The profession of conjuring, if not the most ancient, is certainly one of the oldest professions in the world, and, before commencing my account of the efforts made by a humble professor of the art, I trust that the reader may be interested by a short sketch of its history. Without this, it is possible that he might receive a book relating to the conjurer's art with a shrug of the shoulders. But conjuring, if it has now drifted down to the level of mere entertainment, has played its part in the history of the world; and even nowadays I am prepared to hold that it is an art which, if it is not the intellectual peer of painting or poetry for instance, still demands the devotion of a lifetime and a natural aptitude, if not genius, from him who would excel in it.
