Ken Klosterman’s Salon de Magie

The Salon de Magie, Ken Klosterman’s world-famous collection of magicana, was filled with historically significant ephemera, books, and apparatus. Developed over the course of five decades, the collection was made up of many truly important relics from the careers of Robert-Houdin, Houdini, Chung Ling Soo, Harry Kellar, and their contemporaries. In addition, the Salon held fine examples from the great craftsmen of the “golden age“ of magic apparatus manufacturing: Thayer, Willmann, Conradi, Klingl, Abbott, and their peers. On October 30th, 2021, Potter & Potter Auctions will host the first sale from this legendary collection. Gabe Fajuri, president of Potter & Potter and curator of the auction, conducted one final tour through the Salon de Magie for our videographer. Housed in an abandoned mine some 83 feet and six inches underground on a sprawling Ohio thoroughbred farm, the Salon was a jewel box showplace like no other. From a ride down a rickety elevator underground to trips through sliding bookcases and