A selection of Items relating to the famous escapologist Harry Houdini feature prominently among the potential highlights in the latest Potter & Potter Magic Auction to be live streamed from its gallery in Chicago on May 2.

Extracted from Antiques Trade Gazette | Anne Crane

Among the letters, photos and other memorabilia to be offered is a New Year postcard for the year 1908 titled Houdini The Famous Jail Breaker in which he is shown shackled with a ball and chains. It was sent to a Russian hotel operator in Odessa and is estimated to make $2000-3000.

Also on offer are a signed photograph of an elegant young Houdini, in white collar and tie, dated to the turn of the last century, and a signed notebook/diary from c.1908 filled with notes, diagrams, descriptions of magic tricks and apparatus written in two different hands. Each of these is guided at $2000-3000.

Salary reveal

Another individual attraction is a signed salary receipt issued by Moss Empires for the week ending April 10, 1920, showing that Houdini was paid £400 for his work at The Empire Cardiff. Adjusted for inflation, says the auction house, this suggests his salary was the equivalent of around $23,500.