[A Look into the Secrets of the Magical]

10 half-page woodcuts & many smaller illus. in the text. 6; 14 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo, orig. semi-stiff blue wrappers, title slips largely perished, new stitching. Osaka: Kashiwaraya Yozaemon 柏原屋與左衛門, [after 1742].




A so-called denjuhon 伝授本, or "teaching book" for magic tricks. Books of this type were published in the Edo period in two phases. The first phase began with the earliest denjuhon that has come to light, Shinsen gejutsu 神仙戯術 [Art of the Magical Performance], published in Kyoto in 1696. Over 200 editions of "teaching books" were subsequently published. The second phase began about 1800 and continued until the end of the Edo period. Most of the books in the second phase built on works already published previously (Kawai Masaru 河合勝 and Nagano Eishun 長野栄俊, Nihon kijutsu bunkashi 日本奇術文化史 [2017]). Our book belongs to the first phase of denjuhon publishing.


The background to the success of denjuhon like our book was the rise of an interest in magic in the Edo period. Initially, with the advent of peace in the early 17th century, magic tricks were presented by street performers who also staged other feats, such as juggling. Professional magicians appeared over time, but in the beginning there was not a clear separation between Kabuki theater and magic, as magicians were often Kabuki actors as well. The denjuhon were directed not at this group of professional or semi-professional magicians but at amateurs who sought to imitate their tricks and readers who were simply curious to learn more about the marvelous and mysterious. The mid-Edo period saw a rise in curiosity in unexplained phenomena, and many denjuhon explained these as much as they explained magic tricks stricto sensu (Hīrōuddo shuppan ヒーローウッド出版, "Nihonshi kara mieru majikku bunka (zenpen)" 日本史から見るマジック文化（前編), online).


Our book is richly illustrated. We see a levitating lit candle, a string puppet, and tricks involving pieces of string, among other things.


Our edition does not carry a date, but other copies are dated 1742.


Very good set.