Messmore Kendall Buys Collection of 5,000 Books and Papers

The late Harry Houdini’s library of some 5,000 books and bound papers has been sold by his widow to Messmore Kendall. The price was not disclosed, but estimates of the value to collectors have run very high. These are not the books which Houdini willed to the Congressional Library.

The collection has not been catalogued, but it is said to include thousands of old English and American playbills, more than 1,000 autograph letters, a diary of David Garrick bearing his autograph and the correspondence of Cagliostro while in prison.

Mr. Kendall, who is [sic] an extensive collection, is President of the Moredall Realty Corporation, which owns the Capitol Theatre, and Vice President of the George H. Doran Company, publishers. He intends the library for his private collection.

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