Hocus Pocus Junior

Hocus Pocus Junior:The Anatomie of Legerdemain by anonymous was a 52 page book first published in 1634. It was the first illustrated book in the English language devoted entirely to the subject of magic and possibly the first from the viewpoint of a performing magician. Little is known about the actual author.

This book includes detailed work on the Cups and Balls and the first version of the Stack of Pence (also known now as "Stack of Quarters").

Author

At 27th Collectors' Day held at the headquarters of the Magic Circle on 25 May, 2002, Dr. Philip Butterworth, Reader in Medieval Literature at the University of Leeds. Dr. Butterworth's presented research that a William Vincent was the possible author.

Editions

Thirteen editions of Hocus Pocus Junior were noted by the English bibliographer Raymond Toole Stott in Bibliography of English Conjuring 1596-1876 (published in 1976).

The illustrations in the second and third editions are much cleaner than the illustrations in the first edition and also more material is explained in that edition than in the first.

Steve Burton published a hardcover edition, of the 1634 first edition, in 1997.

References

• http://www.hocuspocusjr.com/hocvspocvsjr.htm
• http://www.fabsbooks.org/hocuspocus.html