the blow book was published in French the same year by Jean Prévost. The blow book is mentioned in Hocus Pocus Junior, the earliest known collection of magic tricks in the English language, published in London in 1635. In this text the concept is called a "iugling booke" ("juggling book") or "booke for Waggery". It contains a complete description of how to prepare a blow book. The author suggests presenting the book by saying "this booke is not painted thus as some of you may suppose, but it is of such a property, that whosoever bloweth on it, it wil give the representation of whatsoever he is naturally addicted unto". He further mentions that in order for the trick to work, one must use a "bold and audacious countenance, for that must be the grace of all your trickes". Many of the tricks in the book feature the magician or an audience member blowing on the prop; this was a common fixture of the trade. The trick continues to appear in many books on magic through time, often with references to where to buy copies; in The Whole Art of Legerdemain of 1748 it's mentioned that "the blowing Books ... may have them at my Shop on little Tower-hill". None of these very early examples of blow books are known to exist today. The earliest surviving examples are a Belgian version from the 16th century, and French and Italian books from the second half of the 18th century. By the 19th century prices on printed materials had dropped so much that the trick was quite well known, and it was not uncommon for magicians of the period to hand them out after their performances. Quaker Oats even gave out a version in their cereal. The basic concept has never gone out of print for long, and modern examples remain widespread today, along with descriptions on how to make your own. Modern versions are typically in the form of children's coloring books and remain popular, even appearing on The Wiggles. The mechanical resemblance of the blow book to the early animation concept known as a flip book has been a subject of some consideration in animation circles. Whether the blow book inspired the flip book remains an unanswered question. Description The most basic version of the blow book is based on alternating pages being different widths. The book is assembled by