$3,400
Duke Tricks with Cards trade cards. New York: The Giles Company Lithographers, ca. 1887. Complete set of 24 numbered cards. Attractively lithographed fronts, methods for each effect described on versos of different cards. Several with rounded corners or light wear, but overall very good condition. Rare. Originally packaged with Duke’s Honest Long Cut tobacco, the Tricks with Cards Series is one of the scarcest sets of similar trade cards packaged with Duke’s popular tobacco products. Burton Sperber considered the complete set one of the gems of his collection, as it took him over a decade to complete it – one card at a time, and well before the Internet age. The tricks explained are unusually advanced in method and presentation (including the Card Sword) especially when compared to the beginner-level tricks described on other cards of the era. One of Sperber’s A Real Miracle publications was devoted exclusively to the Duke Tricks with Cards series.
Auctioneer:
Potter & Potter
Date:
2014-02-08
