The Ricky Jay Collection

Live Auction: 27 & 28 October 2021 • 10:00 AM EDT & 2:00 PM EDT • New York

The Ricky Jay Collection 27–28 October 2021 • 10:00 AM EDT • New York

M agician, actor, scholar, author: the range of Ricky Jay’s accomplishments were as varied as are the formats and subjects of the material in his celebrated Collection: books, pamphlets, posters, handbills, broadsides, prints, ephemera, objects, and apparatus documenting the histories of magic, circuses, jugglers and acrobats, automatons, remarkable characters, learned animals, limb-deficient artists, con men, and scores of other related, if arcane, topics. Featuring characters of the greatest celebrity to the utmost obscurity, The Ricky Jay Collection will offer an astonishing variety of material in a sale that is truly without precedent.

View Print Catalogue: The Ricky Jay Collection

Poster Highlights from the Ricky Jay Collection

Houdini, Harry (Erik Weisz) | The most famous, dangerous, and dramatic of all of Houdini's escapes

Houdini, Harry (Erik Weisz) | The most famous, dangerous, and dramatic of all of Houdini's escapes

Estimate: 40,000 – 60,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

Houdini, Harry (Erik Weisz) | Houdini again encounters the German police

Houdini, Harry (Erik Weisz) | Houdini again encounters the German police

Estimate: 25,000 – 35,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

Malini, Max (Max Katz Breit) | One of just two surviving copies of this poster

Malini, Max (Max Katz Breit) | One of just two surviving copies of this poster

Estimate: 15,000 – 20,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

Comedians De Mephisto Co. | The Monarchs of Magic

Comedians De Mephisto Co. | The Monarchs of Magic

Estimate: 15,000 – 18,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

Chung Ling Soo (William Ellsworth Robinson) | A gift from the Gods

Chung Ling Soo (William Ellsworth Robinson) | A gift from the Gods

Estimate: 18,000 – 25,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

Miss Undina | A Houdini imitator—and near homophone

Miss Undina | A Houdini imitator—and near homophone

Estimate: 15,000 – 20,000 USD

Estimate: 15,000 – 20,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

Steve Martin on Ricky Jay

No Image Available

(Buchinger, Matthias) | The "most iconic of all Buchinger images"

Estimate: 7,000 – 10,000 USD

The most iconic of all Buchinger images

A scarce sepia-ink example of the "most iconic of all Buchinger images". Buchinger is depicted standing on an embroidered cushion, surrounded by an intricate scrollwork border, with a lengthy descriptive caption at the bottom of the sheet:

"He is the wonderful Little Man of but 29. Inches high, born without Hands, Feet, or Thighs, June the 2. 1674. in Germany, … This little Man performs such Wonders as have never been done by any; but Himself.”

View Lot

Broadside Highlights from the Ricky Jay Collection

(Learned Animals, Horses) | An early playbill advertising an accomplished horse

(Learned Animals, Horses) | An early playbill advertising an accomplished horse

Estimate: 8,000 – 10,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

(Circus, American) | An early broadside advertising an exotic menagerie of animals

(Circus, American) | An early broadside advertising an exotic menagerie of animals

Estimate: 4,000 – 6,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

Stadelmann, Pietro | A scarce record of an armless dulcimer player

Stadelmann, Pietro | A scarce record of an armless dulcimer player

Estimate: 4,000 – 6,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

Barnum, P. T. | "Three Dozen Reasons Among Thirty-Six Thousand" to visit Barnum's fair

Barnum, P. T. | "Three Dozen Reasons Among Thirty-Six Thousand" to visit Barnum's fair

Estimate: 3,000 – 5,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

(Strong Women, Germany) | An anchor balancing act from two unnamed strongwomen

(Strong Women, Germany) | An anchor balancing act from two unnamed strongwomen

Estimate: 1,500 – 2,500 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

Herrmann, [Carl] | "The Premier Prestidigitateur of France"

Herrmann, [Carl] | "The Premier Prestidigitateur of France"

Estimate: 1,500 – 2,500 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

David Mamet on Ricky Jay

Book Highlights from the Ricky Jay Collection

"Remarkable Persons" | A remarkable collection of remarkable characters

"Remarkable Persons" | A remarkable collection of remarkable characters

Estimate: 100,000 – 150,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

Scot, Reginald | A serious debunking witchcraft and demonology

Scot, Reginald | A serious debunking witchcraft and demonology

Estimate: 50,000 – 70,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

(BLOW BOOKS) | Now you see them ….

(BLOW BOOKS) | Now you see them ….

Estimate: 25,000 – 35,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

Ady, Thomas | A far more serious approach to debunking witchcraft than the witch skit in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"

Ady, Thomas | A far more serious approach to debunking witchcraft than the witch skit in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"

Estimate: 15,000 – 25,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

(Hocus Pocus) | A bibliographically curious exemplar of a popular magic book

(Hocus Pocus) | A bibliographically curious exemplar of a popular magic book

Estimate: 12,000 – 18,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

Tuccaro, Arcangelo | Acrobatics

Tuccaro, Arcangelo | Acrobatics

Estimate: 12,000 – 18,000 USD

Estimate: 12,000 – 18,000 USD

The Ricky Jay Collection

27–28 October 2021 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York

View 1 of Lot 129: (Buchinger, Matthias) | Buchinger's own family tree

(Buchinger, Matthias) | Buchinger's own family tree

Estimate: 20,000 – 30,000 USD

Matthias Buchinger's own family tree

Buchinger's own family tree is one of his most attractive, demonstrating his incredible skill with a knife or scissors in addition to his calligraphy. This manuscript is also in the finest possible state of preservation, as fresh as the day Buchinger set down his pen after completing it.

View Lot

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