A shackled Harry Houdini is seen as ‘The Famous Jail Breaker’ on a New Year postcard, bearing English and German text, that he sent in 1907 to a Russian hotel operator in Odessa. It was sold by Potter & Potter for $3400 (£2720).
Dating from c.1908, a “notebook of secrets from Harry Houdini’s collection” was one of the more successful lots in a very successful magic auction held by Potter & Potter (20% buyer’s premium), one that ended on May 2 with 98% of lots sold and total of around $500,000.
That notebook was filled with notes, diagrams, and descriptions of magic tricks and apparatus in two different hands. It sold well at $9000 (£7200) – but though bearing a later, 1923 signature in Houdini’s hand, the notebook itself was not actually his work, said the saleroom.