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Auction History Result 3k222 HARRY KELLAR 20x30 magic poster 1889 great young portrait of Houdini's predecessor, rare! Date Sold 12/29/2016 Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Original Vintage Unfolded Magic Show Poster (measures 20 1/4" x 30 1/4" [51 x 77 cm]) (Learn More) Harry Kellar (born Heinrich Keller) was a legendary American magician from the 1860s to the 1900s (he was born in 1849 and died in 1922). Kellar was a predecessor of Harry Houdini and a successor of Robert Heller. He was often referred to as the "Dean of American Magicians" and performed extensively on five continents. One of his most memorable stage illusions was the levitation of a girl advertised as the "Levitation of Princess Karnack". As a young man, he was befriended by a minister who offered to pay for his education if he entered the ministry, but when he saw a traveling magician performing, he gave that all up and decided to become a magician himself. In the 1860s and 1870s, he performed with other magicians, but in the late 1870s, he struck out on his own. He ran into a problem with his name in 1878, because the most famous magician at that time, Robert Heller, passed away, and newspapers accused him of trying to trick audiences by using a name that was very similar (Kellar vs. Heller). Kellar was offended by this, and in fact, his name had originally been "Keller", but he had changed the "e" to an "a", specifically to avoid confusion with Heller! Over the next 30 years, Kellar would perform all over the world, and he retired in 1908, designating Howard Thurston as his successor. But all the top magicians would visit him, including Houdini, and in 1917, Houdini put together a benefit show to benefit the survivors of a U.S. ship sunk by a German U-boat, and Kellar came out of retirement for that one show! He passed away five years later in 1922 at the age of 72. If you know who did the art (if any), please let us know. Important Added Info: Note that this poster is undated, but we did research about it on the Internet, and most of the posters of him that are from the 1890s or later show him completely bald on top, while in this poster, he has more hair. He also has a bushy mustache that he did not have in later years. The sites we found believe this poster to date from around 1889, based on his appearance, and it was found together with stage play posters from the late 1880s and 1890s, so there is every reason to think it is from that year. If anyone knows more about this poster, please e-mail us and we will post it here. Condition: good to very good. The top right corner was entirely separated, extending into the background. It was re-attached with tape from the back. There are many smudges in that area and just a few creases, tiny tears, and smudges around the edges. Please look at our super-sized image to get a good sense of the exact condition of this item. This historic and wonderful poster can absolutely be displayed and enjoyed as it is, as long as one is accepting of its defects described above, or certainly, any talented restorer could perform restoration to it, with or without backing the poster. Learn More about condition grades 
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