The World's Oldest Magic Book
You can thank Lucy McDonald for this very interesting article on the worlds oldest book of magic. Recently translated, it provides insight into the thinking of da Vinci and his friends..
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AFTER lying almost untouched in the vaults of an Italian university for 500 years, a book on the magic arts written by Leonardo da Vinci's best friend and teacher has been translated into English for the first time.
The world's oldest magic text, De viribus quantitatis (On the Powers of Numbers), was penned by Luca Pacioli, a Franciscan monk who shared lodgings with da Vinci.
It was written in Italian by Pacioli between 1496 and 1508 and contains the first ever reference to card tricks as well as guidance on how to juggle, eat fire and make coins dance. It is also the first work to note that da Vinci was left-handed.
Although the book has been described as the "foundation of modern magic and numerical puzzles", it was not published and has languished in the archives of the University of Bologna, seen only by a small number of scholars since the Middle Ages.
The transcription has taken eight years, involved several translators and cost thousands of euros. William Kalush, a magician and the founder of the Conjuring Arts Research Centre in New York, who financed the project, said: "This book is the first major manual that is primarily concerned with teaching how to perform magic.
"Sources of magic methods go back at least to the first century, but this book teaches not only the methods but also gives a glimpse into how one might perform them with an eye to entertaining an audience."
The book was rediscovered after David Singmaster, a mathematician, came across a reference to it in a 19th-century manuscript. "It's the foundation not only of modern magic but of numerical puzzles, too," he said.
Tricks in the magic text include how to write a sentence on the petals of a rose, wash your hands in molten lead, and make an egg walk across a table ("commoners will consider it a miracle"). The book contains some of the first known European examples of numerical puzzles, which are similar to those printed in today's newspapers, such as Sudoku.
There is also a diagram of a moving piece puzzle which was the medieval version of the Rubik's cube.
Experts believe the book will give a greater understanding of magical history as well as insights into da Vinci's life and work. Carlo Pedretti, a leading art historian, studied the original Italian text in Bologna in 1954. He said: "It's a very important document. It shows how much da Vinci liked games and tricks - but only if they had scientific foundations."
Pacioli was born in Tuscany in 1445 and was a travelling mathematics tutor. He is often called the father of modern accountancy because his book The Summa (1494) contains the first published description of double-entry book-keeping, accountancy's basic technique.
He lived with da Vinci in Milan from 1496 for several years and taught maths and geometry to the painter, scientist and inventor. They collaborated on many projects.
In the magic book, Pacioli explains a technique for writing in code, which may have been inspired by da Vinci, whose left-handedness meant he sometimes wrote backwards, making the words decipherable only with the use of a mirror.
No originality attaches to this work and Pacioli himself called it a compendium.
Although da Vinci was a polymath interested in everything from art to anatomy, and Pacioli was a man obsessed with figures and logic, some believe both were enchanted by the magic of numbers.
The magic book was written at a time when people were burnt at the stake for witchcraft, and in the manuscript Pacioli seems to want to demystify trickery and to prove it was more about sleight of hand than supernatural powers.
Pacioli was born in Tuscany in 1445 and was a travelling mathematics tutor. He is often called the father of modern accountancy because his book The Summa (1494) contains the first published description of double-entry book-keeping, accountancy's basic technique.
He lived with da Vinci in Milan from 1496 for several years and taught maths and geometry to the painter, scientist and inventor. They collaborated on many projects.
In the magic book, Pacioli explains a technique for writing in code, which may have been inspired by da Vinci, whose left-handedness meant he sometimes wrote backwards, making the words decipherable only with the use of a mirror.
No originality attaches to this work and Pacioli himself called it a compendium.
Although da Vinci was a polymath interested in everything from art to anatomy, and Pacioli was a man obsessed with figures and logic, some believe both were enchanted by the magic of numbers.
The magic book was written at a time when people were burnt at the stake for witchcraft, and in the manuscript Pacioli seems to want to demystify trickery and to prove it was more about sleight of hand than supernatural powers.
Lucy McDonald in London | April 11, 2007
Guardian News & Media
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AFTER lying almost untouched in the vaults of an Italian university for 500 years, a book on the magic arts written by Leonardo da Vinci's best friend and teacher has been translated into English for the first time.
The world's oldest magic text, De viribus quantitatis (On the Powers of Numbers), was penned by Luca Pacioli, a Franciscan monk who shared lodgings with da Vinci.
It was written in Italian by Pacioli between 1496 and 1508 and contains the first ever reference to card tricks as well as guidance on how to juggle, eat fire and make coins dance. It is also the first work to note that da Vinci was left-handed.
Although the book has been described as the "foundation of modern magic and numerical puzzles", it was not published and has languished in the archives of the University of Bologna, seen only by a small number of scholars since the Middle Ages.
The transcription has taken eight years, involved several translators and cost thousands of euros. William Kalush, a magician and the founder of the Conjuring Arts Research Centre in New York, who financed the project, said: "This book is the first major manual that is primarily concerned with teaching how to perform magic.
"Sources of magic methods go back at least to the first century, but this book teaches not only the methods but also gives a glimpse into how one might perform them with an eye to entertaining an audience."
The book was rediscovered after David Singmaster, a mathematician, came across a reference to it in a 19th-century manuscript. "It's the foundation not only of modern magic but of numerical puzzles, too," he said.
Tricks in the magic text include how to write a sentence on the petals of a rose, wash your hands in molten lead, and make an egg walk across a table ("commoners will consider it a miracle"). The book contains some of the first known European examples of numerical puzzles, which are similar to those printed in today's newspapers, such as Sudoku.
There is also a diagram of a moving piece puzzle which was the medieval version of the Rubik's cube.
Experts believe the book will give a greater understanding of magical history as well as insights into da Vinci's life and work. Carlo Pedretti, a leading art historian, studied the original Italian text in Bologna in 1954. He said: "It's a very important document. It shows how much da Vinci liked games and tricks - but only if they had scientific foundations."
Pacioli was born in Tuscany in 1445 and was a travelling mathematics tutor. He is often called the father of modern accountancy because his book The Summa (1494) contains the first published description of double-entry book-keeping, accountancy's basic technique.
He lived with da Vinci in Milan from 1496 for several years and taught maths and geometry to the painter, scientist and inventor. They collaborated on many projects.
In the magic book, Pacioli explains a technique for writing in code, which may have been inspired by da Vinci, whose left-handedness meant he sometimes wrote backwards, making the words decipherable only with the use of a mirror.
No originality attaches to this work and Pacioli himself called it a compendium.
Although da Vinci was a polymath interested in everything from art to anatomy, and Pacioli was a man obsessed with figures and logic, some believe both were enchanted by the magic of numbers.
The magic book was written at a time when people were burnt at the stake for witchcraft, and in the manuscript Pacioli seems to want to demystify trickery and to prove it was more about sleight of hand than supernatural powers.
Pacioli was born in Tuscany in 1445 and was a travelling mathematics tutor. He is often called the father of modern accountancy because his book The Summa (1494) contains the first published description of double-entry book-keeping, accountancy's basic technique.
He lived with da Vinci in Milan from 1496 for several years and taught maths and geometry to the painter, scientist and inventor. They collaborated on many projects.
In the magic book, Pacioli explains a technique for writing in code, which may have been inspired by da Vinci, whose left-handedness meant he sometimes wrote backwards, making the words decipherable only with the use of a mirror.
No originality attaches to this work and Pacioli himself called it a compendium.
Although da Vinci was a polymath interested in everything from art to anatomy, and Pacioli was a man obsessed with figures and logic, some believe both were enchanted by the magic of numbers.
The magic book was written at a time when people were burnt at the stake for witchcraft, and in the manuscript Pacioli seems to want to demystify trickery and to prove it was more about sleight of hand than supernatural powers.
Lucy McDonald in London | April 11, 2007
Guardian News & Media
Labels: da Vinci, magic book, magic tricks
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