One of the oldest magic books in French

It is 1584. That year, a book with a surprising name was published in Lyon: La première partie des subtiles et plaisantes inventions.

Virtually nothing is known about its mysterious author, who went by the name of I. Prevost, but who for the first time compiled into a single book the many magical effects performed at the time. Although the cups and balls trick is not mentioned (which is surprising), it can be assumed that it must have played a prominent role in the "second part," which seems never to have been published since no copy is known to this day.

This book details many experiments that would centuries later be called "amusing physics," such as balancing several knives together.

Also worth mentioning is the presence of the ancestor of the coloring book, a trick where a book initially presented as entirely blank magically has figures appear on its pages. The principle of slightly beveled pages thus already existed in the 16th century, proving that nothing is ever truly new!



This book is exceedingly rare, and currently no more than a dozen copies are known worldwide, making it absolutely mythical.

A few small peddler's booklets were undoubtedly published almost simultaneously or a little earlier, but no book at the time surpassed the comprehensiveness of the one written by I. Prevost.

A small anecdote: a similar book titled The Discoverie of Witchcraft was published in English the same year, 1584. Written by Reginald Scot, it was however published only a few months after I. Prevost's work, making the French book the first of its kind published on magic! Vive la France!

If you also enjoy this kind of anecdote, feel free to browse this blog or take a look at our books on the history of magic!


 

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