Lot 66. is for real.

[houdinisghost]

There are many very exciting items in the August 23, 2014 Potter and Potter auction. I have been asked if the notes and drawing in lot 66 are actually by Houdini. The answer is yes, absolutely, beyond a doubt. There are examples of notes on effects by both Houdini and Charles Morritt in my book Houdini--the Key, BUT, that's not the most exciting part. Thanks to the notes Houdini took down (on Magician's Club stationary) as Morritt described "The Black and White" illusion, we finally know more about this lost masterpiece. The last anyone heard of this illusion, Hardeen had it up for sale in a 1945 Conjurers Magazine. Then he died. He'd performed it at least once on an SAM show. Houdini's notes, his handwriting, his drawing. A lost Morritt secret. Houdini, of course, was not taking these notes for the fun of it. He'd bought the effect. Houdini wrote somewhere that "Morritt was the greatest inventor of illusions alive today." I observed the Gaughan/Steinmeyer recreation of Morritt's "Goodbye Winter" from every angle in the house, over the course of a week, and Gaughan, Steinmeyer, and Morritt beat me. Brilliant illusion. The Black and White was a good one too. I wonder what became of the prop.
P.S. The Doublefold Death Defying Mystery is, I think, the most beautiful example of James Collins' work extant. The Nest of Boxes that Jimmy Collins made as a gift for Houdini (in Ken Klosterman's collection) are the work of a master. So is this Box created to imprison the Milk Can. Collins. Pure genius.
Patrick Culliton

[JohnCox]

Thanks Patrick. Very interesting.

What an auction this is.