The Discoverie of Witchcraft

The first book in English to explain conjuring tricks, written to prove that 'witches' were ordinary people and their marvels were sleight of hand.

Reginald Scot, 1584 (1886 reprint) · Elliot Stock. Complete 692-page PDF, with the conjuring tricks explained in Book XIII. Free to download: check out at $0 and the file arrives by email and on your order page.

This classic is in the public domain. Scans come from library copies, so expect the odd stain or stamp of an old book.