History of the Art of Conjuring offers an in-depth examination of performance magic through the ages, from antiquity and the earliest sources documenting magical performers to modern times and Europe’s most accomplished stage conjurers. Kurt Volkmann’s rich prose guides readers through a wealth of manuscripts, books, newspapers and artwork in over a dozen languages to present an insightful exploration of what magic has meant to magicians and their audiences over the centuries.

In Volume Two, Volkmann focuses his keen analytical skills on individual countries and the texts and performers associated with them. Familiar names and stories from across Europe and beyond are viewed afresh, while the repertoires and motivations of lesser-known practitioners are teased out and discussed at length.

Both volumes feature 1,260 pages with 432 beautiful color illustrations throughout, all fully credited, and comprehensive annotated endnotes. Volume Two includes eleven appendices presenting new findings about the sources and magicians Volkmann discusses, as well as a vast Bibliography and an exhaustive Index. Printed on archival paper, with foil-stamped cloth binding and sewn signatures, and housed in a luxury slipcase. This is a magic-history book like no other.

Strictly limited to 1,000 numbered sets, available only from Conjuring Arts Research Center.

“Amazing! What an accomplishment for both Volkmann and Conjuring Arts!”—David Copperfield

“I’ve never seen a magic-history book like this.  It’s more than an encyclopedia of magic and is filled with incredible ideas for anyone who wants to be inspired.”—David Blaine

”These volumes are an amazing accomplishment on every level: The original research, the writing, the translation by Dr. Pieper and Max Pritchard, and the stunning presentation. I’ve had many friends call and write to ask, “Are they worth it? Should I get them?” My answer to all of them, and to you, is “Yes. These are a must.”
These books are a remarkable resource and a remarkable value. As I looked through them, I kept thinking, “I wish Ricky could have seen these.” You’ll be happy from the second you begin to unbox them (this may be the best packing job any book has ever received) beyond the moment you turn the last page and every time you return to these volumes for deeper knowledge and inspiration.
Here is my personal guarantee: If anyone gets these and doesn’t believe that these books and the information inside them are worth many times the asking price, I guarantee the person hasn’t actually read them.
Now that this edition of Volkmann’s History of the Art of Conjuring exists, I cannot imagine not owning it.”—Michael Weber

“Just when you thought you knew something about magic history, A History of the Art of Conjuring comes along and changes everything. These two gigantic books provide a view of magic that is both unfamiliar and endlessly fascinating. Seemingly every page provides us with new information. And as we have come to expect from the Conjuring Arts Research Center, these books are of the highest quality.”—Mike Caveney

“These volumes are breathtaking in their scope, detail, production and vision. They deserve a place on the bookshelf of anyone who is serious about the history of magic.”—Richard Wiseman

“A copy of this work belongs on the shelves of historians and collectors worldwide.”—Edwin A. Dawes

“The most thorough and best-researched history on conjuring ever written. […] This two-volume set of Volkmann’s History of the Art of Conjuring is magnificent and—without a hint of hyperbole—is required in the library of anyone with a serious interest in conjuring history.”—Stephen Minch

Contents:

Volume One

RICHARD HATCH
Kurt Volkmann: Solicitor, Soldier, Scholar x

EDWIN A. DAWES
Foreword xix

MAXWELL PRITCHARD
A Note on This Edition xxi

KURT VOLKMANN
A History of the Art of Conjuring i

INTRODUCTION
The Natural Art of Conjuring and Supernatural Magic 3

CHAPTER ONE
Antiquity 7

CHAPTER TWO
The Middle Ages 21

CHAPTER THREE
The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 45

CHAPTER FOUR
The Eighteenth Century 123

CHAPTER FIVE
The Romantic Era 195

CHAPTER SIX
Developers and Developments 275

Bartolomeo Bosco 277
Ludwig Dobler 287
Philippe 296
Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin 304
Johann Nepomuk Hofainser 317
John Henry Anderson 323
Compars Herrmann 329
Wiljalba Frikell 335
Alexander Heimburger 343
Samuel Bellachini 349
John Nevil Maskelyne 353
Buatier de Kolta 360

ENDNOTES 367

Notes to Introduction 369
Notes to Chapter One 37°
Notes to Chapter Two 377
Notes to Chapter Three 394
Notes to Chapter Four 43°
Notes to Chapter Five 467
Notes to Chapter Six 506

ILLUSTRATION CREDITS 547

Volume Two

CHAPTER SEVEN

Imitators and Innovators 3

France 3
England 75
Germany 126
Austria 172
Hungary 200
Italy 209
Spain 235
Portugal 241
Switzerland 244
Luxembourg 250
Holland 251
Belgium 254
Denmark 273
Sweden 279
Norway 285
Finland 286
Russia 290
Greece 293
Yugoslavia 296
Egypt 297
Poland 298
Romania 302
Persia 302
ENDNOTES 307
Notes to Chapter Seven 309

APPENDICES 455
Appendix One Boccalo’s Conjuring in Folengo’s Baldo 456
Appendix Two The Conus Dynasty 460
Appendix Three Linking the de Linskis 464
Appendix Four The Charming Magicienne: Benita Anguinet 468
Appendix Five Parisian Shadows: Remembering the Verbecks 471
Appendix Six Marco: The Greatest Conjurer on Earth 474
Appendix Seven The Carossas 477
Appendix Eight Fidele Victor Mehay, French Conjurer 479
Appendix Nine Andreoletti: A Few Further Details 481
Appendix Ten Jules de Rovere, the First Prestidigitator 483
Appendix Eleven Melides: An Old New Star 485
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS 489
BIBLIOGRAPHY 503
INDEX 581
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 681

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