Blackstone, Harry (Henry Boughton). Harry Blackstone Sr. Financial Records, 1920—50. Massive career-spanning archive, housed in 13 large cartons and comprised of many thousands of pages of documents. Among them are hundreds of bundled weekly financial reports of the various engagements of Harry Blackstone Sr. and Company. These bundles, apparently untouched for half a century or more, include contracts, receipts, detailed payroll records, customs and immigration forms, box office statements, portage, manuscript notes, and others. Many contain Harry Blackstone’s manuscript initials, generally approving certain expenditures. Likely thousands of illustrated letterheads and mailing envelopes from hotels, cartage companies, railroads, and others, often used to scribble notes pertaining to various expenses. There are receipts for rabbits, canaries, poster printing, bill posting, travel arrangements, hotel rooms, stable and feed, advertising, props and tricks, as well as telegrams, sharing contracts detailing percentage splits, managers’ statements, Canadian revenue stamped documents, various Blackstone letterheads, receipts for costumes, horse-shoeing, hundreds of decorative letterheads (including many theater-related letterheads), and countless others. The archive provides deep insight into three decades of this extraordinary magician’s touring career through small towns and large cities in hundreds of locations in the United States and Canada. Condition varies, but most documents generally good. A significant, unique, and fascinating record of this great American magician, his business, his life, and his illusion show. SHOULD BE SEEN. The importance and rarity of an archive such as this cannot be overstated, as seldom do such substantial records from a significant show survive, most having been consigned to the dustbin not long after their creation. These records were among the many documents stored for Blackstone by George Hippisley in upstate New York.