In this special digital edition this early book on conjuring is formatted such that each double page shows on the left hand page a scan of the original, and on the right hand page a transcription to regular text. This makes this ebook not only fully searchable, but also much easier to read, because the font of the original requires some getting used to. It is therefore best viewed with two pages side by side. (In AdobeReader you select it with View > Page Display > Two Page View.)
A good number of the effects described are taken from Reginald Scot's famous The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584). Exceptions to this rule are the use of gaffed cards in the "Kings to Aces to blanks" routine and a three ball routine.
- To the Ingeniovs Gentleman and my louing father, Mr. William Bvbb
- To his loving Friend and adopted Sonne Mr. Sa. Rid
- To the curteous Reader
- Notes and obseruations to be marked of such as desire to practise Legerdemaine
- Feates of Legerdemaine vsed with the Balls, with one or more
- To make a little Ball swell in your hand till it be very great
- To consume, (or rather conuay) one or many Balls into nothing
- An other pretty feat with Balls
- A feat, tending chiefly to laughter and mirth
- Of conueyance of mony
- To conuey mony out of one hand into the other, by Legerdemaine
- To conuert or transubstantiat money into Counters, or Counters into money
- To put one Testor into one hand, and another into an other hand, and with words to bring them together
- To put one testor into a strangers hand and an other in your owne hand, and to conuay both into the strangers hand with words
- To throwe a peece of money away and to finde it againe where you please
- To make a testor or a groat, leap out of a potte, or run along vpon a table with words
- A very pretty trick to make a groate or a testor to sinck thorow a table, and to vanish out of a hand kercheife very strangely
- To conuey one shilling being in one hand into an other, holding your armes abroad like to a roode
- Of Cardes and Dice, with good cautions how to auoyde cosenage therein: speciall rules to conuey and handle the cardes, and the manner and order how to accomplish all difficult, & strange things wrought with cardes
- A tricke by confederacy at Cardes
- How to deliuer out foure Aces, and to conuert them into foure Knaues
- How to tell one what Card he seeth in the bottome, when the same Carde is shuffled into the stock
- A strange & excellent tricke to hold foure Kings in the hand, and by words to transform them into foure Aces, and after to make them all blancke Cardes, one after another
- Of publike confederacie and whereof it consisteth
- To tell you how to know whether one caste Crosse or Pile; by the ringing
- How to tell where a stolne horse is become
- To make one daunce naked
- To make a pot of any such thing standing fast on a cupbord, to fall downe thence by vertue of words
- Of Boxes to alter one graine into another, or to consume the graine or corne to nothing
- How to conuey (with words and charmes) the corne conteyned in one Box, into another
- How to pull laces innumerable out of your mouth; of what colour or length you list, and neuer any thing seene to be therein
- To kill a Hen, chicken or Capon and giue it life againe
- To eate a Knife, and to fetch it forth of another place
- To thrust a bodkin through your head, without any hurt
- To cut halfe your nose in sunder, and to heale it againe presently without any salue
- To put a Ring through your cheeke
- How an Alcumister cousoned a priest
- A merry tale how a cosoning Alcumist deceaued a country Gentleman
- A Charme to be said each morning by a Witch fasting, or at least before she goe abroade
- An olde womans Charme wherewith she did much good in the cuntrie and grew famous thereby
- A slouenly Charme for sore eies
1st edition 1612, 46 pages; PDF 94 pages.word count: 15014 which is equivalent to 60 standard pages of text