$5,500
Thurston, Howard. Thurston Master Magician. Million Dollar Mystery.Cleveland: Otis Litho, ca. 1920. Magnificent and lively image depicts Thurston’s performance of the illusion invented by Walter Ceretta Jeans in which an endless production is made from a small box placed at center stage, well away from the scenery and curtains. Balloons, ducks, skeletons, and a live woman spring forth from the tiny box. 27 1/4 x 40 3/4". Remargined, old tears expertly repaired; B+. Scarce. While certainly a fantastical and imaginative representation of the actual illusion Thurston performed, this poster does, in some ways, accurately represent what the audience saw from its seats. The technology developed by Jeans allowed virtually any object to appear in a tiny box placed at center stage in a totally impossible and confounding manner, deceptive even to those who knew the secret.
Auctioneer:
Potter & Potter
Date:
2016-06-25
