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).
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.
Another successful Houdini lot from the Chicago sale is featured above.
The sale ended on May 2.
