The name of Jacob Bruce, a remarkable encyclopedist, turned out to be practically erased from Russian history. The reason for this is folk legends, which formed in the minds of people the image of a magician and sorcerer, sorcerer and warlock. And although these legends were not confirmed by biographical facts and did not correspond to the nature of the scientist’s activities, they became more and more numerous. Why did this happen? And why did Jacob Bruce become the most legendary person in Russia? The author of the book, A.N. Filimon, tried to answer these and other questions.