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HOCUS POCUS; OR THE WHOLE ART OF LEGERDEMAIN, IN PERFECTION. BY HENRY
DEAN.


[Illustration:

 Strange feats are herein taught by slight of hand,
 With which you may amuse yourself and friend,
 The like in print was never seen before,
 And so you’ll say when once you’ve read it o’er.
]




 HOCUS POCUS;
 OR THE WHOLE ART OF
 _LEGERDEMAIN_,
 IN PERFECTION.

 By which the meaneſt capacity may perform the
 whole without the help of a teacher.

 _Together with the Uſe of all the Inſtruments_
 _belonging thereto._

 TO WHICH IS NOW ADDED,
 Abundance of New and Rare Inventions.

 BY HENRY DEAN.

 _The ELEVENTH EDITION, with large_
 _Additions and Amendments._

 PHILADELPHIA:
 PRINTED FOR MATHEW CAREY, NO. 118,
 MARKET-STREET.

 1795.




THE PREFACE TO THE READER.


KIND READER,

Having _in my former_ book _of_ LEGERDEMAIN, _promiſed you farther
improvements, accordingly I have diſcovered herein to you the greateſt
and moſt wonderful ſecrets of this_ ART, _never written or publiſhed
by any man before: therefore I do not doubt but herein you will find
pleaſure to your full ſatisfaction; which is all my deſire_.

 HENRY DEAN.




The Whole ART of LEGERDEMAIN; OR, HOCUS POCUS IN PERFECTION, &c.


Legerdemain is an operation whereby one may seem to work wonderful,
impossible, and incredible things, by agility, nimbleness, and slight
of hand. The parts of this ingenious art, are principally four.

 First, In conveyance of balls.
 Secondly, In conveyance of money.
 Thirdly, In cards,
 Fourthly, In confederacy.


_A Description of the Operation._

1. He must be one of a bold and undaunted resolution, so as to set a
good face upon the matter.

2. He must have strange terms, and emphatical words, to grace and adorn
his actions; and the more to amaze and astonish the beholders.

3. And lastly, He must use such gestures of body, as may take off the
spectators eyes from a strict and diligent beholding his manner of
performance.


_How to pass the Balls through the Cups._

You must place yourself at the farther end of the table, and then you
must provide yourself three cups, made of tin, and then you must have
your black sticks of magic to shew your wonders withal; then you must
provide four small cork balls to play with; but do not let more than
three of them be seen upon the table.

Note. Always conceal one ball in the right hand, between your middle
finger and ring finger: and be sure make yourself perfect to hold it
there, for, by this means, all the tricks of the cups are done.

Then say as followeth.

 _Gentlemen, three cups—’tis true_
     _They are but tin, the reason why,_
 _Silver is something dear._
     _I’ll turn them in gold, if I live, &c._
 _No equivocation at all:_
     _But if your eyes are not as quick as my hands_
 _I shall deceive you all._
     _View them within,_
 _View them all round about,_
     _Where there is nothing in,_
 _There’s nothing can come out._

Then take your four balls privately between your fingers, and so sling
one of them upon the table, and say thus,

 _The first trick that e’er learn’d to do,_
 _Was, out of one ball to make it into two:_
 _Ah! since it cannot better be,_
 _One of these two, I’ll divide them into three,_
 _Which is call’d the first trick of dexterity._

So then you have three balls on the table to play with, and one left
between the fingers of your right hand.


_The Operation of the Cups is thus._

[Illustration]

Lay your three balls on the table, then say, Gentlemen, you see here
are three balls, and here are three cups, that is, a cup for each ball,
and a ball for each cup. Then, taking that ball that you had in your
right hand, (which you are always to keep private) and clapping it
under the first cup, then taking up one of the three balls, with your
right hand, seeming to put it into your left hand, but retain it still
in your right, shutting your left hand in due time, then say, _Presto,
be gone_.

[Illustration]

Then taking the second cup up, say, Gentlemen, you see there is nothing
under my cup; so clap the ball that you have in your right hand under
it, and then take the second ball up with your right hand, and seem to
put it into your left, but retain it in your right hand, shutting your
left in due time, as before, saying, _Verda, be gone_.

[Illustration]

Then take the third cup, saying, Gentlemen, you see there is nothing
under my last cup; then clapping the ball you have in your right hand
under it, then take the third ball up with your right hand, and seeming
to put it into your left hand, but retain it in your right; shutting
your left hand in due time, as before, saying, _Presto, make haste_; so
you have your three balls come under your three cups, as thus: and so
lay your three cups down on the table.

[Illustration]

Then with your right hand take up the first cup, and there clap that
ball under, that you have in your right hand; then saying, Gentlemen,
this being the first ball, I will put it into my pocket; but that you
must still keep in your hand to play withal.

[Illustration]

So take up the second cup with your right hand, and clap that ball you
have concealed under it, and then take up the second ball with your
right hand, and say, this likewise, I take and put into my pocket.

[Illustration]

Likewise, take up the third cup, and clapping the cup down again,
convey that ball you have in your right hand under the cup, then taking
the third ball, say, Gentlemen, this being the last ball, I take and
put this into my pocket. Afterwards say to the company, Gentlemen, by
a little of my fine powder of experience, I will command these balls
under the cups again. As thus,

[Illustration]

So lay them all along upon the table to the admiration of all the
beholders.

Then take up the first cup, and clap the ball you have in your right
hand under it, then taking the first ball up with your right hand, seem
to put the same into your left hand, but retain it still in your right,
then say, _Vade, quick be gone when I bid you, and run under the cup_.

[Illustration]

Then taking that cup up again, and flinging that you have in your
right hand under it, you must take up the second ball, and seem to
put it into your left hand, but retain it in your right hand, saying,
Gentlemen, see how the ball runs on the table.

So seemingly fling it away, and it will appear as thus.

[Illustration]

So taking the same cup again, then clapping the ball under again, as
before, then taking the third ball in your right hand, and seem to put
it under your left, but still retain it in your right, then with your
left hand seem to fling it in the cup, and it will appear thus; all the
three balls to be under one cup.

[Illustration]

And if you can perform these actions with the cups, you may change the
balls into apples pears, or plumbs, or to living birds, to what your
fancy leads you to. I would have given you more examples, but I think
these are sufficient for the ingenious, so that, by these means, you
may perform all manner of actions with the cups.

Note. The artificial cups cannot well be described by words, but you
may have them of me, for they are accounted the greatest secrets in
this art: therefore, I advise you to keep them as such, for this was
never known to the world before.


_How to shew the wonderful_ Magic Lanthorn.

This is the magic lanthorn that has made so much wonder in the world,
and that which Friar Bacon used to shew all his magical wonders withal.

This lanthorn is called magic, with respect to the formidable
apparitions that by virtue of light it shews upon the white wall of a
dark room. The body of it is generally made of tin, and of a shape of
the lamp; towards the back part, is a concave looking glass of metal,
which may either be spherical or parabolical, and which, by a grove
made in the bottom of the lanthorn, may either be advanced nearer or
put farther back from the lamp, in which is oil or spirit of wine, and
the match ought to be a little thick, that when it is lighted, it may
cast a good light that may easily reflect from the glass to the fore
part of the lanthorn, where there is an aperture with the perspective
in it, composed of two glasses that make the rays converge and magnify
the object.

When you mean to make use of this admirable machine, light the lamp,
the light of which will be much augmented by the looking glass at a
reasonable distance.