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Magie, oder, Die Zauberkräfte der Natur : so auf den Nutzen und die Belustigung angewandt worden

Halle, Johann Samuel, 1727-1810, Harry Houdini Collection (Library of Congress) · 1783 · Berlin : Bey Joachim Pauli, Buchhändler, 1783-1786. · 5 pictures

A late eighteenth-century German treatise on natural magic, written by Johann Samuel Halle and published in Berlin by Joachim Pauli in 1783-1786, aimed at readers wanting entertaining natural experiments and scientific recreations. Its pictures are small, crisp engravings: a decorative rococo ornament of scrolls and foliage, a plain interior where a seated man and two standing figures watch a room with a wall-mounted animal head and drapery, and a bust-style oval portrait. A designer might borrow the scrolled rococo cartouche and the period interior's staging.

Early works to 1800 · Experiments · Science · Science and magic · Scientific recreations

Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division · No known copyright restrictions · More from this library