Gambling Memorabilia featuring The Collection of Tom Blue

auction | 1 day sale | sale is over
Address
The address for this sale in Chicago, IL 60613 will no longer be shown since it has already ended.
Dates
Sat
Mar 30
10am to 5pm
2019

Terms & Conditions

We accept cash, check, money order, and credit cards, the latter with a 2.5% service fee. All sales are subject to a 20% buyer's premium. If you cannot attend in person, we are happy to accept phone and absentee bids. Bid online at Liveauctioneers.com. While we can and will ship items to you, we prefer all items purchased at the auction are removed on the day of the sale by the purchasers.
Potter & Potter Auctions, Inc. Logo

Potter & Potter Auctions, Inc.

(773) 472-1442

Description & Details

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.

A fine array of the appurtenances of old-time gambling halls—dealing shoes, check racks, case keepers, layouts, and more—will also come up on the block. Crooked and square equipment, Bakelite, bone, and mother of pearl chips, dice, and antique gaming sets will round out the day.

 

Over 600 lots to choose from!

Click the link below to view our catalog and to place your bids online. 

http://auctions.potterauctions.com/Catalog.aspx

Gambling Memorabilia featuring The Collection of Tom Blue MARCH 30, 2019 • 10:00 AMStrong, J.C. (James Carey). Gambling Dice Cards. Why Players Lose [cover title]. Hollywood: Hollywood Book Co., (1929). Publisher's pictorial cloth. Illustrated. 8vo. 144pp. Slight lean; near fine. Covers dice control and crooked dice, cheating at roulette, “blue rooms,” plus probabilities and gamblers’ habits. Addressing gambling house operators as well as players, the author quips, “Percentage will accomplish the same result as graft. It don’t hurt the business and is just as sure in the long run.[Head, Richard, and Francis Kirkman] The English Rogue: Described in the Life of Meriton Latroon, a Witty Extravagant: Comprising the Most Eminent Cheats of Both Sexes. London: Francis Kirkman, 1666; 1671; 1680. Four volumes in two. Full English mottled calf, extra gilt binding by Bedford, morocco title compartments, ruled covers, gilt turn-ins, a.e.g. 8vo. Together, eleven plates (lacking the portrait frontispieces). Small restored corner loss to terminal leaf of second part, only slight loss of text; occasional light spotting and offsetting, fine overall. Wing [cf. 1247], 1249, 1251. Wing does not record this 1680 edition of the third (and scarcest) part, while Hazlitt does (Second Series, p. 273).Sale PictureWill & Finck Brass Sleeve Holdout. San Francisco, ca. 1880s. Early Jacob’s Ladder-style sleeve holdout delivers a card into the gambler’s hand when his elbow is bent, and retracts when straightened. Brass with sturdy original leather straps and hardware. Stamped “Will & Finck/S.F. Cal” on the lever. Fine. This piece was used to illustrate the cheating section of “The Gamblers” in Time-Life’s Old West series (1978), p. 124.Mills 10 Cent Gold Award Castle Front Slot Machine. Chicago, ca. 1931. Lock and key. Gold award tokens in machine. Working. Very good.Sale PictureMills 5 Cent Novelty Poinsettia Slot Machine. Chicago, ca. 1929. Unrestored, moderate paint wear. 20 x 16 x 14 ½”. Original lock and key.Mills 5 Cent Cherry Front Slot Machine. Chicago, ca. 1937. Front having a “diamond” lower half and “cherry” upper half. Lock and key. Not working.Pair of Wooden Slot Machine Stands. Oak stands with cast metal feet, frosted glass doors, outfitted with fluorescent lights inside the cabinets. Working. Very good.Early Brass Sleeve Card Holdout. American, late nineteenth/early twentieth century. Early Jacob’s Ladder holdout in the Will & Finck style delivers a card into a gambler’s hand when his elbow is bent, and retracts when straightened. Extra large brass plate with riveted leather straps. Length 10” (extended). Expected age-consistent tarnish; fine.[Cruikshank, Robert] Smeeton, George. Doings in London. Four Editions. London/Southwark: 1828; 1828; [n.d.]; 1850. Two copies of the first edition, plus the tenth and fourteenth editions. First eds. with frontispieces, one colored, the other uncolored, one retaining the original wraps, laid onto marbled boards. Illustrations by Bonner, after Cruikshank. 8vos. Describes “frauds, frolics, manners, and depravities of the metropolis”.Memoirs of a Social Monster; or, the History of Charles Price…Commonly Called Old Patch, Containing an accurate Account of the astonishing Fraud and ingenious Forgeries of that truly Great Man. London: G. Kearsley, 1786. Modern quarter leather, old morocco title label. Half-title, folding frontispiece laid down Archivally. 12mo. xxii, 348pp. Slight occasional soilingErdnase, S.W. The Expert at the Card Table. Chicago: Author, 1902. First edition. Publisher’s light green cloth stamped in gilt. Illustrated with over 100 drawings “from life” by Marshall D. Smith. 8vo. Minor rubbing to spine ends and extremities, soiling with very slight darkening to covers, minor spine toning; tightly bound, clean and crisp. About the nicest copy we have seen.“An Adept” (pseudo.). A Grand Exposé of the Science of Gambling, Containing a Complete Disclosure of the Secrets of the Art. As Practices by Professional Gamblers. New York: Frederic A. Brady, (1860). Semi-limp green cloth stamped in gilt and blind, front design of a deck of playing cards resting atop a dice cup, surrounded by the Aces and three other cards, and gambling chips. Square 16mo (5 ½ x 4 ¾”). 194pp. Small marginal dampstain to terminating leaves, a few short closed marginal tears; minor bubbling to cloth, slight canting. Rare. Jessel 587. Long before the works of Erdnase, Ritter, and Quinn, the anonymous author of this exposé of the sundry techniques of swindlers, card cheats, and cons describes a hold-out devised by a former prisoner of Sing Sing, Three Card Monte, deck switching, marked and altered cards, and other methods of cheating, obtained, judging by the narrative tone, from firsthand experience.Gaffed Mahogany Keno Goose. American, ca. 1910. A hidden compartment inside holds a second set of keno balls. High numbers or low numbers are in the hidden compartment and can be dispensed depending upon the desired outcome of the game. Top turns secretly to switch to the hidden compartment. Height 23”. Include scoreboard. Scoreboard slightly warped. Very good. Rare.Royal Poker Set. American, ca. 1900. Wooden box with original lock (without key), organizational compartments, 51 brass ten dollar chips, 99 nickel five dollar chips, and 47 copper 25 dollar chips. Includes 1920s U.S. Playing Card Co. Art Deco “Butterfly” deck. 52/52. Signed by artist Mollie Macmillan. Several scrapes to exterior of wooden box. Playing cards scarce. Very good.De Moivre, (Abraham). The Doctrine of Chances: or, a Method of Calculating the Probabilities of Events in Play. London: by W. Pearson, for the Author, 1718. First edition. Contemporary calf, boards held weakly. Edges sprinkled in red. 4to. [4], xiv, 175pp. Engraved title device, engraved and woodcut head and tail-pieces, diagrams and formulas in text. Minor occasional spotting, a few stains and discolorations marginally. Norman 1529. The author dedicated the work to his close friend Isaac Newton. A landmark work in the theory of probability, many of the concepts are illustrated with and applied to gambling with cards and dice.Ritter, F.R. Combined Treatise on Advantage Card Playing and Draw Poker. N.p., 1905. Original brown cloth lettered in gilt. Heavily illustrated with halftones showing blot-out, shade, line, scroll, and other marked cards, hold-outs (including the first-known published photograph of a Jacob’s Ladder-style sleeve hold-out), false cuts and deals. Oblong 4to. p. [1—2], 3—117 [188] + 2 blank leaves. Heavily stained covers, a square portion of the lower rear corner torn away; light to sometimes moderate spotting and soiling internally. Poor/fair. Rare.Jeu de Grotesque. Uncut French Card Game Sheet. [Paris], ca. 1800s. Copper-engraved sheet of 32 playing cards with occupational Janus figures, the suits inset. Framed and matted, sight 18 ½ x 23”. Light soiling, evenly browned, but colorful.[Evans, Gerritt] “A Retired Professional,” pseudo. How Gamblers Win. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, (1868). Cloth-backed pictorial boards, title lettered in gilt to spine. Illustrated. 12mo. [4], 112pp., [36] ads. Nice firm copy, small yellow stain to lower front cover, edges spotted. Toole Stott 395. Horr 640.Mason & Co. Faro Table. Denver, ca. 1880s. Fancy claw-footed nineteenth century faro table with two drawers, inset tray. Later felt covering. Surface overall 67 x 41”. Height 35”. Stenciled by Mason & Co. on the underside of both drawers and table.F. Grote & Co. Faro Case Keeper. New York, ca. 1880s. Folding walnut frame, original strips, black and white counters (a few older replacements, this set having small nails driven into the sides to aid sliding), and hardware. 13 ½ x 11” (open). Minor scuffs and abrasions to case and strips, overall fine.$100 Oversized Scrimshawed Poker Chip. American, ca. 1860s. Handsomely scrimshawed with the 100 inside a circle, framed with delicate leaves. An unusual 2” in diameter. Lightly yellowed, small crack in center on one side. Scarce. Schneir, Gambling Collectibles: A Sure Winner, pg. 99.Merv Taylor Gambling Demonstration Suitcase. North Hollywood, ca. 1952. Brown crackle-finish all metal-suitcase converts to tabletop model tiered easel with hidden devices and shelves from which a lecturer can deliver a gambling exposé, “Cheating At Cards.” Includes original script with tipped-in explanatory photos, pipe shiner, Holdout, and pack of Deland's Automatic Playing Cards. The only known example of this all-metal tabletop model.1888 Grover Cleveland Presidential Campaign Playing Cards. N.p., 1888. 52 + J. Engraved playing cards produced for the campaign of Grover Cleveland. Courts depict Cleveland as King, running mate Allen Thurman as Jack, and First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland Preston as Queen. Two split cards repaired with tape, scattered chipping to edges. Rooster Victory Joker. Hochman P17. The only known example of this deck.Fancy Antique Card Press and Game Cabinet. Ca. early twentieth century. Dark wooden cabinet with ornate white and brass detailing, card press interior, and four boxes of chips. Double cabinet doors reveal a card press that holds six decks, exterior screws on either side. Includes four ornamental boxes, each featuring the king of each suit, that fit into the empty space below the cabinet doors. Lock and key. 10 x 8 x 12”. Some brass detailing slightly detached, others missing; mild soiling. Very good.Chuck—A—Luck Dice Cage. American, ca. 1940s. Large spinning metal cage with bell which rings loudly as spun. With three large celluloid dice. Height 15”. Unrestored with light to moderate oxidation to finish.Tricks of the Town Laid Open, (The); or, A Companion for Country Gentlemen. London: H. Slater,…; and R. Adams, 1747. Second edition. Quarter straight-grain morocco, marbled sides. 8vo. vii, 95pp., [1] ads. Slight occasional spotting; fine. Scarce. In the course of seventeen chapters, or “letters,” the author describes cheating at a wide array of games, including tennis, bowling, cockfights, and horse races by “sharpers” through the use of “false dice” and “sleights.” It also describes the arts of other unsavory characters, including whores, gamesters, sots, and money-droppers (con men).Arnoult 1748 Tarot Deck. Lequart Edition. Paris: Lequart, ca. 1890. Partial deck, 84 cards total, including 9 (of 16) face cards, and 10 (of 22) trump cards, not including The Fool. Lithographed with color stenciling. Mottled brown backs. Condition generally good, some with corner and surface tears, and soiling.Mother of Pearl Gambling Chip Set. Paris: Briotet, Caro Sucr Fabricant, ca. 1870s. Originally 400 pieces, this handsome 319-piece chip set is housed in a wooden box fitted with a lock and a yellow velvet liner. Chips include 58 white “1”, 93 pink “2”, 82 blue “5”, 44 blue “10”, and 42 yellow “25”. Yellow chips are largest at 2” in diameter. Case 15 x 8 ½ x 3 ¾”. Some nicks and scrapes to case, minor wear to velvet interior, chips fine. Key included.Brick (12 Packs) of Jerry’s Nugget Playing Cards. Cincinnati: USPC, 1980s. Twelve unopened mint sealed packs of poker-size cards, six red, six blue, advertising the Las Vegas casino. White paper case worn and bearing old writing, cellophane in varying condition; decks mint sealed.A view from our gallery. The rare and fine book department of our gallery. Sale PictureSale PictureSale PictureSale PictureSale Picture

Thank you for using EstateSales.NET. You're the best!