Schenckelius Detectus, Seu, Memoria Artificialis Hactenus Occultata Ac A Multis Quam Diu Desiderata: Nunc Primum In Gratiam Optimarum Artium, Ac Sapientiae Studiosorum Luce Donata (Memory). (Schenckel, Lambert Thomas). PaËPp, Jan Magic, Occult, & Pseudo-Science

140 x 82 mm. (5 1/2 x 3 1/4"). 208, 213, 210, 211, 216-17 pp. (pagination erratic but text complete). Contemporary calf, rebacked to style, raised bands with gilt Greek key roll, gilt lettering, marbled endpapers. Front pastedown with bookplate of Bernard Zufall; verso of title page with red ink "Duplicate" stamp of his library. Yates, "The Art of Memory" (1966), pp. 300-302. ◆Calf marked and rubbed, corners very worn, leaves a shade less than bright, but a perfectly decent copy, clean and fresh internally, and in a sound, unassuming binding. This guide to creating "artificial memories" (i.e., mnemonic devices) is based on the work of Dutch memory teacher Lambert Schenkel (1547 - ca. 1603), whose feats of recollection were so formidable that he was declared a sorcerer. Here, Schenkel's disciple Paëpp (d. ca. 1613) has revised and abridged the master's 1609 "Gazophylacium Artis Memoriae." In the process, he "detects Schenkel," revealing the simple mnemonic tricks that seemed, in Schenkel's hands, like magical powers. Paëpp authored other similar--and similarly obscure--mnemonic works that are sought after, bringing substantial prices at auction, both because of content and scarcity. Our copy comes from the library of magician and memory expert Bernard Zufall (1894-1971), known as the "Human Encyclopedia." Zufall amassed the largest known collection of books on mnemonics, in excess of 1,000 titles, which (except for duplicates like the present volumes) he donated to Yale University.