BLITZ, SIGNOR (ANTONIO VAN ZANDT). FIVE PRODUCTION RETICULES. Circa 1830. Folding black cloth and paper production boxes/handbags (cataloged as ?reticules? by Martinka and its contemporaries) which could be spirited into a borrowed hat, then produced as part of a larger routine. Open dimensions 6 x 3 ? x 3 ??. With a paper label affixed to one reticule stating, ?Used by Signor Blitz / about 1830?. Well worn and used with silk ribbons mostly perished. An accomplished ventriloquist, juggler, and magician, Blitz (1810 ? 1877) was born in England, toured widely, and offered a program that frequently featured an ?opera? of trained canary birds. He was also an adept plate spinner, and dabbled in fortune telling. Among his most celebrated feats was the dangerous Bullet Catch. His autobiography, Fifty Years in the Magic Circle (Hartford, 1871) is considered a classic of the Victorian era. These reticules were most likely used later in Blitz?s career than the label states.