pages: unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf, 30
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unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 30 | INTRODUCTION clad in rusty raiment. When I approached the old man he rose and informed me that he had brought some clippings, bills, etc., for me to see. I asked him to be as expeditious as possible, for I was too weak to stand long and my head was a-whirl from the effects of la grippe. With some hesitancy of speech but the loving touch of a collector he opened his parcel. "I have brought you, sir, only a few of my treasures, sir, but if you will call- " I heard no more. I remember only raising my hands before my eyes, as if I had been dazzled by a sudden shower of diamonds. In his trembling hands lay price- less treasures for which I had sought in vain-original programmes and bills of Robert-Houdin, Phillippe, Ander- son, Breslaw, Pinetti, Katterfelto, Boaz, in fact all the conjuring celebrities of the eighteenth century, together with lithographs long considered unobtainable, and news- papers to be found only in the files of national libraries. I felt as if the King of England stood before me and I must do him homage. Physician or no physician, I made an engagement with him for the next morning, when I was bundled into a cab and went as fast as the driver could urge his horse to Evanion's home, a musty room in the basement of No. I2 Methley Street, Kennington Park Road, S.E. In the presence of his collection I lost all track of time. Occasionally we paused in our work to drink tea which he made for us on his pathetically small stove. The drops of the first tea which we drank together can yet be found on certain papers in my collection. . His ] |