Houdini and Thurston Perform Well at Magicana Auction

Potter & Potter's Late Summer Magicana Auction realized nearly $425,000 with a 99% sell through rate. Sale highlights included Thurston the World’s Greatest Magician. The Lady and the Lion. Estimated at $10,000-15,000 and eventually making $43,200, this one-sheet poster depicted three illusions from early in Thurston’s career.  It was published by the Strobridge Litho. Co. in 1909. 

Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin's Memoirs of Robert-Houdin was estimated at $6,000-8,000 and sold for $31,200. This first English edition in two volumes was published in London by Chapman and Hall in 1859. It was inscribed by Houdini to his confidant and lawyer, Bernard M.L. Ernst. Volume 2 was also signed by Houdini on the flyleaf.

An Okito & Polising theatrical contract dated August 24, 1903, was estimated at $400-800 and made $3,600. It dictated the terms of an appearance for the act to be paid £25 per week, for one performance each evening, for a span of one week. An amendment made in ink in the right margin extends the contract for an additional week. Okito wrote extensively about this short-lived act in the memoir portion of his book, Okito on Magic.