$2,400
Powell, Frederick Eugene. Important Archive of Hundreds of Letters. 1910s—30s. A trove of several hundred letters, many of them multiple pages long (the longest spanning 20 pages) and providing valuable context for events in Powell’s life and magic as well as many of his contemporaries, including TLSs and ALSs to and/or from John Fleming, John Dittmar, Oscar Teale, Leroy McCafferty, Adolphe Blind, W.W. Durbin, Ottokar Fischer, Dorny, Thomas H. Kerr, William Stevens Cannon, Bernard Ernst, Robert Kudarz, A.M. Wilson, Adrian Plate, Robert Spice, and miscellaneous others including his mother, hospital and sanitarium administrators in care of his wife, magazine editors, vaudeville, Chautauqua, and theatrical managers, and church and school organizations. A majority share of the letters being from Fleming (1920s) and concerning efforts to secure contracts for Powell on the Chautauqua circuit and for other engagements, with detailed discussions of the magic show including specific changes to elements of the performance, promotion and advertising, assistants, payments, and travel arrangements. A separate file from various correspondents includes lengthy descriptions of magical effects and their methods, some accompanied by drawings and sketches, plus fascinating criticism and gossip regarding magicians of the period, one writer (Dittmar) relaying an anecdote in which Houdini was said to have crept into a rival’s studio and stolen escape illusion construction plans, and another scathi
Auctioneer:
Potter & Potter
Date:
2017-06-10
