Broadsides and playbills from the collection of Ricky Jay
Overview
Broadsides and playbills from the collection of American magician, actor, and writer, Ricky Jay.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1754-1870
Creator
- Jay, Ricky (Collector, Person)
Condition Description
One item is torn; several items are fragile.
Physical Description
(23 folders in 1 box)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
This collection is shelved offsite. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
Extent
.1 linear feet (2 boxes, 4 folders, and 1 volume)Printed playbills, broadsides, and lithographs advertising or illustrating various circus and other acts, including Chang Bunker and Eng Bunker (conjoined brothers), acrobatics, and animals.
Biographical / Historical
Ricky Jay (1946-2018), born Richard Jay Potash, was an American stage magician, actor, and writer. In addition to magic, Jay was known for his card tricks, card throwing, and memory feats. He wrote extensively on magic and its history; he also collected rare books and manuscripts, art, and other artifacts connected to the history of magic, gambling, unusual entertainments, and frauds and confidence games.
Arrangement
Collection is not in a specific order.
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Custodial History
Ownership prior to assembly of the collection by Ricky Jay is unknown.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2022MT-47. Purchased from Sotheby's (Sale N10706) with the Rose and Marian Hannah Winter Fund, 2021 November 2.
Acquisitions information for additions to collection is included with the item.
Processing Information
This collection was processed to a basic level with minimal rehousing, organization, and preservation. (Melanie Wisner, 2022)
Creator
- Jay, Ricky (Collector, Person)
- Title
- Jay, Ricky, collector. Broadsides and playbills from the collection of Ricky Jay, circa 1754-1870 (MS Thr 2171): Guide
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard University
- Date
- 2022 February 22
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- hou03433
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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