This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/25/2023
[ESCAPE ARTIST] RITHLOW, Fred. Sensationel Fred Rithlow L’Evadé Perpétuel. Hamburg: Adolph Friedlander, 1910. One-sheet color lithograph of this unusual escape feat presented as a playlet in the American West, performed by the magician while being dragged behind a fast-moving steed. Framed to 29 ½ x 39 ½”. Old folds visible, but not examined out of frame. See Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women, color plates. A bizarre combination of equestrian exhibition and escape artistry, the somewhat Americanized text below the image describes Rithlow’s act as follows: “In his original scene / from the American lynchjustice / The punichement [sic] of a horse thief and how he escapes.” Rithlow was chained and fettered by cowboys, and tied in a sack, which was then roped to the saddle of a horse. While being dragged along behind the galloping animal, he made his miraculous escape. Vignettes in the poster show him before, during, and after the performance.