60 pp. Bumping to corners of card wraps. Althought the title indicates that the preface is by Eco, the Prefazione is by Attilio Alto, and the Introduzione is by Umberto Eco. The book is inscribed on the ffep by Morris N. Young, who was responsible for assembling the collection. Young collected sheet music, which was donated to the University of Illinois at Urbana. Along with John J. McManus, Hanna M. McManus, and Chesley V. Young he collected publications relating to magic and magic apparatus that were given to the Library of Congress that ''preserved the memory of western magic as a legacy to inform the mind and perpetuate an ancient art.'' This collection, the Library of Memory, of books on memory and mnemonics is described by Umberto Eco as he saw it taking over two apartments near Washington Square in New York: ''Nel soggiorno della Fifth Avenue si potevano sfogliare le opere di maggior pregio, ma il grosso della collezione faceva assomigliare l’altro appartamento alla Biblioteca di Babele di Borges.'' Young is the author of numerous books including Houdini's Fabulous Magic, Houdini on Magic, Bibliography of Memory, How to Remember Faster and Remember More, and How to Develop an Exceptional Memory. The Schede a cura di Paolo Pampaloni in this volume catalogs 197 items comprising the oldest items in the collection and includes 16 illustrations. On front cover is shown a woodcut from Niccolo Peranzone's Opusculum pucherrimum de memoriae naturalis reparatione, Ancona, 1518.