Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) will lead a sale of magic books and memorabilia at Potter & Potter in Chicago with a $30,000-40,000 estimate.
 The Discoverie of Witchcraft is the first known magic book |
The work, an investigation into sorcery, features a section on common conjuring tricks used to fleece the public. This makes it the first recorded magic book.
It also presents witchcraft as illusory, a heretical notion at the time that led him to refrain from including the address of his publisher in the book. William Shakespeare would later use the work to flesh out the witches in Macbeth.
Copies are exceptionally rare, particularly in good condition.
The book auctions on May 31.
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