This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/25/2023
BLITZ, Signor (Antonio Van Zandt, 1810 - 77). Signior Blitz … Professor of Mechanism and Metamorphosist. Chatham: Townson and Burrill, 1825. Letterpress broadside from early in Blitz’s career advertising his appearance at the Odd Fellows Hall, Gravesend, and describing the feats of legerdemain he will present, including the Bullet Catching trick, among others. 18 ¼ x 7 ¼”. Backed and bordered with paper, one closed tear visible. Blitz was only fifteen years old when this bill was printed. His career began at the age of 13. At the top of the bill he is advertised as hailing “from Moravia,” though he was born in Deal, England. The broadside also states he was, “formerly pupil and assistant to the celebrated Philadelphia.” It makes no mention of ventriloquism, or his celebrated “dancing dinner plates,” both of which would be features of his show in the ensuing decades.