$3,500
Wood, Will. Wood's Great Sensation Edna. Newport, Donaldson Litho Co., ca. 1900. One-sheet (27 ¾ x 41 ½") color lithographed poster depicting a fiery scene from Wood's show replete with a devil, lightning, the magician dressed in tails, and a gorgeous girl. Some wear and chips in margins not affecting image. Linen backed. Good condition. Scarce. Edna was a levitation illusion invented by Wood, which he patented in 1889. Kellar and Alexander Herrmann featured the illusion, but only Kellar paid Wood for the rights to use it. In 1908, while touring Mexico, Wood and his daughter Bertha perished when the tugboat they were riding sank off the coast of the Yucatan. Though the tugboat's crew survived and Wood's props and trunks eventually washed ashore (along with many of his lithographs), the $14,000 in cash he had been carrying was never recovered, prompting an investigation into his death. According to magic historian David Price, Jr. "Edna Wood was informed by the American consul that a member of the crew told the awful story of Wood begging the crew not to leave him and Bertha to drown. At the end, he begged only for his daughter's life, but his plea was not heeded by the crew members intent on saving their own skins.
Auctioneer:
Potter & Potter
Date:
2011-03-26
