Repertorio di una compagnia della commedia dell’arte (Repertoire of a Commedia dell’arte company)

The volume shown here is an extremely rare example of a late 16th-century Italian blow-book, a device used by magicians that was first mentioned in 1550 as a trick in which “conjurors show different and always unlike pictures in one and the same book.” The blow-book is constructed in such a way that with the right technique—often accompanied by a theatrical blowing on the book’s pages—the trickster is able to flip through the volume to reveal different sets of images and create the illusion that the illustrations within the book have completely changed. He might first display devils, like those shown here, and then page through again to reveal only scenes of lovers or images of jousting, both of which are also present in this book.