Just Two Months Before His Death, Houdini Orders Rare Books on Magic and Spiritualism and Looks to Collect Autographs Relating to Magic
Anything connecting Houdini to the greats of his craft is uncommon
From the collection of Dr. Otto O. Fisher, who bought primarily in the 1930s and 1940s, so this not been offered for sale in nearly a century
A 19 year old Wisconsin native, Houdini’s first major booking was at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893, and thereafter he secured a regular...
From the collection of Dr. Otto O. Fisher, who bought primarily in the 1930s and 1940s, so this not been offered for sale in nearly a century
A 19 year old Wisconsin native, Houdini’s first major booking was at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893, and thereafter he secured a regular booking performing at Chicago’s first acknowledged vaudeville theater, Kohl and Middleton’s Museum. It was in Chicago that Houdini received the call to travel as part of the Orpheum Circuit, a series of major nationwide vaudeville houses. In time he worked his way up to being the highest paid and most popular vaudeville performer in the country. He went on to appear in London and Berlin, and tour the world.
In 1926, Houdini opened a one-man show on Broadway, simply entitled “Houdini”. Performing to record crowds and rave reviews, he then took the show on the road. His last performance in Chicago was at the Princess Theater in early April 1926.
Robert Lull ran a book shop in Newburyport, MA, in which he sold “Old, Rare, Curious and Out of Print Books, First Editions, Town Histories: Autographs and Manuscripts.” Houdini was interested in antiquities, as well as being a student of his craft and his predecessors.
Typed letter signed, on his letterhead, New York, August 12, 1926, to Robert W. Lull. “I will keep the book and some time when you have a perfect copy you can copy the five missing pages for me to make this one complete.
“I would like to have from your letter the following books:
3. Discourse on Saul and the Witch of Endor, or Ancient Spritualism, by Rev. R. Campbell, Newburyport. 1857 8vo. 16pp. 75 cents.
“N.E. Tragedies. In prose. The Coming of the Quakers, and the Witchcraft Delusion by RHS Allen, Boston, 1869. $1.50.
“Artimedorus’s Interpretation of Dreams. No title page and a few pages gone, loose in biding. This printed about 200 years ago. $2.50.
“Your autograph collection I am very interested in – theatricals, spritualists, magicians – and if you care to quote on same, I would be delighted to look them over.”
He adds a post-script: “Do you have any letters written to Serv. LeRoy? That’s interesting.”
Servais Le Roy was a Belgian magician, illusion designer and businessman. He is known for the act Le Roy, Talma and Bosco and as the inventor of the classic levitation illusion Asrah the Floating Princess.
Two months after writing this letter, Houdini would die from complications relating to trauma to his abdomen. This is one of the latest letters Houdini wrote to reach the market. It comes from the noted autograph collection of Dr. Otto O. Fisher, who bought primarily in the 1930s and 1940s. It has not been offered for sale in nearly a century.
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