Collect a Piece of Ricky Jay’s Extraordinary Collection

When it comes to the odd, unusual, and esoteric, no one had a more wondrous collection of it than Ricky Jay.

The collector/ sleight-of-hand magician/author/actor passed away in 2018 and had the first part of his estate auctioned off by Sotheby’s in October 2021. If you missed out on a chance to buy one of his treasures, or even see them on display at the auction house’s gallery in Manhattan, this February 25, you can make up for it. That’s when Chicago’s Potter & Potter Auctions is hosting the first of three more auctions to sell the remaining items from his 10,000-piece collection of magic, circus, and show business ephemera.

Among the highlights of the upcoming auction that could be yours:

• Lot #67, The Effigies of Mr. Matthew Buchinger, is estimated at $6,000-8,000. This self-portrait engraving of the famed personality was made in London and dated April 29th, 1724. It measures 12-¼ x 8”. Buchinger is pictured seated on a tasseled cushion, surrounded by fancy scrollwork. His wig is made up of the words of the Lord’s Prayer. Below, a text block lists his personal talents and accomplishments.

• Lot #80, The Complete Conjuror; Or, Art Of Legerdemain, is estimated at $1,500-2,500. It was published in London by Thomas Tegg in 1812. It features a hand-colored pictorial frontispiece of a conjurer on stage, firing a pistol over his head. This example is one of only a handful of this publication extant.

• Lot #185, Herrmann. Decapitation, is estimated at $20,000-40,000. This hand-painted poster maquette from c. 1878 was in printed in Chicago by The Jeffrey Printing Co. It measures 27-¾ x 20″ and depicts French magician Alexander Herrmann (1844 – 1896) holding a sharp tool and standing beside a horrified man. The man’s eyes bulge as the magician draws the steel across the victim’s neck, and blood visibly flows. This is the first Herrmann poster maquette Potter’s experts have handled, and one of a handful of maquettes extant for any poster produced during magic’s “golden age.” 

• Lot #196, an inter-ocean typed letter postcard from Harry Houdini (born Erik Weisz, 1874 – 1926), is estimated at $2,000-4,000. This ink signed note is dated July 8, 1920, written on a R.M.S. Imperator folding letter card, and mailed to Cullen Bryant of Philadelphia. It reads, in part, “Here we are in mid-ocean! … Have had the most successful six months career on stage, both financial as well as artistical! It will be some time before things are normal abroad.”

• Lot #318, “Soapy” Smith’s roulette table and wheel, is estimated at $10,000-20,000. This handsome, working, full-size roulette layout, table, and wheel was made by George Mason & Co. around 1890. It measures 95-½ x 40 x 31” with an outer wheel diameter of 31-1/2″. It was used by notorious con man “Soapy” Smith (born Jefferson R. Smith, 1860-1898).

For Potter & Potter president, Gabe Fajuri, the auction is more than a job. It’s a privilege.

“The influence he had on me is profound,” he told Weird Historian. “From the moment I saw his show, Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants, at the age of 15, I knew that an almost entirely new world had opened up to me. Even though I was already avidly interested in magic and magic history at that point, Ricky’s perspective and performance were a complete revelation to me. So, selling his collection at auction and being the one to catalog it is both surreal and a real honor.”

Place your bid here. May each piece find a new owner as passionate as its last.