The Magic Spyglass

By Joaquim Manuel de Macedo

Born physically and morally nearsighted, Simpl cio can neither trust his eyes nor form an opinion of his own. When a mysterious Armenian crafts a magical spyglass for him, its first lens exposes evil everywhere: affection curdles into self-interest, virtue into calculation, and public life into theater. A second lens reverses the enchantment, transforming every fault into goodness and every danger into an excuse. Yet neither absolute suspicion nor indiscriminate charity can teach him how to judge.

First published in Rio de Janeiro in 1869, The Magic Spyglass is Joaquim Manuel de Macedo's ingenious blend of social comedy, philosophical fable, and fantastic satire. Across family quarrels, political ambitions, romantic hopes, professional vanities, and the bustle of imperial Brazil, Macedo turns supernatural vision into a searching question: does seeing more clearly make us wiser-or merely more certain?

This new English edition preserves the complete structure of A Luneta M gica. By turns playful, ironic, and unexpectedly modern, the novel reveals a writer whose comedy of distorted perception speaks directly to an age of instant judgments and borrowed opinions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HMMQM5HM
• ISBN13: 9798177880419
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"