The Conjurer's Repository or the Whole Art and Mystery of Magic Displayed by the following celebrated characters; Pinetti, Katterfelto, Barrett, Breslaw, Silbley, Lane &c
This is a compilation of tricks lifted from other conjuring books. William Bradford writes in his review in Genii:
It contains general magic, mostly of the close-up variety, a lot of mathematical mental magic, a lot
of chemical effects, one trick called "How to show the Hen and Egg Bag, and out of an empty Bag to bring
above an hundred eggs, and afterwards a live Hen", and even some pages on calculating probabilities on rolling
dice and tossing coins. It is not organized into any particular order; a card trick will be followed by a chemical
effect followed by a mathematic exercise followed by a coin trick, etc. A few of the effects are apparently favorites because they repeat them from time to time throughout the book. Most of the chemical effects described use such dangerous mixtures (strong acids, phosporus, mercury compounds, etc.) that few modern magicians would risk trying them but they make for interesting reading. Once you get used to the style of writing it is a fun book to read as it contains some really weird effects, and you can get a feel for what that era's top magicians were doing to entertain their audience.
- To tell if a Person holds Goldin one hand and Silver in the other; which Hand the Gold is in, and which the Silver
- A Notable Hocus Pocus trick with a Cock
- Another Trick, played with a Fowl
- To make sport with quick-silver
- Another trick to make sport with quick-silver
- Several letters that contain no meaning, being wrote upon cards, to make them, after they have been twice shuffled, give an answer to a question that shall be proposed; as for example, What is Love?
- To discover the number of points on 3 cards, placed under 3 different parcels of cards
- The Secret of the Invisible Girl
- The wonderful Well
- To make a ring shift from one hand to another, and to make it go on whatever finger is required on the other hand, while somebody holds both your arms, in order to prevent any communication between them
- To guess, by smelling, which has been the number struck out by a person in the company, in the product of a multiplication given him to do
- To make a pen-knife, out of three, jump out of a goblet, agreeable to the option of the company
- To pull off any person's shirt, without undressing him, or having occasion for a confederate
- How to put a card in and out of an egg
- A Ring put into a Pistol, which is afterwards found in the Bill of a Dove in a box, which has been before examined
- A mathematical combination for guessing, in a whole pack, composed of fifty two cards, how many points will make the cards under each parcel, which parcels are to be made by one of the company, observing to him that each parcel he makes is to compose the number of thirteen, to begin from the point of the first card which he takes to form each parcel
- A trick on the cards, called the two convertible aces
- To discover any card in the pack by its weight or smell
- The art of fortune-telling by words
- Method of Engraving in Relief on the Shell of a new laid Egg
- To make an Egg stand an end on a Table or on a Looking-Glass
- The Visible Invisible
- A curious puzzling question to be proposed for solution to a company of young scholars
- A quantity of eggs being broken, to find how many there were, without remembering the number
- How to Gamble in Games of chance and Probabilities
- In tossing up, what probability is there of throwing a head several limes successively, or a tail; or, in playing with several pieces, what probability is there that they will be all heads, or all tails?
- Any number of dice being given; to determine what probability there is of throwing an assigned number of points
- If the hour and minute hands of a clock both begin to move exactly at noon, at what points of the dial-plate will they be successively in conjunction, during a whole revolution of the twelve hours?
- To change a card which is in the hand of a person, recommending him to cover it well
- How to guess a card that has been thought of by any body, by writing before-hand on a paper or card, a number, which will certainly be that of the card that has been thought of
- To fasten a ring or a six-pence at the end of a piece of common thread; and, after burning the thread, to leave the ring hanging at the end of it
- The learned little Sivan, one of Mr. Breslaw's grand deceptions
- To take a bird out of a cage, and make it appear as dead, or to roll it about as you please
- A curious method of restoring a fly to life, in two minutes, that has been drowned twenty-four hours
- To cut a glass, a looking-glass, or even a piece of crystal, let it be ever so thick, without the help of a diamond, in the same shape as the mark of the drawing made on it with ink
- To melt a piece of steel as if it were lead, without requiring a very great fire
- A curious trick upon the cards, called the ten duplicates
- To unite wax and water (things absolutely opposite to each other); this union, made in the twentieth part of a minute, forms a good pomatum to clean the skin, and render it soft and white. It is a fine cosmetic
- A stone, which, like the Camelion, has the property of changing its colour in certain circumstances
- The dancing Card
- The Conjuror's Castle
- How a Man may put his Finger in, or wash his Hands in melting Lead without Danger of burning
- How to light a Candle by a Glass of cold Water, or any other Liquor, without the help of Fire
- To change a Pack of Cards into all Sorts of Pictures
- How seven Persons may dine together, every day successively, as long as they could sit down to table differently arranged, and how many dinners they must eat together
- A curious Secret to make a Card pass from one Hand into the other
- To make a Room seem all on Fire, mighty dreadful to behold
- How on delivering a Ring to a Number of Persons, to find which Person has got it, which Hand it is on, which Finger, and which Joint
- How to rub out Twenty Chalks at five Times, rubbing out, every Time, an odd one
- How to command seven Halfpence through a Table
- To make a Pen, which holds one Hundred Sheep, hold double the Number, by only adding two Hurdles more
- To guess the thoughts of any Person, assuring him, that you will write before-hand on a Piece of Paper the Amount of the Parcel of Cards he shall happen to chuse out of the two placed on the Table
- A Person having an even Number of Counters in one Hand, and an odd Number in the other, to tell in which Hand the odd or even Number is
- To tell, by the Dial of a Watch, at what Hour any Person intends to rise
- To make a Sixpence seem to fall through a Table
- To make an Addition before the Figures are set, by knowing only how many Figures are in each Row; as likewise how many Rows compose the whole; and then adding yourself some Figures equal to those that had, been set
- To make a mutual exchange of the Liquor in two Bottles, without using any other Vessel
- Any Number being named, by adding a Figure to that Number to make it divisible by Nine
- To extinguish two Wax Candles, and light two others, distant about three Feet, by the firing of a Pistol, loaded, with Powder, as usual
- To compose a red Colour, imitating the Colour of Blood
- To extinguish a wax Candle at eighty or a hundred Paces distance by firing a Gun loaded with Ball, and to be certain of not missing, however unskilful may be the Murksman
- A curious Method of sealing a Letter, so as not to be opened, by variegating the Seal with different coloured Species of Wax
- To make fine blue Wax, which is very difficult to he had
- A philosophical Mushroom
- A curious experiment to prove that two and two do not make four
- A gentleman taking a fancy to a horse, which a horsedealer wished to dispose of at as high a price as he could, the latter, to induce the gentleman to become a purchaser, offered to let him have the horse for the value of the twenty-fourth nail in his shoes, reckoning one farthing for the first nail, two for the second, four for the third, and so on to the twenty-fourth. The gentleman, thinking he should have a good bargain, accepted the offer. What was the price of the horse?
- The magical Nosegay, which shoots forth Flowers and Fruit at Command
- The Chest which opens at Command
- Tea-caddies
- The Resurrection of the dead Bird
- A piece of money shut up in a box, which comes out of itself, without being touched by any one
- To make a Chamber as light by Night as by Day
- How to put an Egg into a Vial
- To produce a Chicken without a Hen
- To seem to kill a Horse, and to cure him again
- To thrust a Bodkin into your Head without hurt
- To cause a Cup to stick to a Man's Lips that it can hardly be pulled away
- To make any Fowl have all their Feathers white
- To make a Sword, or Dagger, or Knife, cut Iron as easily as Lead
- To make Steel as soft as Paste
- How to write Love-letters secretly, that they cannot be discovered
- Another
- To make an Egg run up to the top of a Spear
- To make a Flame pass suddenly out of a Pot full of Water
- To make a Man appear on a burning Flame without any Harm
- To make the distilled Oil out of any Herb, Seed, Flower, or Paper, in a Moment, without a Furnace
- To make camp-paper, with which a person may write without pen, ink, or pencil
- To make a Woman that she shall not eat the meat set upon the table
- To make a perpetual motion
- To make a fire burn under water
- Conveyance of Money
- To convey Money out of one of your Hands into the other, by Legerdemain
- How to command a Sixpence out of a Box
- To fetch a Shilling out of an Handkerchief
- To put a Tester into one Hand, another into the other Hand, with words bring them together
- To put a Tester into a Stranger's Hand, and another into your own, and to convey both into the Stranger's Hand! with Words
- To convey a Shilling, being in one Hand, into another, holding your Hands apart
- To convert Money into counters, and reverse it
- How to shew the same, or the like feat, otherwise
- To throw a piece of Money away, and find it again where you left it
- A curious Trick with a Sixpence, to make it leap out of a Pot
- To make a groat, or Tester, sink through a Table, and to vanish out of a Handkerchief strangely
- How to transform a Counter to a Groat
- To convey a Tester out of the Hand of one that holds it fast
- An excellent Feat to make a Two-penny Piece be plain in the Palm of your Hand, and be passed from thence where you like
- Curious Conveyances of Cards, with slight of Hand Tricks and Juggling
- A Curious way to tell one what Card is noted
- To tell One what Card he took Notice of
- How to let 20 Gentlemen draw 20 Cards, and to make one Card every Man's Card
- To tell One what Card is thought on
- To tell the Number of Spots on the bottom Cards laid down in several Heaps
- To tell or name all the Curds in the Pack, and yet never see them
- How to make a Curd jump out of the Pack, and run on the Table
- To shew one what Card he takes Notice of
- Surprising Anagram of AMOR
- To take off the Impression of old Prints
- To cause a person to believe that you can make appear to another, shut up in a room by himself, any thing that the former chooses
- Ink Powder
- Method of taking off the Impression of any Drawing
- Method of speedily delineating all sorts of plants and flowers
- How to tell what Card any man thinks on, and how to convey the same into a Kernel of a Nut, or Cherry Stone, and the same again into one's Pocket, and to make him draw the same, or any Card you please, and all under one Device
- How to tell one what Card he seeth at the Bottom, when the Card is shuffled in the Pack
- To shew one what Card he taketh Notice of, not having seen the Cards
- To tell, without Confederacy, what Card one thinks of
- How to deliver Four Aces, and to convert them into Four Knaves
- To tell what Card a Person pitches on, without seeing the Card till you find it in the Pack
- To tell what Card a Person thinks upon, though you are not in the Room, or which Card he has touched, or waved his hand over
- To seem to change a Card into a King or Queen
- To make the Constable catch the Knave
- An object being placed behind a convex Glass, to make it appear before it
- To make any two Cards come together which any Person shall name
- To tell the Names of all the Cards in the Pack before you see them
- How to hold Four Kings in the Hand, and by Words seem to transform them into Four Aces, and afterwards to make them all blank Cards
- For a Person to chuse a Card, you not supposed to know what it is, and then for the Person to hold the Cards between his Finger and Thumb, to strike them all out of his Hand except the very Card he had taken
- To transform any small Thing into any other Form by folding of Paper
- How to shew the Hen and Egg Bag, and out of an empty Bag to bring above an Hundred Eggs, and afterwards a live Hen
- The good Genius - a wonderful fine and curious trick, when well played off. From Dean's Second Book
- How to burn a Thread and make it whole again with the Ashes
- To make Sport with an Egg
- How to let a Gentleman hold ten Pieces of Money in his Hand, and to command them into what Number he can think on
- How to cut the Blowing Book
- How to pull innumerable Ribbons out of your Mouth, of what Colour you please
- To cut a Lace asunder in the Middle, and to make it whole again
- To seem to turn Water into Wine
- To terrify with a great Noise without Gunpowder
- To cause the Beer you drink to seem to be wrung out of the Handle of a Knife
- To cure the Tooth Ach
- To seem to swallow a long Pudding, made of Tin
- Another Experiment of the like Nature
- How to knit a Knot upon a Handkerchief, and to undo the same with Words
- To know if it is a. Head or a Woman, and the Party to stand in another Room
- How to make Three little Figures dance in a Glass upon the Table
- An illusory kind of Palingenesy
- Palingenesy; or the Art of reviving the Dead, and making the Image of a deceased Person appear in a glass Jar
- To make Luminous Characters appear on a Piece of Paper, or a Wall, &c
- A piece of money being put into a bason, how to make two pieces appear, one of which shall be much larger than the other
- To make a phantom appear on a pedestal placed on a table
- To direct a swarm of Bees at pleasure
- A powder which inflames when exposed to the air
- To produce inflammable and fulminating vapours
- The philosophical candle
- To make an artificial volcano
- To make a flash, like that of lightning, appear in a room, when any one enters it with a lighted candle
- Of Metallic Vegetation
- Arbor Mattis, or Tree of Mars
- To produce heat, and even flame, by means of two cold liquors
- To fuse iron in a moment, and make it run into drops
- Cement for mending broken China
- To fill a glass with water in such a manner, that a person shall not be able io remove it without spilling it all
- To construct two figures, one of which shall blow out a candle, and the other immediately light it again
- To construct a vessel, from which water shall escape through the bottom, as soon as the mouth is unstopped
- A Liquor shut up in a Bottle, which when the bottle is unstopped, becomes Luminous
- Tracing Ink
- Method of making Silhouettes, or shaded Portraits in Miniature
- The Chinese Shadows: Ombres Chinoises
- Fulminating Gold
- Method of constructing a Lantern, which will enable a Person to read by Night at a very great Distance
- Method of lessening the Danger which arises from the Agitation of the Waler, either in the open Sea or on Rivers
- Paper, which when written on, the Characters shall be Invisible
- Method of employing the above kind of Paper for tracing out with great ease all Sorts of Figures
- The Mysterious Dial-Plate, or the Prudent Secretary
- Writing in Ciphers, which appears to be a piece of Music
- Cork Jackets, for supporting People in the Water
- Secret Writing by Means of Ciphers
- To fuse a piece of Money in a Walnut Shell, without injuring the Shell
- Golden Ink
- How to make two Bells come into one Hand having put into each Hand one
- How to shoot a Bird flying, with a Gun loaded with Powder; and to bring it to life again
- How to make a Candle burn under Water
- To lay one end of a Stick upon a Stool or Table, and hang a Pail of Water at the other end
- How to light a Candle by a Glass of Water, or any other Liquor, without the Help of Fire
- To seem to cut a Hole in a Cloak, Scarf, or Handkerchief, and with Words to make it whole again
- To tell the Number that another Man shall think, be it ever so great
- The Card nailed to the Wall by a Pistol Shot
- To find the Points cast on two Dice
- The Card burnt, and afterwards found in a Watch
- To find the Number of Points cast on three Dice
- To call for any Card in the Pack
- To shuffle Cards in such a Manner as always to keep one certain Card at the Bottom
- A Trick with Cards, uniting the double Advantage of being very easy and infallible, it being on a little numerical Combination
- How to terrify such as are entirely unacquainted with the Nature of Phosphorus
- The Artificial Bird, singing at the Desire of the Company
- How to make two Bells come into one Hand, having put into each Hand one
- How to cut a Man's Head off', and to put the Head into a Platter a Yard from his Body
- A pleasing Trick by Figures
- The Process of applying Gold to Paper or Parchment, translated from the German
- Another process
- The changeable Rose
- Another Trick by Figures
- The Dancing Egg
- How to make Water freeze by the Fire-side
- To blow a Sixpence out of another Man's Hand
- A sure way to catch a Pickpocket
- Of Three Sisters
- To make a Person tumble and toss all Night, and not be able to sleep
- To make a glorious Light with a Candle
- The Golden Head, which leaping and dancing in a Glass, answers different questions
- To write any Name upon a Paper, and then burn it to Ashes, yet afterwards it may be read plainly
- A curious Trick to change Writing
- How to break a Staff upon two Glasses of Water
- A Method of drawing a deformed Figure, which will appear well proportioned from a certain Point of View
- Of the accusation of a Thief
- A whimsical Trick to make sport in Company
- An artificial Spider, which moves by Electricity
- To make a Person tired, or sweat, at carrying a small Stick out of a Room. A good Subject for a Wager
- To make a Colour that will appear or disappear by Means of the Air
- To change the colour of a Rose. A curious secret
- To make a Calf 's Head bellow as if alive, when dressed and served up
- How to make Sport with a Cat
- A Conceit to procure Laughter
- To render hideous the faces of all the company
- Curious way to kill Rats
- To catch Kites, Crows, Magpies, &c. alive
- The Divining Rod. A curious Philosophical Secret from Albert the Little
- To cut a Glass, a famous Invention
- How to turn a Box of Bird-seed into a living Bird
- How to kill any Fowl, but especially a Pullet, and with Words to give it Life again
- The oracular Letters
- Imitative Illuminations
- The Book of Fate
- Of Magical Lights, Lamps, Candles, &c
- To cause a person to believe that you can make appear to another, shut up in a room by himself, any thing that the former chooses
- Method of speedily delineating all sorts of plants and flowers
- The Magic Picture
- The Changeable Picture
- White Ink, for writing on Black Paper
- Of Sympathetic Inks, and some tricks which may be performed by means of them
- To make a drawing, which shall alternately represent Winter and Summer
- The Magic Oracle
- Of Metallic Vegetation
- To make a flash, like that of lightning, appear in a room when any one enters it with a lighted candle
- Non-metallic Vegetation
- The Magician's Mirrors
- Prince Rupurt's Drop
- The revivified Rose
- A Clock to go perpetually by the influence of the celestial bodies
1st edition 1795, 146 pages; PDF 119 pages.
word count: 61277 which is equivalent to 245 standard pages of text
