The conjurer unmasked : being a clear and full explanation of all the surprizing performances exhibited as well in this kingdom as on the continent by the most eminent and dexterous professors of slight of hand : together with the tricks of the divining rod, automaton chess-player, speaking figure, artificial serpents, mechanical birds, automaton flute player, vaulting figure, magical table, perpetual motion, &c., &c
The Conjurer Unmasked is a 1790 London conjuring manual, translated and expanded by Thomas Denton from Henri Decremps, that exposes the stage tricks of magicians for a general reading public. Its single picture is a copperplate-style engraving of a magician in a candlelit room, with playing cards and smoke puffs in the air, showing the dramatic staging of a card trick. A designer could take its dense crosshatched line work, the scatter of falling cards, and the theatrical composition of a figure framed by candelabra.
