This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/29/2022
LAKE, LESTER. THREE SCRAPBOOKS OF AMERICAN MAGICIAN LESTER LAKE. 1920s-30s. Including two paper-bound albums and one clothbound, compiled and kept by the Indiana magician and escape artist, and filled with over 100 photographs (both studio and candid) that picture Lake performing his signature stunts Buried Alive and Burned Alive (primarily at carnivals and fairs), with fellow magicians primarily at early I.B.M. conventions (including Howard Thurston, T. Nelson Downs, Harry Blackstone, Cardini, E.J. Moore, and others), and studio images of Lake presenting Sand Painting, flower growths, and other magic effects. Complementing the photographs are an array of printed ephemera including handbills, broadsides, programs, tickets, and other promotional materials related to Lake’s shows and career. Scattered among the printed ephemera are his membership cards in various magic societies, most prominently his 1927 Society of American Magicians membership card SIGNED by president Harry Houdini, a later S.A.M. card signed by Thurston, and his first membership card in the International Brotherhood of Magicians (in which he held membership number 944). Other images show the construction of the various coffins and boxes Lake would escape from or endure flames from the inside of, pictures of the McElroy Brothers King Kong marionette with Lake, and dozens of candid photographs of prominent magical entertainers of the era. One album lacks its outer wrapper, with the other two in good condition. Contents neatly mounted and kept. A significant gathering of American magic ephemera including dozens of unpublished photographs and scarce ephemera. Nice lot.