Mysterious Houdini autograph up for auction

AN intriguing autograph given by legendary escape artist Harry Houdini when he performed in the Huddersfield Hippodrome is coming up for sale next month.

Written in an autograph book, the inscription and signature read: “Safe Bind Safe Find does not apply to the undersigned Harry Handcuff Houdini, Huddersfield April 6th 1911 my 37th Birthday” and are accompanied by a small daguerreotype photograph of Houdini stuck to the top of the page.

The signature was collected by Sam Crossley, the stage manager at the Huddersfield Hippodrome, (now The Colosseum).

His grandchild is now selling the intriguing autograph book, which contains signatures from a host of other entertainers who graced the boards of the Hippodrome including George Formby. It is being sold with an estimate of £600 to £900, plus buyer’s premium.

Houdini claimed April 6 as his birthday, when in fact he was born on March 24; and theories abound as to why this might be.

In a letter to his brother, he claimed that April 6 was the day on which his mother always wrote to him.

Harry Houdini was born Erik Weitz in Budapest in 1874, the son of a Rabbi.

The Weitz family emigrated to the United States in 1878, and the young

Houdini first took to the stage as a magician, having taken his name from the French magician JeanEugene Robert-Houdin.

However, he saw no great success, and began experimenting with escape acts; his popularity soon saw him booked to perform on the vaudeville circuit with his legendary handcuff escape act.

In 1900 he travelled to London and, following a demonstration of his escape from handcuffs in front of the police at Scotland Yard, he performed at the Alhambra Theatre in

London for six months.

Houdini would go on to appear in theatres all over Britain performing escape acts, illusions, and stunts.

He would frequently challenge the local police force to constrain him in cuffs and shackles, hence the inscription.