New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

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magicam
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New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby magicam » November 9th, 2012, 8:00 pm

Last year, we announced that Burt Sperber would publish a facsimile reprint of the extremely rare first edition of Henry Deans iconic magic book, The Whole Art of Legerdemain, or, Hocus Pocus in Perfection,published in London in 1722. See http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubb ... ber=247199. Burt also wanted to publish a companion volume with a biographical and historical essay on Dean and his book, together with an updated bibliographical checklist of The Whole Art of Legerdemain, and he invited Eddie Dawes and me to do the research and writing for this companion book. To magics great loss, Burt unexpectedly passed away late last year, but we decided to continue our work to honor the memory of a kind and generous friend. Next year, our book will be published by David Ben and Magicana, to whom we are grateful for offering to be the publisher.

Although Henry Deans name has been famous to generations of conjuring historians, antiquarians, and bibliographers as the author of the 18th centurys best-selling English magic book, until now even very rudimentary details of his life have remained elusive despite dedicated inquiries and research spanning the last 150 years. Tomorrow, at the Yankee Gathering held by the New England Magic Collectors Association in Westborough, Massachusetts, Eddie will speak about some of the fascinating discoveries made about Dean and his book in the course of our research. To commemorate Eddies lecture and to whet the appetite of fellow collectors and historians, we have published a 28 page, well-illustrated monograph with a full color cover, which will feature subject matter discussed by Eddie as well as additional material not included in his lecture.

Image

The edition of Henry Dean: Eighteenth-Century Best-Selling Magic Author/Compiler is limited to 150 numbered copies, only 125 of which will be offered for sale. For those of you attending the Yankee Gathering, copies will be available from Byron Walker for $20 immediately after Eddies lecture. If any copies remain after the Yankee Gathering, they can be purchased from me or Byron for $25 postpaid in the continental U.S. Additional postage will be charged for orders mailed outside of the U.S. Orders will be filled strictly in the order they are received. You may write to me at [c][h]shevlin[@][sbc][global][.net] (delete brackets) to inquire about availability.

Clay

Edwin Corrie
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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby Edwin Corrie » November 11th, 2012, 8:00 am

The companion volume sounds very interesting. Was the facsimile reprint itself ever completed?

It's way out of my price bracket, but if anyone with cash to spare is interested in the 8th edition, I happened to see this recently:

The Whole Art of Legerdemain

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby Richard Kaufman » November 11th, 2012, 10:56 am

The facsimile reprint will be published by Magicana (David Ben) next year.
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James Smith
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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby James Smith » November 11th, 2012, 4:13 pm

The first edition Dean is interesting in that it contains a number of tricks that do not appear in later editions. Anyone who has any of the previous facsimiles (e.g. the Graham reprint of the sixth edition) will find the first edition of interest too.

Of course the facsimile, although of great interest, is not the main feature here. Henry Dean was one of the first magic dealers and his life and varied career is fascinating to anyone interested in the history of magic; he certainly was a character!

Edwin: the 8th edition for sale has been on offer for quite some time. The 4,995 price tag is high but not as high as the 7,995 it was originally on offer for! The vendor first put it up for sale soon after the Christopher auction, in which an 8th edition sold for $6,000 (including buyer's premium). A third edition in the same sale (which I believe is more scarce) sold for $11,400 (including buyers premium); around 7,600. I suspect this is why the vendor in question first positioned his price at 7,995. Regardless of his reduced price, I still think he is asking too much for what is one of the more common editions. That said, I'd still love a copy!

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magicam
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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby magicam » November 11th, 2012, 9:28 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:The facsimile reprint will be published by Magicana (David Ben) next year.


My apologies to all if my post was not clear. Magicana has only offered to publish the companion volume, which, as alluded to by our research partner, James Smith, will be substantial and will contain much new information on Dean and his book. I don't know if David Ben and crew will undertake publication of the facsimile, as that additional task would be considerable.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby Richard Kaufman » November 11th, 2012, 10:03 pm

Update: the facsimile reprint will NOT be published by Magicana next year.
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Edwin Corrie
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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby Edwin Corrie » November 12th, 2012, 7:50 am

Thanks everyone for the information. I guess we'll wait and see.

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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby Edwin Corrie » November 12th, 2012, 11:11 am

Clay and/or James, can you say whether the first edition includes Troublewit? I've only seen the 11th edition (online), which has it on page 86, but if it's in the first edition too then that places it before Ozanam. (Dean's description is clearly copied from "Sports and Pastimes" in any case, but it would be interesting to know.)

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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby James Smith » November 12th, 2012, 1:15 pm

Hi Edwin. Yes, Troublewit is in the first edition too.

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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby Edwin Corrie » November 12th, 2012, 3:37 pm

Thank you!

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Andrew Pinard
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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby Andrew Pinard » November 12th, 2012, 5:56 pm

Edwin: You should have had that one, it's on my list as confirmed! Thanks so much for sending the notes, more on that anon by email...

James: Thanks for all your work on the Dean book, your copy of the "Supplement" should be wending its way to you soon...

If you have a chance to get the supplement to Eddie's talk at The Yankee Gathering you should. The text expands on the talk and you have the opportunity to read the indenture document from beginning to end...

Andrew

Bill Mullins
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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby Bill Mullins » November 30th, 2012, 1:17 am

I received my copy of the subject monograph, and really enjoyed it. Some folks on the forum know that I spend far too much time in various internet databases, looking for background on various magicians (I should be spending the time on my top change . . . ). Although I've never met Eddie Dawes, I can tell he is a kindred spirit, but obviously, instead of researching at a computer, he goes straight to the source and digs through musty old documents.

He's found some fascinating background on Dean and written it up here. (Did you know Dean ran an advertisement that talked about the Clap?) If you have much interest at all in magic history, this is worth getting.

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magicam
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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby magicam » December 10th, 2012, 5:02 am

Thanks for the kind words, Bill.

Just a note to the procrastinators that Byron Walker has only about 10 copies left in stock, and these were signed by Eddie Dawes at the NEMCA meeting. This monograph will not be reprinted.

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magicam
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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby magicam » February 12th, 2013, 4:55 am

[bump]

Going, going ...

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Dustin Stinett
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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby Dustin Stinett » February 13th, 2013, 2:58 am

I finally got the opportunity to read this terrific little monograph on Henry Dean by Dr. Eddie Dawes and Clay Shevlin. If you are a history buffmagic or otherwiseyou will enjoy this easy and fun read.

Besides the all-new information on the enigmatic Dean, which is plentiful given the booklets diminutive size (28 pages), there are numerous interesting woodcuts. Among these are reproductions of amazing maps showing the various streets, buildings, and dwellings in unthinkable detail for the period (think an 18th century version of Googles satellite maps). The illustrated front and back cover sports the section of London that includes Tower Hill.

There are also remarkably detailed depictions of executions and the massive crowds that gathered to enjoy these public spectacles. But why, you might ask, would these appear in a work on the author of a book on conjuring?

Besides the Dean material and the illustrations, Dr. Dawes weaves contemporary historical tidbits into the Dean factoids that put his life into context with the times. These little forays add to the historic narrative and take this monograph well out of the realm of being a list of the new bibliographic discoveries on The Whole Art of Legerdemain (though it does a fine job of accomplishing this aspect as well) and gives us a glimpse into the life of a heretofore mostly unknown man.

This is an entertaining as well as scholarly work. Bookworms and history buffs need to add this wonderfully produced and written monograph to the reference section of their library.

According to the inside cover, the book is limited to only 150 copies. They are only $25 postpaid in the USA. Contact Clay Shevlin at chshevlin@sbcglobal.net for details and availability.

Dustin

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magicam
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Re: New Monograph on Henry Dean and The Whole Art of Legerdemain (1722)

Postby magicam » February 19th, 2013, 12:03 pm

Thanks for the kind comments, Dustin.

Byron Walker has 4 copies lerft in stock, signed by my co-author, Eddie Dawes. Verbum sap! You can visit Byron's website for ordering info: http://www.byronwalkermagicbooks.com


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