This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/30/2021
Lake, Lester. Photograph Albums of Magician Lester Lake. 1930s. Two oblong small folio albums with embossed covers stamped in gilt and blind, filled with photographs taken by and of Midwestern magician Lester Lake, known professionally as Marvello. The photographs capture candid and posed moments and feature many prominent personalities of the 1930s magic scene, among them Harry Blackstone, John Calvert (as a very young man), the McElroy Brothers and their marionettes and ventriloquist figures, Nicola, S.S. Henry at work in his studio and in performance, Percy Abbott (along with his shop and early conventions), and Lake himself. One album includes many images of women posed with or for Lake. Hundreds of images in all, largest image approximately 9 x 12", with several inscribed and signed to Lake, the albums comprising a remarkable and important archive of unpublished vernacular and studio images spotlighting a storied chapter in the history of American magic. In addition to presenting his own death-defying stunts (he was regularly “burned alive” at outdoor fairs and carnivals), Lake (1904 – 1977) was also a photographer of some ability. His knack for capturing otherwise unseen moments shine through in dozens of the images gathered here, including pictures of Blackstone and his famed Buzz Saw on stage, the McElroy’s King Kong marionette (including glimpses of its construction), snapshots of Louis Levassor and his famed magic collection, outdoor escapes by Lake and Elmer Eckam at an early Abbott’s Magic Get-Together, pictures of Lake’s Guillotine illusion in use by Loring Campbell, RPPCs of various performers Lake worked with, pictures of sideshow illusions and carnival fronts, early magic convention groups, and other revealing and unpublished images.