Select Secrets: Rare & Important Magicana

Kellar, Harry (Heinrich Keller). Kellar the Great Magician. Cincinnati – New York: Strobridge Litho. Co., 1894. Handsome half-length portrait of the famous American magician with two imps perched on his shoulders, text below the white tie and black coat he wears. Handsomely framed to 48 x 37 ¾”. Minor expert restoration to tear in margin; A-. Linen backed. A rare variant printing of this classic magic poster. While the origin of the “imps on the shoulders” motif is not entirely clear – was the concept developed by Kellar, by the artists he worked with at Strobridge, or by some combination of the two? – there is no question that the final product was the first poster to use what has become a genre-setting trend popular even in modern times. Many examples of the classic “imps portrait” in the smaller half-sheet size have survived the years, and remain popular with collectors. Fewer examples of the one-sheet version of the image exist, and even fewer still – perhaps three or four - exist of the variant offered here, which uses a different combination of colors and lettering to create a perhaps subtler effect than the version most magicians are now familiar with.