Potter & Potter Auctions is pleased to announce the results of this 165-lot sale held on Dec. 9. The sale had a 99.3 percent sell-through rate. Prices noted include the companys 20-percent buyers premium. The top lot in this sale was Lot #1, Harry Houdinis (Erik Weisz, 18741926) Death-Defying Mystery poster. Estimated at $40,000-$60,000, it traded hands at an amazing $180,000, three times its high estimate. This linen-backed rarity, one of perhaps five extant, measured 40-by-30 inches and was published in Cincinnati & New York by Russell-Morgan Litho. in 1908. The one sheet color stone lithograph depicted Houdini in his Milk Can escape, crouched down inside the metal container with water pouring down over his body. This poster was acquired at the Houdini Estate Sale held in New Jersey in 1981 by a former owner. It was removed from one of many trunks found in the basement of Houdinis home at 278 W. 113th St. in Harlem, where it had been stored in the decades following the magicians death. Other highlight results from this sale included Thurston Kellars Successor Invested with the Mantle of Magic poster estimated at $15,000-$25,000 and bringing $48,000. This half-sheet stone lithograph promoting magician Howard Thurston (1869-1936) was published in Cincinnati by The Strobridge Litho. Co. in 1908 and depicted Thurston and fellow magician Harry Kellar (1849-1922) side-by-side, with Mephistopheles looking on at the historic scene on the stage of Fords Theatre in Baltimore, Md., when Thurston was presented with Kellars mantle of magic. A collection of Suzy Wandas (Jeanne Van Dyk, 18961986) performing apparatus, estimated at $5,000-$8,000, sold for $38,400. The case held all of the props used by Wandas for the act she presented in variety theaters around the world. These include pails, holders, metal stands, a vanishing cane and an appearing cane; palming coins; multiplying billiard balls, her make-up bag and makeup; silks and flags; dummy cigarettes and gimmicked matchboxes; a breakaway fan; playing cards; and many others. According to Potters experts, this was a remarkable time capsule of one of the few female performers to excel as a variety artist in the 20th century as a magician, not to mention as part of a family act, on circus, and as a musician, on two sides of the Atlantic. Jean Eugne Robert-Houdins (1805-71) Quadrille Mignonette des Soires Fantastiques de Robert-Houdin was estimated at $1,000-$2,000 and scored $28,800. This book of miniature souvenir sheet music bound in gilt-decorated maroon textured paper was printed in Paris by Chez Chabal around 1845. It included five pieces of music composed by Aristide Le Carpentier within, each headed by a charming engraving of a feat from the magicians repertoire. These tiny musical sheets were distributed to attendees of Robert-Houdins performances after being produced from apparent nothingness, from a prop known as the Cone of Abundance. Robert-Houdin considered Le Carpentier, one of my best and closest friends. Harry Houdinis (Erik Weisz, 18741926) A Magician Among the Spirits, estimated at $3,000-$6,000, disappeared for $26,400. This first edition with amazing ownership provenance was published inNew York by Harper & Brothers in 1924. It was boldly inscribed and signed on the flyleaf in ink: To my friend / Carl Germain / with sincere best / wishes / HOUDINI / March 19/1925 / and its all true. Affixed to the spine of the jacket was a strip of raised braille letters, used by fellow magician and colleague Carl Germain, to read the title of the book in his later years when he was legally blind. From the first lot to the last, this sale had its sights set on the stratosphere. The exceptional results across the board speak not only to the strength of the market, but also the deep interest in the rich history of the art of magic, said Gabe Fajuri, president at Potter & Potter Auctions, following the sale. To learn more, visit www.potterauctions.com.