Matthias Buchinger - ´The Greatest German Living´

Matthias Buchinger (1674–1739) performed on more than a half-dozen musical instruments, some of his own invention. He exhibited trick shots with pistols, swords and bowling. He danced the hornpipe and deceived audiences with his skill in magic. He was a remarkable calligrapher specializing in micrography – handsome, precise letters almost impossible to view with the naked eye – and he drew portraits, coats of arms, landscapes and family trees, many commissioned by royalty. Amazingly, Buchinger was just 29 inches tall, and born without legs or arms. This book is a cabinet containing a single, multifaceted wonder, refracted through author Ricky Jay’s scholarship and storytelling.