The book appears again in Hocus Pocus Junior, which was published in 1635 and is the first known magic book printed in English. This makes it the earliest known example of a magic prop being manufactured for sale. Scot realized the book would beyond the wit of most people to make themselves, so said “buie for a small value the like booke, at the shop of W. It had it’s hay day from the 16th to the 19th century (after the invention of the printing press which made the manufacture of the book possible) when variations of the theme were book publishers staple. This is one old trick! It was first described by Geronimo Cardano in his book De Sibtilate in 1550, then again (more famously) in The Discoverie Of Witchcraft in 1584 (“whew you everie leafe to be painted with birds, then with beasts, then with serpents, then with angels, etc”). It’s now mainly used by for children’s magic with audience participation from one or two kids. Another flip, and those black and white pictures are now in full color. After a brief magical gesture, they flip through it again, it’s filled with black and white images. The magician riffles through a book with blank pages. The Magic Coloring Book is a classic magic trick but there's no real sleight of hand.

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