Potter & Potter Auctions
Live Auction

The Magic Collection of Jim Rawlins

Fri, Jan 25, 2019 10:30PM EST
Lot 423

Houdini Bradford Palace Challenge Program.

Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$30 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $200
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000
Houdini, Harry (Ehrich Weisz). Houdini Bradford Palace Challenge Program. Bradford: Berry & Co., 1901. Oversize tri-fold theatre program with two full-panel advertisements for the upcoming appearance of Houdini. Each bearing a separate portrait of the ?King of Handcuffs,? the balance of the pages filled with a lengthy and fascinating $5,000 challenge posed by Houdini to ?so-called Fake Exposures and Mediocre Magicians, who claim to do my act because they possess a lot of false keys and springs.? Each panel 5 1/8 x 11?. Wear and chips at folds, but overall very good. Rare. The terms of Houdini?s challenge to other escape artists are as strenuous as they are fascinating; he specifies that ?each competitor is allows a physician and a mechanic? and that the challenger is to ?strip stark naked, be thoroughly searched, mouth sewed and sealed up, making it impossible to conceal keys, springs, or lick pickers??