Lot 50
  • 50

Tracts on magic, folk lore and social history--

Estimate
7,000 - 10,000 GBP
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Description

  • a collection of 20 pamphlets
Hocus Pocus junior. The anatomy of legerdemain. G. Dawson for Thomas Vere, 1654, woodcut frontispiece and illustrations, [Wing H2279A; Toole Stott 359, recording 4 copies, one imperfect]--[Neville, Henry] A new and further discovery of the Islle [sic] of Pines. Allen Bankes and Charles Harper, 1668, [Wing N509], first 2 leaves soiled with small marginal chips--Heath, J[ames] Paradise transplanted and restored. 1661, [1], 7pp., [apparently unrecorded issue, not in wing]--[Gayton, Edmund] Walk knaves, walk. 1659, [Wing G421]--B., A. Learn to lye warm... reasons, wherefore a young man should marry an old woman. H. Brugis for W. Gilbert, 1672, [Wing B10], with 15 other tracts (politics and social history); together 20 works in one volume, contemporary calf, cropped, very occasionally affecting a few words, upper cover becoming detached



Hocus Pocus Junior is particularly notable for its widespread use of woodcut illustrations to elucidate tricks.

Provenance

Caleb Lowdham

Condition

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Additional titles:
The life and death of Ralph Wallis the cobbler of Glocester. E. Okes, for William Whitwood, 1670, [Wing L2008]--Cromwell, Henry. The Lord Henry Cromwels speech in the house. 1659, woodcut illustration on title-page, [Wing L3047A, recording 6 copies]--The tales and jests of Mr. Hugh Peters. for S. D., 1660, engraved frontispiece, [Wing P1721; Sabin 61196]--[Butler, Samuel] A proposal humbly offered for the farming of liberty of conscience. 1663, [Wing P3705aA]--Wild, Robert. A letter from Dr Robert Wild. for T. Parkhurst, J. Starkey, F. Smith, and D. Newman, 1672, [Wing W2140]----Flagellum poeticum: or, a scourge for a wilde poet. Being an answer to Dr. Robert Wild's letter. for J. L., 1672, [Wing F1128]--[Achard, John] Moon-shine: or The restauration of jews-trumps and bagpipes. Being an answer to Dr. R. Wild's letter. for R.C., 1672, [Wing A439]--One and thirty new orders of Parliament, and the Parliaments declaration: published for the satisfaction of the people off [sic] the three nations of England, Scotland, and Ireland... together with the Parliaments ghost: to the tune of Mad Tom. 1659, [Wing O331]--[Stubbe, Henry] Rosemary and Bayes: or, animadversions upon a treatise called, The rehearsall trans-prosed. Jonathan Edwin, 1672, [Wing S6064]--C., J. Peters patern or the perfect path to worldly happiness. 1659, title within woodcut border, [Wing C784], couple of small tears affecting a few words--Dugdale, Sir William. The manner of creating the knights of the antient and honourable Order of the Bath. Phil. Stephens, 1661, [Wing M458], few small holes in final leaf affecting a few words--Langbaine, Gerald. The foundation of the universitie of Oxford. M. S. for Thomas Jenner, 1651, [Wing L370]--Ibid. The foundation of the universitie of Cambridge. M. S. for Thomas Jenner, 1651, [Wing L368]--Jennings, Abraham. Digitus Dei, or an horrid murther strangely detected. Declaring the suspicion, apprehending, arraignment, tryal, confession, and execution of Richard Rogers... for murthering of one Ruth Auton his sweetheart, having first begotten her with child of two children. A. Seile, 1664, [Wing J555A ]--Peacham, Henry. The worth of a peny, or, a caution to keep money. S. Griffin for William Lee, 1667, title withon typographic border

contemporary calf, black morocco label on upper cover with Courtenay crest gilt,

The celebrated Hocus Pocus Junior is based on Reginald Scot's The discoverie of witchcraft (1584), and is particularly notable for its widespread use of woodcut illustrations to elucidate tricks. All seventeenth century editions are of extreme rarity. Toole Stott in A bibliography of English conjuring 1581-1876 lists 4 known copies of this edition, one of them imperfect, and we have been unable to trace a copy sold at auction in recent times. The Powderham copy of Paradise transplanted and restored is a heretofore apparently unrecorded issue revealing the author's identity for the first time. On the title-pages of the three recorded copies of the text, the author is identified only as I. H. Gayton's work includes a diversion on the poor quality of flimsy footwear manufactured in Essex.

Neville's Isle of Pines (1668), which was licensed on 27 June 1668, is a libertine fantasy. A shipwreck leaves George Pine with four women survivors on a mild and fertile island, soon copiously populated by their offspring, whose rapid increase in numbers is charted. The success of this publication may be measured in the successive editions in which it appears, including an attempted piracy in North America; in its immediate continuation in A New and Further Discovery of the Islle of Pines (licensed 27 July 1668); and in its popularity on the continent, where it found translation into Dutch, French, Italian, German, and Danish—these translations were in turn republished into the eighteenth century, not least in compilations of narratives of travel and discovery.