1874, Bartolomeo Bosco, First Edition, Eleni Manousou, Palmistry, Magic Tricks

Ελένης Μανούσου

Τα Μυστήρια του Μπόσκου

και 

η Εξήγησις αυτών

Eleni Manousou

The Mysteries of Bosco and their Explanation

Published by Ai Mousai, Athens in 1874

First Edition

10 cm x 14 cm

224 pages

illustrated

Bartolomeo Bosco (1793 – 1863) was an Italian magician. He is considered one of the first representatives of “honest magic”, which at the beginning of the 19th century saw the art of magic turn away from mystification and superstition towards the art of entertainment.  Bosco’s name will forever be associated with the famous cup game, in which small balls of nutmeg move back and forth from one cup to another in an astonishing way because they are invisible – a sleight of hand that can be seen all over the world today in the form of the shell game, albeit with the subtle difference that these are clearly intended to deceive, but Bosco only wanted to deceive his audience for their amusement and thus entertain them. He performed in front of ordinary people in stalls, squares and streets as well as in theaters and on stages in front of a sophisticated audience and at court in front of princes, kings and emperors.