pages: unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf, 153
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unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 153 | THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN "PART III. "An unexpected present at once gratuitous and laugh- able, composed of twelve prizes, nine lucky and three unfortunate, in which the general public will participate." He also continued to distribute bonbons from an in- exhaustible source, probably a cornucopia, calling this trick "a new system of making sweetmeats, or Le Confiseur Moderne." During his first engagement in Vienna he had painted for advertising purposes a pastel portrait, showing him clad in his magician's robes at the finale of the goldfish trick. From this picture his later cuts were made. By some mistake he left the original pastel in Vienna, where I bought it at a special sale for my collection. It re- mains an exquisite piece of color work, even at this day. So far it is the only real likeness of Phillippe I have been able to unearth. In 1845-46 he was at the height of his popularity in London, where he had a tremendous run. In June, 1845, we find him playing at the St. James Theatre, under Mitchell's direction, and on September 29th, under his own management, he moves to the Strand, where he is still found in January of 1846. During all this time he featured The Pastry Cook of the Palais Royal under the title of "Le Confiseur Galant." As proofs that Phillippe used the pastry-cook trick both before and during Robert-Houdin's career as a magician, I offer several programmes containing accurate descrip- tions of the automaton, and also a page illustration from a current publication dated Paris, 1843, which shows the [136] |