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.

Poster Highlights from the Ricky Jay Collection

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
Book Highlights from the Ricky Jay Collection

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

Stay informed with Sotheby’s top stories, videos, events & news.

Receive the best from Sotheby’s delivered to your inbox.

By subscribing you are agreeing to Sotheby’s Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe from Sotheby’s emails at any time by clicking the “Manage your Subscriptions” link in any of your emails.

Sell with Sotheby's

Sell with Sotheby's

Curious to know if your item is suitable for one of our upcoming sales?

Provide information and share images to request an online estimate now.

Start Selling
arrow Created with Sketch. Back To Top