Done
Chicago, IL, United States
Auction Details
The Ricky Jay Collection Part II
Potter & Potter Auctions
Unusual relics were the hallmark of Ricky Jay's storied collection. This second auction from his archives features an astonishing array of the fantastic, the funny, and the flabbergasting. From posters featuring frog-swallowing vaudevillians to caches of rare correspondence; from the first published treatise on ventriloquism to magic props manipulated by a Scottish greengrocer, this sale offers a range of curiosities many of which have never before come to market.
Auction Curator:

Gabe Fajuri
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![[CONTORTIONIST] PASTOR, Andreas. Etching of Posture Master ...](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048798_1_x.jpg?height=300&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[ACROBATS] Exercises Par La Troupe Des Kabiles. French, ca....: [ACROBATS] Exercises Par La Troupe Des Kabiles. French, ca. 1860 [?]. Handsome half-sheet monochrome lithograph pictures a host of vignettes in which the Asian troupe of acrobats are captured in all](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048728_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[ACROBATS] The Labors of Hercules. [Leiden: Pieter Van der ...: [ACROBATS] The Labors of Hercules. [Leiden: Pieter Van der Aa, 1722]. Finely detailed etching from the Thesaurus Antiquitatum depicts a troupe of twenty-two acrobats on an elevated stage in Venice,](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048729_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[ACROBATICS]. Woodcut of a daring somersault over soldiers ...: [ACROBATICS] Woodcut of a daring somersault over soldiers in uniforms with rifles and bayonets. French[?], ca. 18th/19th century. Woodcut on wove paper, depicting a major springing from a platform](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048730_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)

![[ALBINOS] The Wonderful Albino Family. Two Prints. New York...: [ALBINOS] The Wonderful Albino Family. Two Prints. New York: Currier & Ives, 1870. Two hand-tinted engravings by the famous American engravers depicting the three members of the Lucaise family,](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048732_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[TRICK CYCLISTS] ALDENS, The (Charles and Richard). Scrapbo...: [TRICK CYCLISTS] ALDENS, The (Charles and Richard). SCRAPBOOKS OF THE ALDENS, TRICK CYCLISTS. Two matching color-covered folio-size albums filled with contracts, playbills, photographs, clippings,](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048733_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)

![[ANDERSON, John Henry] New Race of People Recently Discover...: [ANDERSON, John Henry] NEW RACE OF PEOPLE RECENTLY DISCOVERED IN THE CENTRE OF MEXICO, THE AZTEC CHILDREN. [London], 1853. Pictorial poster advertising personal appearances and a lecture on the](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048735_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[ANDERSON, John Henry] A Book Without a Name! Being a few F...: [ANDERSON, John Henry] A BOOK WITHOUT A NAME! BEING A FEW FACTS IN THE HISTORY OF A WANDERING WIZARD ROUND THE WORLD. Newcastle-Upon Tyne: Printed by M. Benson, No. 61, Side, 1864. Publisher’s](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048736_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[ANDERSON, John Henry] H[ingston], E.P. Biography of John H...: [ANDERSON, John Henry] H[ingston], E.P. BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN HENRY ANDERSON, THE GREAT WIZARD OF THE NORTH. England: Printed by John Tonks, New Street, Birmingham, 1868. Original brown cloth decorated](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048737_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[ANDERSON, John Henry] The Wizard of the North. Life Story ...: [ANDERSON, John Henry] THE WIZARD OF THE NORTH. LIFE STORY OF JOHN HENRY ANDERSON. [TYPED MANUSCRIPT]. Circa 1903. A 105pp., biography, typed rectos only, of the famed Scottish magician and actor who](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048738_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)

![ANDERSON, John Henry (1814 – 74). Address Delivered by Mr. ...: ANDERSON, John Henry (1814–74). ADDRESS DELIVERED BY MR. J.H. ANDERSON, (THE GREAT WIZARD OF THE NORTH). [London], ca. 1855. Letterpress broadside reproducing 96 lines of verse spoken by](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048740_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[AZTECS] [ANDERSON, John Henry] Aztec Lilliputians. A New R...: [AZTECS] [ANDERSON, John Henry] AZTEC LILLIPUTIANS. A NEW RACE OF PEOPLE. [Scotland], 1853. Pictorial letterpress broadside bearing a wood-engraved image of the Great Wizard of the North at the top,](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048741_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[AZTECS] [ANDERSON, John Henry] The Aztecs in Mexico in 150...: [AZTECS] [ANDERSON, John Henry] THE AZTECS IN MEXICO 1503. THE AZTECSIN THE HANOVER SQUARE ROOMS 1853. [London, 1853]. Color letterpress poster bears four engravings of the scenes in the life of the](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048742_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[AZTECS] The Aztecs. Bartola and Maximo. New York: Sarony &...: [AZTECS] THE AZTECS. BARTOLA AND MAXIMO. New York: Sarony & Major, ca. 1850. Matching lithographs with gilt floral frameworks bearing portraits of the Aztec Lilliputians, captioned with their](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048743_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[AZTECS] [MAXIMO AND BARTOLA (Maximo Valdez Nunez and Barto...: [AZTECS] [MAXIMO AND BARTOLA (Maximo Valdez Nunez and Bartola Velasquez)]. SMALL ARCHIVE OF THE AZTEC CHILDREN EPHEMERA INCLUDING HANDBILLS, TICKETS, AND CDVS. V.p., ca. 1850s–70s. Including:](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048744_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[ANIMAL EXHIBITIONS – ORANGUTAN]. Some Account of the Orang...: [ANIMAL EXHIBITIONS – ORANGUTAN] SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ORANG OUTANG, COLLECTED FROM THE BEST AUTHORITIES. Boston: J.H. & F.F. Farwell, 1844. Pictorial printed wrappers. 24pp. 12mo. Pamphlet,](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048745_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[CIRCUS – ANIMALS]. Two illustrated souvenir booklets on ci...: [CIRCUS – ANIMALS] TWO ILLUSTRATED SOUVENIR BOOKLETS ON CIRCUS ANIMALS AND CURIOSITIES. Including: TOOLE, T.R. Illustrated and Descriptive History of the Animals contained in Sanger’s](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048746_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![ATKINSON, Mrs. The Wonderful Mrs. Atkinson. [London: Thomas...: ATKINSON, Mrs. THE WONDERFUL MRS. ATKINSON. [London: Thomas Palser], ca. 1815. Delicately hand-colored etching after a drawing by George Moreland, being a full-length image of the pig-faced Irish](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048747_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[AUTOMATON] Sketch of a Cherub by an Automaton Artist. [Lon...: [AUTOMATON] SKETCH OF A CHERUB BY AN AUTOMATON ARTIST. [London, ca. 1820]. Delicately rendered drawing of a cherub holding the reigns of a small chariot in one hand and a whip in the other, while](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048748_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[AUTOMATA]. Four Automata Exhibition Handbills and Programs...: [AUTOMATA] FOUR AUTOMATA EXHIBITION HANDBILLS AND PROGRAMS. Including: Great Annual Exhibition of Automatic Puppets! under the direction of Prof. R.P. Dunn, A.M., the Great Ventriloquist, at Manning](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048749_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[AUTOMATA]. RICCHINI, Paolo. Su gli automi, de Signori padr...: [AUTOMATA] RICCHINI, Paolo. SU GLI AUTOMI, DE SIGNORI PADRE E FIGLIO DROZ, ELVETI E SU DUE RECENTISSIMI EFFALMATORI CHE ORA VIAGGIAR FANNOSI PER ITALIA. Voghera: Tipografia Sormani, 1828. Original](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048750_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
![[CHAPBOOKS] BACON, Roger. The Wonderful History of the Cele...: [CHAPBOOKS] BACON, Roger. THE WONDERFUL HISTORY OF THE CELEBRATED FRIAR BACON. London: Printed by W. Lewis, 1829. Publisher’s buff printed wrappers. Folding hand-colored frontispiece. Two](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/928/303723/162048751_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1695913542)
