$26,000
[Houdini, Harry] Archive of Correspondence To Houdini From His First Manager, Martin Beck, Drawn From Houdini’s Files. Chicago, 1899 – 1902. Twenty-two pieces, comprising typed and a few handwritten letters and telegrams from Beck, as General Representative of Orpheum Circuit Theatres, to Harry Houdini. On Orpheum company letterhead, 4to (three trimmed to half page), and printed telegram notes. Laid down on contemporary stock paper, bearing a few penciled annotations by Houdini noting the date of correspondence and other minor details. With several postal notes and mailing covers addressed by Beck, mounted as associated. An important and expansive trove of correspondence from the man widely considered the most pivotal figure in catapulting Houdini’s career in vaudeville, especially by spotlighting the magician’s inchoate handcuffs escape act. Alive to his position as a power broker in the industry, the earliest letters reveal a stern manager quick to draw a hard line between himself and a rising performer like Houdini, vulnerable to developing what Beck called a “swelled head” in the midst of newfound success. Heads, he warns him, “we are cutting off every day.” Occasional scoldings aside, Beck moves to impart advice in ways that help Houdini on the road and abroad including negotiating higher booking fees for himself, avoiding paying unnecessary commissions to unsavory agents and theater managers, and timing his schedule for the best possible opportunity to “boom.” Later cor
Auctioneer:
Potter & Potter
Date:
2016-04-09
