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Clay Shevlin
Elite user
493 Posts
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Posted: Jun 21, 2011 3:53am
To Fellow Magic Collectors, Historians and Bibliophiles:
My friend Burt Sperber plans to publish a facsimile of the rare first edition of Henry Dean's The Whole Art of Legerdemain, or Hocus Pocus in Perfection, published in London in 1722. The reprint will be supplemented with an historical essay on Dean's book, and an updated bibliographical checklist of all known editions of his work, which will include photographs of the title pages and frontispieces of all entries.
Another good friend, the esteemed Dr. Edwin A. Dawes, has kindly agreed to prepare the historical commentary. I will do the bibliographical work, and Byron Walker has generously offered access to his incredible collection of Deans, which is almost certainly the largest in public or private hands (over 30 variants).
Nearly all research projects of this kind benefit greatly from the assistance of fellow collectors and bibliophiles, and this project is certainly no exception. So I would appreciate hearing from any of you who own any editions of Dean’s book, using the entry numbers from Toole Stott's conjuring bibliography if possible; and of course, if any of your copies vary from those listed by Toole Stott, please let me know how they differ. For each entry in the updated checklist, we will note the owners (unless you’d prefer to remain anonymous).
There is no need to contact me if you own the 1983 Walter Graham reprint of the 1763 edition, or the 1886 Robertson reprint of the 1797 edition. Also, please note that the scope of the work relates only to editions which expressly attribute Henry Dean as the author. There were many conjuring chapbooks published with “Hocus Pocus” or “The Whole Art of Legerdemain” in their titles (especially in the early 19th century), and in fact many of these books plagiarized from Dean (who in turn had plagiarized the text of earlier conjuring books!), but at this time we are only interested in publications which expressly named Dean as the author.
Your assistance and input will surely help to improve the Dean checklist by making it more complete. You can contact me by PM (please provide your e-mail address in the PM).
With many thanks in advance from me and Burt for your assistance,
Clay Shevlin
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lint
Special user
Concord, CA
948 Posts
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Posted: Jun 21, 2011 12:24pm
I've nothing to contribute, but I can't wait to see this project turned out.
"There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip..." -English Proverb
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Clay Shevlin
Elite user
493 Posts
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Posted: Jun 21, 2011 2:11pm
Just to whet the appetite, here's a pic of the frontis and title page from Burt's copy of the first edition of Dean.
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hugmagic
Inner circle
6548 Posts
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Posted: Jun 21, 2011 3:29pm
Have you contact KK to see if he has anything to offer?
Richard
Richard E. Hughes, Hughes Magic Inc., 352 N. Prospect St., Ravenna, OH 44266 (330)296-4023
www.hughesmagic.com
email-hugmagic@raex.com
Write direct as I will be turning off my PM's.
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Bill Palmer
Eternal Order
Only Jonathan Townsend has more than
23786 Posts
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Posted: Jun 22, 2011 12:38am
Please let me know when it is published. I would like to add this to my collection.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC
My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups."
www.cupsandballsmuseum.com
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Clay Shevlin
Elite user
493 Posts
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Posted: Jun 23, 2011 12:47am
^^ Sure thing, Bill. If I had to guess, I'd say the project is about 6-8 months from publication, but much depends on Eddie Dawes' workload and schedule, as for me as well, including travel scheduling.
Richard, not sure who "KK" is. If you're thinking of Ken Klosterman, yes, he's one of the 'usual suspects.'
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Clay Shevlin
Elite user
493 Posts
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Posted: Aug 7, 2011 3:53am
Well, no responses thus far from any Dean owners.
If any of you have a copy of the 1886 Robertson reprint of the 1797 edition, please let me know if you have a 6s. copy or a 4s. 6p. copy - price will be found at the end of the publisher's preface.
Thank you!
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Ms. Merizing
Loyal user
Opening soon: a trading post for my
228 Posts
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Posted: Aug 10, 2011 1:06pm
I too am keen to place a copy of the facsimile reprint in my library. Will you kindly place a notice of publication on in this forum, Clay? Thanks.
Pleased to continue finding that all the world's a stage.
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Bill Palmer
Eternal Order
Only Jonathan Townsend has more than
23786 Posts
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Posted: Aug 14, 2011 10:04pm
Quote:
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On 2011-08-07 03:53, Clay Shevlin wrote:
Well, no responses thus far from any Dean owners.
If any of you have a copy of the 1886 Robertson reprint of the 1797 edition, please let me know if you have a 6s. copy or a 4s. 6p. copy - price will be found at the end of the publisher's preface.
Thank you!
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I have the 4 shillings, 6 pence edition.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC
My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups."
www.cupsandballsmuseum.com
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Clay Shevlin
Elite user
493 Posts
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Posted: Aug 20, 2011 2:38am
@ Ms. Merizing: yes, I will do that.
@ Bill: Many thanks for taking the time to look at your copy and post the info. By the way, I wonder what the Chickasaw wording would be for "Throws Money at Cups"!
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Bill Palmer
Eternal Order
Only Jonathan Townsend has more than
23786 Posts
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Posted: Aug 20, 2011 1:45pm
I'm not sure. I think it has something to do with "silly paleface."
Next time I get up to the "ancestral lands" I'll ask one of the residents.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC
My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups."
www.cupsandballsmuseum.com
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Peter Evans
New user
Australia
16 Posts
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Posted: Aug 27, 2011 9:01am
Clay,
I have the following copies;
1. Dean, Henry. Hocus-Pocus or The Whole Art of Legerdemain. London, 1781. BEW 8th Edition (RTS 210) Incomplete copy, lacking pages 1-8, 11-14. Missing pages have been replaced with photocopied pages from the Duncan 8th edition (RTS 211).
2. Dean, Henry. Hocus-Pocus or The Whole Art of Legerdemain in Perfection. Glasgow, 1886. Facsimile of the 1797 Glasgow 12th edition (RTS 222). It refers to 6 pence.
Let me know if you need any more information.
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Clay Shevlin
Elite user
493 Posts
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Posted: Aug 28, 2011 8:26pm
Many thanks, Peter, for this information. Please send me a PM with your e-mail address, as I can probably send you the exact replacement pages needed for your 1781 Dean. Clay
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