The Double Lift was published in Richard Neve's The Merry Companion, 1716, p. 141, where it is used to show the top card of the deck and then make it change. Other references to this sleight are rare until the twentieth century. Among the few, the technique is described three times in an unreleased notebook written circa 1800. Will Houstoun transcribed the book and released it as The Notebook, 2009, p. 27 and 43. The anonymous author describes the double being handled in end grip as well as in pinch grip (which also describes an unloading of the bottom card, see Double Lift Replacement).
See also: Hit Double Lift, Double Turnover and Double Lift from Center.