Inclined Toward Magic: Encounters With Books, Collectors, and Conjurors

by David Meyer

Imagine... ...owning a book printed in 1584 and having a fellow collector declare, sight unseen, that it is a "bastard" copy. ...finding stacks of dusty pamphlets written by the magician Harry Houdini. Decades after their publication in 1924 they are still selling for their original price of one dollar. Then one day in 1990 a copy turns up in an auction gallery in New York and sells for seven hundred dollars. ...negotiating the purchase of a world-class collection of rare books and learning that the owner in England has decided to sell them to a neighor, who packs the books into the trunk of his car and takes them to his castle. Several years later the collection turns up in Kansas! These are just three of the fascinating accounts appearing in INCLINED TOWARD Encounters with Books, Collectors and Conjurors, the second and final volume of book-collecting adventures by David Meyer. The companion volume, identical in size and format to MEMOIRS OF A BOOK Forty Years of Seeking and Saving Old Books, which Larry McMurtry called "a charming, persuasive, and accurate account of what a book scout does." "In a highly readable, conversational style, Meyer recounts each 'find' as a first-class adventure." -- Publishers Weekly.

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Roger Woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short book by David Meyer a published and collector of magic books. His stories about magicians and collectors are fascinating. I particularly liked his chapters on Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, Dr Trevor Hall (I had some correspondence with Dr Hall in the 1970s) and Frances Marshall.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the person interested in books and book collecting, this memoir has less to offer than its precursor: Memoirs of a Book Snake. Nonetheless, there is a lot to enjoy here and the connection Meyer draws between the magic he finds in books and magic, more generally, is well-put and aptly rendered. I would have liked more description of his own collection, but this is a quibble that speaks to my own interests and reflects less upon the book itself. I would more highly recommend the first of Meyer's volumes, but the two make handsome companion pieces on a bookshelf, designed to mimic one another.