Take a look at Quicker than the Eye, Potter & Potter's retail division. Shop now for vintage magic, gambling, circus, and oddities. Our inventory includes used, rare, and out-of-print books, along with vintage magic posters, photographs, magic tricks, playing cards, and more.

Our inaugural magic auction of 2019 is the first of four sales from the collection of Jim Rawlins, a devoted student of magic and its history, who spent nearly three decades building an impressive, important, and diverse collection. A finely curated selection will go on the block, including choice objects in every collecting category. Association items from the careers of modern master magicians - Germain, Joseffy, Thurston, Blackstone, and more - will be offered side-by-side with vintage apparatus (including many Thayer and Owen-made props), signed photographs, posters, and ephemera. A strong selection of Houdiniana will also be featured.

Over the course of several decades, Tom Blue has assembled one of the most impressive gambling collections in the United States. Tantalizing selections of rare and antiquarian volumes from his library will lead off the auction, including titles on poker, playing cards, cheating and advantage play, notorious gamblers, cons, criminals, and related subjects. Complementing the books, the sale will feature scarce supply catalogs, antique prints, collectable playing cards, and posters.

We start the new year with a February 2nd auction of books and manuscripts focused on Chicago, celebrating the city’s art and architecture, literature, sports, notable inhabitants, and historic events from the Great Fire to the present. Highlights include scarce pre-Fire imprints, early Chicago Cubs sheet music, and a vintage model of Fort Dearborn. Other sessions in the sale will feature comic books, children’s literature, Americana, fine prints, vintage photography, and posters.

Alive! On the Inside! On November 10th Potter & Potter was pleased to auction off the over-the-top, one-of-a-kind Barnumesque collection of renowned sword swallower, comedian, magician, and curiosity seeker Johnny Fox. The sale was like no other, populated with sideshow banners (Fred Johnson, Snap Wyatt, Siegler and Meah), tribal art and artifacts, furry mink fish (very rare), magic tricks, swords for swallowing, and oh, so much more! Sale highlights included a Diane Arbus photo of an albino sword swallower, the traveling trunk of Tiny Tim, an 1890s Phrenology bust, and an early 20th century South American shrunken head. 

Our December auction featured hundreds of important vintage travel posters. A broad range of categories were represented: ski, railroad, airline, and ocean travel, alongside the works of famous designers, among them Galli, Klein, and their contemporaries. At the fall of the hammer, several record prices were set. Click here to download prices realized.