The legendary performer Ricky Jay amassed a collection of about 10,000 rare books, posters, and artwork about all things esoteric.
magic
Posted inPerformance
The Original Forger of Magic
No one was as successful at impersonation and forgery as William Ellsworth Robinson, nor has anyone failed as spectacularly.
Posted inBooks
A Series of Spells Conjured in Graphite and Watercolor
A Book of Staves by artist Jesse Bransford features painted charms inspired by Icelandic magic.
Posted inArt
How a Magician Preserved the Ephemera of Victorian Entertainment
The British Library exhibits selections from its archive on Victorian entertainment, all collected by the 19th-century magician Evanion.
Posted inArt
The Poisons, Potions, and Charms of Shakespeare’s Plays
Potions, poisons, and symbolic herbs are frequent plot devices in the plays of William Shakespeare, and reflect the medical knowledge of his time.
Posted inArt
An Indoor Forest Where a Massive Head Waits in the Water
The first sensation visitors to Anima at the Invisible Dog in Brooklyn experience is disorientation, as they walk through a dark tunnel made from scraps of wood that seem pulled together by a vortex.
Posted inArt
Debuting the Collection of Britain’s Mother of Modern Witchcraft
In 2013, a blue plaque, the historic marker of British heritage, was bestowed, for the first time, on the home of a witch.
Posted inArt
Wolf Teeth, Cradle Knives, and Other Early Modern Sleep Superstitions
Sleep for early modern Europeans was a time to be wary of demons and other dangers of the night.
Posted inIn Brief
Abracadabra! Republicans Want to Designate Magic a “Rare and Valuable Art Form”
You may not believe in magic, but it has touched the souls of a number of Republicans, who are now calling for the nation to officially recognize it “as a rare and valuable art form and national treasure.”
Posted inArt
Recreating the Magic Circle of a Surrealist Seriously into the Occult
Dressed in a crisp tuxedo, Swiss artist Kurt Seligmann stepped into a chalk circle lined with the names of archangels on the wood floor of his Manhattan apartment.
Posted inArt
Secret Skulls Found in a Victorian Painting of a 16th-Century Magician
A ring of human skulls originally circled 16th-century magician John Dee in a painting by the English artist Henry Gillard Glindoni.
Posted inArt
Reassembling the Lost Library of a 16th-Century Magician Who Spoke to Angels
Scholar, Courtier, Magician: The Lost Library of John Dee opens today at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in London.