Potter & Potter Auctions
Live Auction

Salon de Magie: The Klosterman Collection Part II

Sat, Mar 26, 2022 12:00PM EDT
Lot 281

Zanzic (Harry Robenstein?). The Great Zanzic. Zan-Zic?s Mas...

Estimate: $1,500 - $3,000

Bid Increments

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$30 $10
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$1,000 $100
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$10,000 $1,000
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Zanzic (Harry Robenstein?). The Great Zanzic. Zan-Zic?s Masterpiece. The Hindoo Mystery ?Voudoo?. Cincinnati: Donaldson Litho, ca. 1894. Horizontal poster depicting Zanzic?s magical transposition of a man between two Moorish pagodas suspended above the stage. 20 x 30?. Borders over-colored (one chip), spots in image restored. B+. Rare. Zanzic had a checkered career filled with mishaps and ill-fortune. David Goodsell, writing in M-U-M (May, 2018) recounted one sordid affair at the 1893 Chicago World?s Fair: ?Calling himself Slater, he opened an elaborate s?ance parlor. His unlikely partner was Billy Robinson, formerly Alexander Herrmann?s chief mechanic and the future famed Chung Ling Soo, the ?Marvelous Chinese Conjurer.? Robinson provided the creative means for hoodwinking a willing population, and Zanzic posed as the authentic, sincere spiritualist. The pair devised a number of excellent techniques for slate writing, voices from beyond, and ghostly images in darkened rooms. Their scam parlor came to a spectacular end suitable to Zanzic when they provided an opportunity for an older gentleman, a true believer, to have one hour with his materialized spirit wife. It was too much for the old fellow, who died of a heart attack. When they tried to dispose of the body by dumping him down the street they were caught and ?invited? to leave town posthaste.?