The Magic Collection of Jim Rawlins

[Blackstone, Harry] Bouton, Pete. Early Photograph of Pete Bouton, Signed Three Times by Blackstone. Minneapolis: Sussman, 1907. Gelatin print depicting Pete Bouton, Harry Blackstone’s brother, in tramp clown makeup, stacking building blocks that spell out “Harry Bouton & Co.” and surrounded by children’s toys. 7 ½ x 9 ½”. Signed and inscribed twice in the image by Harry Blackstone, in the upper image area, “My brother Pete/1907/Harry Blackstone” and faintly in the lower margin, “To our friend Col. Tarall[?] from Harry Bouton.” Signed a third time by Blackstone on the verso in graphite: “Harry Bouton Co.” Pinholes, one corner clipped, dampstains and soiling. This studio photograph was taken in the days before the brothers assumed the name Blackstone. Around the time this picture was taken, the act was sometimes billed as “Straight and Crooked Magic”.