Magic 1400s-1950s

Magic has captivated humankind for millennia. Whether invoking spirits, reading minds, or inverting the laws of nature, the magicianrsquo;s hand has evoked terror, laughter, shock, and amazement. Long before science fiction, virtual realities, video games, and the Internet, magic was the ultimate world of fantasy and possibility.This book celebrates more than 500 years of the visual culture of magic. Through vintage posters, photographs, handbills, and engravings as well as paintings by the likes of Hieronymus Bosch and Caravaggio, it traces the history and representation of magic as a performing art, from medieval street performers to masters of 20th-century vaudeville.