(Bottle Conjurors Hoax) | On the bottle conjurers hoax at the Haymarket Theatre

(Bottle Conjurors Hoax)

A Letter to the Town, Concerning The Man and the Bottle. London: Printed and sold by W. Reeve, in Fleet Street; and A. Dodd, opposite St. Clement's Church, in the Strand, 1749

8vo (215 x 140 mm). Half-title; light discoloration to half-title and terminal leaf, terminal leaf also stained and reinforced along inside margin. Modern blue wrappers, housed in a sturdy card box.

According to Milbourne Christopher, "January 16, 1749 was a night long remembered by the Londoners who jammed into the New Theatre in the Haymarket, a night much discussed in the annals of British drama." Advertising material made the fantastic claim that a man would squeeze himself inside an ordinary wine bottle as part of his conjuring entertainment. But as curtain time came and went, an already skeptical crowd grew restless. When the performer failed to appear, a riot broke out. A lit candle was thrown on stage and the curtains caught fire, eventually leading to the total destruction of the theatre. The incident, forever after known as the "bottle conjuror hoax," spawned many copycats, as well as countless cartoons, satires, broadsides, and the publication of the rare book offered here. 

REFERENCE:

ESTC T74360; Toole Stott 1232

PROVENANCE:

 Mr [?] Lloyd (contemporary signature on title-page)