pages: unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf, 158
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unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 158 | CHAPTER V THE OBEDIENT CARDS - THE CABALISTIC CLOCK - THE TRAPEZE AUTOMATON The Obedient Cards. T O trace here the history of three very com- mon tricks claimed by Robert-Houdin as his own inventions would be sheer waste of time, if the exposure did not prove beyond doubt that in announcing the various tricks of his répertoire as the output of his own brain he was not only flagrant and unscrupulous, but he did not even give his readers credit for enough intelligence to recognize tricks performed re- peatedly by his predecessors whom they had seen. Not satisfied with purloining tricks so important that one or two would have been sufficient to establish the reputation of any conjurer or inventor, he must needs lay claim to having invented tricks long the property of mountebanks as well as reputable magicians. The tricks referred to are the obedient card, the cabalistic clock, and the automaton known as Diavolo Antonio or Le Voltigeur au Trapèze. The obedient-card trick, mentioned on page 245 of the American edition of his "Memoirs," as "a novel ex- periment invented by M. Robert-Houdin," can be found on the programme of every magician who ever laid claim to dexterity of hand. Whether they accomplished the effect [ I4I ] |