Hocus pocus; or The whole art of legerdemain, in perfection. By which the meanest capacity may perform the whole without the help of a teacher. : Together with the use of all the instruments belonging thereto. : To which is now added, abundance of rare and new inventions. / By Henry Dean.
- Title
- Hocus pocus; or The whole art of legerdemain, in perfection. By which the meanest capacity may perform the whole without the help of a teacher. : Together with the use of all the instruments belonging thereto. : To which is now added, abundance of rare and new inventions. / By Henry Dean.
- Author
- Dean, Henry.
- Publication
- Philadelphia: ;: Printed for Mathew Carey, no. 118, Market-Street.,
- 1795.
- Rights/Permissions
-
To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
- Subject terms
- Magic tricks
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/n21692.0001.001
- Cite this Item
-
"Hocus pocus; or The whole art of legerdemain, in perfection. By which the meanest capacity may perform the whole without the help of a teacher. : Together with the use of all the instruments belonging thereto. : To which is now added, abundance of rare and new inventions. / By Henry Dean." In the digital collection Evans Early American Imprint Collection. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/N21692.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 1, 2024.
Contents
- frontispiece
- title page
- THE PREFACE TO THE READER.
-
The Whole ART of LEGERDEMAIN; OR, HOCUS POCUS IN PERFECTION, &c.
- A Description of the Operation.
- How to pass the Balls through the Cups.
- The Operation of the Cups is thus.
-
How to shew the wonderful
Magic Lanthorn . - To seem to swallow a long pudding made of tin.
- To seem to eat knives and forks.
- To put a lock upon a man's mouth.
- How to shew the magic bell and bushel.
- How to put a ring through one's cheek.
- How to shew the Hen and Egg-bag, and out of an empty bag to bring out above an hun|dred eggs, and afterwards to bring out a living hen.
- How to cut the blowing book.
- To show the trick with the Funnel.
- How to make three little children dance in a glass upon a table.
-
Bonus Genius: or H
ccius Doctius. - Of conveyance of Money.
-
To convey money out of one of your hands into the other by
Legerdemain . - To convert money into counters, and counters into money.
- To put one tester into one hand, another into the other hand, and with words to bring them together.
- To put one tester into a stranger's hand, and another into your own and to convey both in|to the stranger's hand with words.
- How to shew the same, or the like feat otherwise.
- To throw a piece of money away, and to find it again where you left it.
- How to make a groat or tester to leap out of a pot, or run along upon a table.
- To make a groat or tester to sink through a table and to vanish out of a handkerchief strangely.
- A notable trick to transform a counter to a groat.
- An elegant feat to make a two-penny piece be plain in the palm of your hand, and be passed from thence where you lift.
- To convey a tester out of one's hand that holds it fast.
- To convey a shilling, being in one hand, into a|nother, holding your hands abroad.
- To transform any small thing into any other form by folding paper.
- Another experiment of the like nature.
- Of cards, with good caution how to avoid co|zenage therein especially rules to convey and handle the cards, and the manner and or|der how to accomplish all difficulties and strange things wrought with cards.
- How to deliver out four aces, and to convert them into four knaves.
- How to tell one what card he sooth at the bot|toms when the card is shuffled in the stock.
- Another way to do the same, having yourself never seen the cards.
- To tell without confederacy, what card he thinketh on.
- How to make a card jump out of the pack, and run on the table.
-
How to tell what card any man thinketh on, and how to convey the same into a kernel of a nut or cherry stone, and the same
n into one's pocket; and how to make him draw the same, or any card you please, and all under one device. - How to let twenty gentlemen draw twenty cards, and to make one card every man's card.
- How to change a pack of cards into all manner of pictures.
- How to knit a knot upon a handkerchief, and to undo the same with words.
- How to take three button moulds off two strings.
- To cure the tooth-ach.
- To know if it be a head, or woman, and the par|ty to stand in another room.
-
Fort wishing postnatus' how to make any person dance naked. -
To se
cut a hole scarf, or handker|chief, and with words to make it whole again. - The Egg Box is looked upon to be as good a trick and as cunning a slight, as any that is done, but because it cannot be expressed in words, I have put these figures underneath to explain it.
- To make a room seem to be all on fire, mighty dreadful to behold.
- How to eat fire, and to blow it up in your mouth with a pair of bellows.
- How to walk on a hot iron bar, without danger of scalding or burning.
- How to make a knife leap out of a pot.
- The melting-box.
- How to light a candle by a glass of cold water, or other liquor, without the help of fire.
- A trick upon the globe-box.
- To tell the names of all cards in the pack, be|fore you see them.
- How to hold four kings in the hand, and by words to seem to transform them into four aces, and afterwards to make them all blank cards.
- To tell or name all the cards in the pack, and yet never see them.
- To shew one what card be taketh notice of.
- To tell the number of spots on the bottom cards, laid down on several heaps.
- To make any two cards come together, which any body shall name.
- How to make a cat draw a fellow through a pond of water.
- How to burn a thread, and to make it whole again with the ashes.
- To cut a lace asunder in the middle, and to make it whole again.
- How to pull innumerable ribbons out of your mouth, of what colour you please.
- To draw a cord through your nose, mouth, or head, so sensible, as it is wonderful to see.
- To thrust a bodkin into your forehead without hurt.
-
- How to cut your arm off, a pitiful sight, with|out hurt or danger.
- How to kill any fowl, but especially a pullet, and with words to give it life again.
- To thrust a piece of lead into your eye, and to drive it about with a stick between the skin and flesh and forehead, until it be brought to the other eye, and there thrust out.
- To make the constable catch the knave.
- To seem to change a card into a king or queen picture.
- To seem to turn a card into a live bird.
- Three or four cards being laid down, to tell any one which of those cards he touched.
- To tell one what card he took notice of.
- How to let a gentleman hold ten pieces of mo|ney in his hand, and to command them unto what number he can think on.
- To thrust a dagger into your guts, very strange|ly, and to recover immediately.
- How to cut a man's head off, and to put the head into a platter, a yard from his body.
- To seem to turn water into wine.
- To make sport with an egg.
- To fetch a shilling out of a handkerchief.
- To cause the beer you drink, to be wrung out of the handle of a knife.
- How to make it freeze by the fire-side.
- To cut glass, a famous invention.
- How to make two bells come into one hand, hav|ing put into each hand one.
-
How to mak
a sheet of paper called Trouble-wit. - To make sport in company.
- How to command seven half-pence through a table.
- How to turn a box of bird-seed into a living bird.
- How to command a sixpence out of a box.
- How to call for any card in the pack.
- Another way to call for a card.
- To tell one what card any one thinketh on.
- Another way to tell one what card is noted.
- How to make a card jump out of an egg.
- How to make the fountain of command.
- To seem to kill a horse, and to cure him again.
-
A very strange trick, whereby you may seem to cu
a piece of tape into four parts, and make it whole again with words. - A device to multiply one face, and make it seem to be a hundred or a thousand.
- To make the fulminating thundering powder.
- colophon