A beautifully illustrated, imaginatively designed book is packaged here with several unusual "eye magic" items. This fascinating set explores the subject of visual illusions in art and technology. The book shows and discusses many examples of trompe l'oeil (fool-the-eye) artworks, including a famous eighteenth-century painting by British artist William Hogarth, paintings by French pointillist artists Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, and examples from the American Op Art movement that flourished in the 1960s. Also presented are examples of moir� patterns—optical effects produced when two sets of lines or grids overlap. Much of the psychedelic poster art of a few decades ago took advantage of the effects of moir� patterns and wildly contrasting color schemes. But Eye Magic is more than an ordinary art book. One of its extra-thick covers is really a specially designed drawer containing several "eye magic" items. They include—

• A flip book showing horses that appear to leap when the pages are riffled
• A zoetrope drum that comes with three zoetrope picture strips
• A mylar sheet to produce a 3D illusion in anamorphic illustrations
• Two moir�-pattern acetate sheets printed with black grids
  
  For the uninitiated, the zoetrope—originally devised in the nineteenth century—is a forerunner of motion pictures. It consists of a revolving cylinder with a series of illustrations on its inside surface and evenly spaced viewing slots around its circumference. When viewers spin the cylinder and peer through the slots, they see a picture of a single object—now in motion. This book with its boxed "eye magic" items will appeal both to art lovers and to general readers who are fascinated by optical illusions. Eye Magic makes a fascinating and unusual addition to anyone's personal art book collection, as well as a truly imaginative gift item.