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unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,74 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 74 | - Christopher linchlul A very rare mezzotint of Christopher Pinchbeck, Jr., combining the work Cunningham, the greatest designer, and William Humphrey, the greatest trait etcher of his day. From the Harry Houdini Collection. [57] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,169 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 169 | 233 This setting shows how cumbersome was the apparatus employed by magicians before Wiljalba Frikell proved Lithograph used by E. W. Young, who copied all of John Henry Anderson's billing and featured the obedient-card trick. that he could score with apparently no apparatus. Original in the Harry Houdini Collection. | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,372 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 372 | 3 6105 004 841 255 &' STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES STANFORD AUXILIARY LIBRARY STANFORD, CALIFORNIA 94305-6004 (650) 723-9201 salcirc@sulmail.stanford.ed All books are subject to recall. DATE DUE JUN JUC0 1 1002 2022 | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,9 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 9 | 313341 Copyright, 1906 Copyright, 1907 Copyright, 1908 By HARRY HOUDINI Entered at Stationer's Hall, London, England All rights reserved Composition. Electrotyping and Printing by The Publishers Printing Company New York, N. Y., U.S.A. | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,8 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 8 | 8061 '00 3H.L MEN INICHOH 18 NIGNOH - JO DNINSVINNO TH.L | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,357 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 357 | 93 Decremps's Signature 75 Droz, Pierre Jacquet-, Por- De Liska 25 trait and Autograph 92 De Philipsthal 110,171,173,174 Droz Writing Automatons, De Philipsthal Poster 104 Specimens of Penmanship De Philipsthal, Programme respectively in 1796 and of Benefit of IIO 1906 84 De Philipsthal Programme Dunkell 197 of 1806 173 Dutchwoman's Decoration Der Moderne Zauberer 239 used to Advertise 214 Desaguliers, Dr 181 Diagram Exposes the Magic Eagle, Barney 149 Clock Trick 160 Eagle's, Barney, Tricks Ex- Diagram of Orange - tree posed on an Anderson Pos- Trick 52 ter 154,155 Diavolo, Antonio 166 Eagle's Book, Frontispiece 153 Dictionary of Arts, Manufac- Eagle's Poster featuring the tures and Mines 9I Obedient Clock Trick 156 Dictionary of National Biog- Eckeberg, John Carlton 181 raphy 54 Eckartshausen, Hofrath Disappearing Handkerchief, von 143, 160, 163, 169 245-254 Egyptian Wine 252 Döbler, 25, 45, 182, 185, 187, Escalopier, M. del 280 188,192 Ethereal Suspension 222,312 Döbler, Ludwig, Rare Por- Evanion, Henry Evans, 20, trait of 187,190 2I, 23, 25, 26, 49, 124,259 Döbler Programmes. 188, 189,191 Evanion, Henry Evans, Por- Dom Pedro 243 trait of 22 Don Carlos, Billing used by 221 Evanion, Letter from Gyn- Don Carlos, Double-sighted gell 124 Dog, Billing 22I Evans, Henry Ridgely, The Double-sighted Dog, Don Old and the New Magic 16 Carlos 219 Exploration de la Rétinue 49 Downs, T. Nelson 265 Exposes the Magic Clock Droz, Henri-Louis Jacquet-, Trick, Diagram 160 Portrait of 94 Exposing Barney Eagle's Droz, Jacquet-. Clipping IOI Tricks on an Anderson Droz, Jacquet-, View of Mech- Poster 154,155 anism of Writing Automa- ton 98 Faber, I 56 1324] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,353 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 353 | : | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,64 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 64 | A very rare mezzotint of Christopher Pinchbeck, Jr., combining the work of Cunningham, the greatest designer, and William Humphrey, the greatest portrait etcher of his day. From the Harry Houdini Collection. [57] : | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,364 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 364 | Anderson Poster Featuring Card Trick Used in 836-37 142 Anderson Poster Used in 1838 147 Anderson Poster Used in London, 1848 313 Anderson's Billing of 1838 Featuring "Napoleon's Trick 150 Anderson's Book Cover Design 148 Anderson's Inexhaustible Bottle Trick 186 Anderson's, J. H., Birthplace 145 Anderson's Opening Programme, 1848 309 Anderson's Poster, Exposing Barney' Eagle's Tricks 154,155 Astley, Philip, Esq 19 Bamberg, David Leendert 140 " Barney," alias The Impostor Wizard, Window Poster Issued by Anderson I 55 Barnum, P. T 88 Basch, Ernst 139 Bertram, Charles (James Bassett) 20 Blitz, Signor Antonio 18 Bologna Bill Used in 1812 170 Bologna Poster Used in 1820 118 Bosco, Bartolomeo, in His Prime 301 Bosco, Eugene 315 Bosco, Grave of 306 Bosco, Madame, the only Photograph of 3°5 Bottle Trick, Inexhaustible 186 Brahmin, The Suspension 229 Breslaw's Frontispiece on Book on Magic, "The Last Legacy," I44 (i] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,68 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 68 | CHAPTER II THE ORANGE-TREE TRICK R OBERT-HOUDIN, on page I79 of the American edition of his "Memoirs," thus describes the orange-tree trick, which he claims as his inven- tion: "The next was a mysterious orange-tree, on which flowers and fruit burst into life at the request of the ladies. As the finale, a handkerchief I borrowed was conveyed into an orange purposely left on the tree. This opened and displayed the handkerchief, which two butterflies took by the corners and unfolded before the spectators." On page 245 of the same volume he presents the programme given at the first public performance in the Théâtre Robert-Houdin, stating: "The performance will be composed of entirely novel Experiments invented by M. Robert-Houdin. Among them being The Orange-Tree, etc." Now to retrace our steps in the history of magic as set forth in handbills and advertisements of earlier and con- temporaneous newspaper clippings describing their in- ventions. Under the title of "The Apple-Tree" this mechanical trick appeared on a Fawkes programme dated 1730. This was 115 years before Robert-Houdin claimed it as his invention. In 1732, just before Pinchbeck's death, it [ 51 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,58 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 58 | CHAPTER II THE ORANGE-TREE TRICK R OBERT-HOUDIN, on page I79 of the American edition of his "Memoirs," thus describes the orange-tree trick, which he claims as his inven- tion: "The next was a mysterious orange-tree, on which flowers and fruit burst into life at the request of the ladies. As the finale, a handkerchief I borrowed was conveyed into an orange purposely left on the tree. This opened and displayed the handkerchief, which two butterflies took by the corners and unfolded before the spectators." On page 245 of the same volume he presents the programme given at the first public performance in the Théâtre Robert-Houdin, stating: "The performance will be composed of entirely novel Experiments invented by M. Robert-Houdin. Among them being The Orange-Tree, etc." Now to retrace our steps in the history of magic as set forth in handbills and advertisements of earlier and con- temporaneous newspaper clippings describing their in- ventions. Under the title of "The Apple-Tree" this mechanical trick appeared on a Fawkes programme dated I730. This was II5 years before Robert-Houdin claimed it as his invention. In I732, just before Pinchbeck's death, it [ 51 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,100 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 100 | CHAPTER III THE WRITING AND DRAWING FIGURE I N his "Memoirs" Robert-Houdin eulogizes the vari- ous automata which he claims to have invented. The picturesque fashion in which he describes the tre- mendous effort put forth ere success crowned his la- , bors would render his arguments most convincing-if stern historical facts did not contradict his every statement. One of the most extraordinary mechanical figures which he exploits as his invention was the writing and drawing figure, which he exhibited at the Quinquennial Exhibition in 1844, but never used in his public perform- ances, though he asserts that he planned to exhibit it between performances at his own theatre. This au- tomaton, he says, laid the foundation of his financial success and opened the way to realizing his dream of appearing as a magician. On page 196 of his "Memoirs," American edition, he starts his romantic description of its conception and manufacture. According to this he had just planned what promised to be the most brilliant of his mechanical in- ventions when financial difficulties intervened. He was obliged to raise two thousand francs to meet a pressing debt. He applied to the ever-convenient Monsieur G-- who had bought automata from him before. He described the writing and drawing figure minutely to his patron, [83] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,133 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 133 | CHAPTER IV THE PASTRY COOK OF THE PALAIS ROYAL ONCERNING this trick, which Robert-Houdin claims as his invention, he writes on page 79 of his "Memoirs," American edition "The first was a small pastry cook, issuing from his shop door at the word of command, and bringing, according to the spectator's request, patties and refreshments of every description. At the side of the shop, assistant pastry cooks might be seen rolling paste and putting it in the oven." By means of handbills, programmes, and newspaper notices of magical and mechanical performances, this trick in various guises can be traced back as far as I796. Nine reputable magicians offered it as part of their reper- toire, and at times two men presented it simultaneously, showing that more than one such automaton existed. The dates of the most notable programmes or handbills selected from my collection are as follows: I, Haddock, 1797. 2, Garnerin, 1815. 3, Gyngell, 1816 and 1823. 4, Bologna, 1820. 5, Henry, 1822. 6, Schmidt, 1827. 7, Rovere, 1828. 8, Charles, 1829. 9, Phillippe, 1841. In 1827 Schmidt and Gyngell joined forces, yet both before and after this date each performer had the wonder- ful little piece of mechanism on his programme. In 1841, [ 116 | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,274 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 274 | CHAPTER IX THE DISAPPEARING HANDKERCHIEF S UPREME egotism and utter disregard for the truth may be traced in all of Robert-Houdin's writings, but they reached a veritable climax when he indited chapter XVI. of his "Memoirs." During the course of this chapter he described the so-called invention and first production of the disappearing-handkerchief trick. According to the American edition of his "Memoirs," page 3°3, he received a command to appear before Louis Philippe and his family at St. Cloud in November, 1846. During the six days intervening between the official in- vitation and his appearance before the royal family, he arranged a trick from which, he states, he had every reason to expect excellent results. On page 305 he goes even further in his claims and announces: "All my tricks were favorably received, and the one I had invented for the occasion gained me unbounded applause." He then gives the following description of the trick and its performance: "I borrowed from my noble spectators several handker- chiefs, which I made into a parcel, and laid on the table. Then, at my request, different persons wrote on the cards the names of places whither they desired their handker- chiefs to be invisibly transported. "When this had been done, I begged the King to take [ 245 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,158 | 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 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,203 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 203 | CHAPTER VI THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE W HILE Robert-Houdin claims to have invented "The Inexhaustible Bottle" for a special programme designed to create a sensation at the opening of his season of 1848, in the illustrated appendix of the original French edi- tion of his "Memoirs" he states that it had its premier presentation December ist, 1847. These discrepancies occur with such frequency that it is difficult to refute his claims in chronological order. Perhaps he adopted this method intentionally, to confuse future historians of magic, particularly concerning his own achievements. In order to emphasize the brilliancy of this trick, Robert-Houdin turned boastful in describing it. On page 348 of the American edition of his "Memoirs," he states that the trick had created such a sensation and was so much exploited in the London newspapers that the fame of his inexhaustible bottle spread to the provinces, and on his appearance in Manchester with the bottle in his hand the workmen who made up the audience nearly mobbed him. In fact, the description of this scene is the most dramatic pen-picture in his "Memoirs." The truth, sad to state, is that the bottle trick did not create the sensation he claims for it in London, nor did the press eulogize it. It was classed with other ordinary [176.] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,227 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 227 | CHAPTER VII SECOND SIGHT E VIDENTLY second sight was the foundation- stone of Robert-Houdin's success. Reading be- tween the lines of his autobiography, one finds that this was the trick which carried him into the salons of fashion and royalty. Before he introduced second sight into his répertoire, his tricks were so com- monplace that they did not arouse the interest of the court circle, whose approval furnished the seal of success. This trick of second sight he claims body and soul, as the favorite child of his brain. He even goes as far as to relate a story to prove that the trick came to him in the form of an inspiration. I quote directly from the American edition of his "Memoirs," page 255: "My two children were playing one day in the drawing- room at a game they had invented for their own amuse- ment; the younger had bandaged his elder brother's eyes and made him guess the objects that he touched, and when the latter happened to guess right they changed places. This simple game suggested to me the most complicated idea that ever crossed my mind. Pursued by the notion, I ran and shut myself in my workshop, and was fortunately in that happy state when the mind follows easily the combinations traced by fancy. I rested my head in my hands, and in my excitement laid down the first principles of second sight." [200] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,249 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 249 | CHAPTER VIII THE SUSPENSION TRICK I' N chapters XVI. and XVII. of the American edition of his "Memoirs," Robert-Houdin states that he closed his theatre during the months of July, August, and September, 1847, and devoted his time to producing new tricks for the coming season. He chron- icles as the result of these labors the following additions to his répertoire: "The Crystal Box," "The Fantastic Portfolio," "The Trapeze Tumbler, "The Garde Fran- çaise," "The Origin of Flowers," "The Crystal Balls," "The Inexhaustible Bottle," "The Ethereal Suspension," etc. Had these inventions really been original with the man who claimed them as the result of his own brain-work and handicraft, three years would not have sufficed to bring them to the perfection in which they were presented at that time. It is not always the actual work that makes a trick a success, nor the material from which it is con- structed, but it takes time to plan a new trick; and then after you have worked out the idea, it takes more time to make it practical. The same piece of apparatus may have to be made dozens of times, in as many shapes, before it is presentable. Therefore, when Robert-Houdin claims to have invented and built with his own hands the tricks mentioned in the list given above, it is time to prove the improbability and falsity of his statements. [222] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,293 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 293 | CHAPTER X ROBERT-HOUDIN'S IGNORANCE OF MAGIC AS BETRAYED BY HIS OWN PEN TATEMENTS in Robert-Houdin's various works S on the conjurer's art corroborate my claim that he was not a master-magician, but a clever purloiner X and adapter of the tricks invented and used by his predecessors and contemporaries. Whenever, in these books, he attempts to explain or expose a trick which was not part of his répertoire, he betrays an ignorance which would be impossible in a conjurer versed in the finer and nore subtle branches of his art. Neither do these expla- nations show that he was clever enough as a mechanic to have invented the apparatus which he claimed as his handiwork. He states that practice and still more prac- tice are essential, yet no intelligent performer, amateur or professional, can study my collection of Robert-Houdin programmes, handbills, and press notices without realiz- ing that his répertoire contained little or no trace of what should be the foundation of successful conjuring, sleight- of-hand. Changing his fingers over the various air-holes of the inexhaustible bottle was as near as he ever came to sleight-of-hand, even when he was in the height of his success. According to the press notices he had a pleasing stage presence, and also dressed and set forth his tricks richly, but it must be borne in mind that then, as often to-day, [ 264 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,324 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 324 | CHAPTER XI THE NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS" T HE charm of true memoirs lies far beyond the printed pages, in the depth and breadth of the writer's soul. The greatest of all autobi- ographies are those which detail not only the lives of the men who penned them, but which abound in diverting anecdotes and character studies of the men and women among whom the writer moved. They are not autobiographies alone, but vivid, broad-minded pen- Pictures of the period in which the writer was a vigorous, respect-compelling figure. Memoirs written with a view to settling old scores seldom live to accomplish their ends. I he narrowness and pettiness of the writer, which intelli- gent reading of history is bound to disclose, destroy all Other charms which the book may possess. At personal exploitation Robert-Houdin is a brilliant Success. As a writer of memoirs he is a wretched failure. Whenever he writes of himself, his pen seems fairly to scintillate. Whenever he refers to other magicians of his times, his pen lags and drops on the pages blots which can emanate only from a narrow, petty, jeal- ous nature. Even when he writes of his own family, this peculiar trait of petty egotism may be read between the lines. He mentions the name of his son Émile, apparently because [ 295 ] i | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,12 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 12 | CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION, 7 CHAPTER I. SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT- HOUDIN, 33 II. THE ORANGE-TREE TRICK, 5I III. THE WRITING AND DRAWING FIGURE, 83 IV. THE PASTRY Cook OF THE PALAIS ROYAL, II6 V. THE OBEDIENT CARDS-THE CABALISTIC CLOCK-THE TRAPEZE AUTOMATON, I4I VI. THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE, . 176 VII. SECOND SIGHT, . 200 VIII. THE SUSPENSION TRICK, . 222 IX. THE DISAPPEARING HANDKERCHIEF, 245 X. ROBERT-HOUDIN'S IGNORANCE OF MAGIC AS BE- TRAYED BY His OWN PEN, . 264 XI. THE NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS," 295 [5] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,10 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 10 | Dedication This Book is affectionately dedicated to the memory of my father, Rev. M. S. Weiss, Ph.D., LL.D., who instilled in me love of study and patience in research | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,254 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 254 | Die Chineilche Reproduction of an engraving in an old German Encyclopaedia in the Harry Houdini Collection, which credits to the Chinese the trick of climbing into the air and having the body fall down piecemeal and being set together again. | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,66 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 66 | EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT-HOUDIN Contemporary magicians of Robert-Houdin and men of high repute in other walks of life seem to agree that Robert-Houdin was an entertainer of only average merit. Among the men who advanced this theory were the late Henry Evanion of whose deep interest in magic I wrote in the introduction, Sir William Clayton who was Robert- Houdin's personal friend in London, Ernest Basch who saw Robert-Houdin in Berlin, and T. Bolin of Moscow, Russia, who bought all his tricks in Paris and there saw Robert-Houdin and studied his work as a conjurer. Robert-Houdin's contributions to literature, all of which are eulogistic of his own talents, are as follows: "Confidence et Révélations," published in Paris in 1858 and translated into English by Lascelles Wraxall, with an introduction by R. Shelton Mackenzie. "Les Tricheries des Grecs" (Card-Sharping Exposed), published in Paris in 1861. "Secrets de la Prestidigitation" (Secrets of Magic), published in Paris in 1868. "Le Prieuré" (The Priory, being an account of his electrically equipped house), published in Paris in 1867. "Les Radiations Lumineuses," published in Blois in 1869. " "Exploration de la Rétinue," published in Blois, 1869. "Magic et Physique Amusante" (œuvre posthume), published in Paris in 1877, six years after Robert-Houdin's death. In his autobiography, Robert-Houdin makes specific claim to the honor of having invented the following tricks: The Orange Tree, Second Sight, Suspension, The Cabalistic Clock. The Inexhaustible Bottle, The 4 [ 49 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,56 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 56 | EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT-HOUDIN Contemporary magicians of Robert-Houdin and men of high repute in other walks of life seem to agree that Robert-Houdin was an entertainer of only average merit. Among the men who advanced this theory were the late Henry Evanion of whose deep interest in magic I wrote in the introduction, Sir William Clayton who was Robert- Houdin's personal friend in London, Ernest Basch who saw Robert-Houdin in Berlin, and T. Bolin of Moscow, Russia, who bought all his tricks in Paris and there saw Robert-Houdin and studied his work as a conjurer. Robert-Houdin's contributions to literature, all of which are eulogistic of his own talents, are as follows: "Confidence et Révélations," published in Paris in 1858 and translated into English by Lascelles Wraxall, with an introduction by R. Shelton Mackenzie. "Les Tricheries des Grecs" (Card-Sharping Exposed), published in Paris in 1861. "Secrets de la Prestidigitation" (Secrets of Magic), published in Paris in 1868. "Le Prieuré" (The Priory, being an account of his electrically equipped house), published in Paris in 1867. "Les Radiations Lumineuses," published in Blois in 1869. "Exploration de la Rétinue," published in Blois, 1869. "Magic et Physique Amusante" (œuvre posthume), published in Paris in 1877, six years after Robert-Houdin's death. In his autobiography, Robert-Houdin makes specific claim to the honor of having invented the following tricks: The Orange Tree, Second Sight, Suspension, The Cabalistic Clock. The Inexhaustible Bottle, The 4 [ 49 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,52 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 52 | EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT-HOUDIN In 1846 he claims to have invented second sight, and at the opening of the season in 1847 he presented as his own creation the suspension trick. During the interim he played an engagement in Brussels which was a finan- cial failure. In 1848 the Revolution closed the doors of Parisian theatres, Robert-Houdin's among the rest, and he re- turned to clockmaking and automata building, until he received from John Mitchell, who had met with great success in managing Ludwig Döbler and Phillippe, an offer to appear in London at the St. James's Theatre. This engagement was a brilliant success and for the first time in his career Robert-Houdin reaped big financial returns. Later Robert-Houdin toured the English provinces under his own management and made return trips to London, but his tour under Mitchell was the most notable engagement of his career. In 1850, while playing in Paris, he decided to retire, and to turn over his theatre and tricks to one Hamilton. A contemporary clipping, taken from an English news- paper of 1848, goes to prove that Hamilton was an Englishman who entered Robert-Houdin's employ. Ham- ilton signed a dual contract, agreeing to produce Robert- Houdin's tricks as his acknowledged successor and to marry Robert-Houdin's sister, thus keeping the tricks and the theatre in the family. During the next two years Robert-Houdin spent part of his time instructing his brother-in-law in all the mysteries of his art. In July, 1852, he played a few engagements in Germany, including Berlin and various bathing resorts, and then formally [45] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,46 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 46 | EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT-HOUDIN Raser " esprees Datrensge e Gracess THE QUEEN, HIS ROYAL HIOHNESS THE PRINCE ALBERT. HEA ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUCEESS OF KENT, THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES THE DUEE & DUCHESS OF CAXBRIDO&, KEA ROYAL HIOHNESS THE DUCHESS OF OLOUCESTEL A GRAND MORNING FETE, A CONCERT & DANCING, " Batts and for the Labouting Classes, IN COULSTON PLACE Ox WEDNESDAY, JULY TR$ 19ta, Under the above exalted Patronage, AT The Residence of ARTSUR Esq. Waich Ass most hindly placed et the dispesal the Ledies TEE CONCERT san sombine sminent et the tollsting use babe most estigingis assistants MADAME GRISI, MADAME CASTELLAN, MADLLE ALBONI, MARIO, M. ROGER, sto. TAMBURINI, a SIG. LABLACHS. CONDUOTOR SIGNOR COSTA. A TENT WILL BE ERECTED IN THE GROUNDS, " ROBERT-HOUDIN. whe Ase .... - The Grounds will be open from One o'Clock untu Sigbs. TICKETS FOR THE TETE, THE or WHICN will et LIMITED, Can only be procured on the presentitation of Vouchers from the following LADIES Decesse or os es Ricameyo. or VIMCUNTEN ****** or (revers os es or os ances. Orcatse or Stocistom. or Leav Acasa: becusss or or LADT as &suse. or Mostross. " LADT Stamist. o or Decuses or os Lem os Cocatus Gast. Leot os or or WATEAPORN Laos o " PROUNADA. COFNTESS os or Cor>rase Lare Gastam. os Bases, os LAM Jewn Mabast V. as or LIONEL Da or Tes L.DT or Ducomes, Now *** Nuarom. Nas. Nims. Single Tickete 22 2s. esch." detional for comorried Sons and Deughters of the same Pamily. 21 1. - N° Venchers will be exchanged at Mr. MITCHELL' Zoyal Libras, 33, O14 Sond Street on TN& tava, lern. - tare JULV. Robert-Houdin's first appearance before Queen Victoria, July 19th, 1848. A very rare, and possibly the only, programme in existence, chronicling The original, now in the Harry Houdini Collection, was presented to James Savren by Robert-Houdin. [39] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,50 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 50 | EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT-HOUDIN he asserts, he built his famous writing and drawing figure. The next year, 1845, he was assisted by Count de L'Escalopier, a devotee of conjuring and automata, who advanced the money to fit up and furnish a small theatre ST JAMES'S THEATRÉ Saturday Evening, Aug. 19. in the Palais Royal. Robert- POSITIVELY THE Houdin went about the work LAST NIGHT of decorating and furnishing this OF THE SEASON. theatre with a view to securing BENEFIT OF the most dramatic and brilliant MILE-HOUDIN effects, surrounding his simple ROBERT tricks with a setting that made HOUDIN them vastly different from the will POSTIVELY MAEE ats same offerings by his predeces- Last Appearamce in Lendon Naturday Evening, Aug. 19,5' sors. He was what is called to- Outes to Nio Eagagement et the Theatre Reyal, Mascheath. which Tuesday Evening aexi, Arges $2. THE PROGRAMNE day an original producer of old BITS & INVENTIONS THE avexava ideas. On June 25th, 1845, he MILE-HOUDIN Me , SECOND SIGNT, us gave his first private perform- " INVISIBILETE," ESCAMOTAGE EXTRAORDINAIRE, ance before a few friends. On AMILK-HOUDIN Suspension Ethereenne, BY UGENE-BOUDIN. July 3d of the same year his aoxgs, da. PIT, GAL STALLS, la se. PRIVATE BUXES ... STALLS - SOVAL sa, theatre of magic was opened formally to the public. The programme of this performance Poster for theEmile-Houdin benefit at St. James's Thea- is shown on page 37. tre in 1848. From the Harry Houdini Collection. It will be noted that the famous writing and drawing figure was not then included in Robert- Houdin's répertoire, nor does it ever appear on any of his programmes. He exhibited it at the quinquennial exhibi- tion in 1844, received a silver medal for it, and very soon sold it to the late P. T. Barnum, who exported it to America. [43] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,54 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 54 | EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT-HOUDIN performing this service is not set forth in any of his works. He spent the fall of 1856 in Algeria. From the date of his return to St. Gervais to the time of his death, June 13th, 1871, Robert-Houdin devoted his energies to improving his inventions and writing his R Bas-relief on Robert-Houdin tombstone. From a photograph taken by the author, especially for this work, and now in the Harry Houdini Collection. books, though, as stated before, it was generally believed by contemporary magicians that in the latter task he entrusted most of the real work to a Parisian journalist whose name was never known. He was survived by a wife, a son named Emile, and a step-daughter. Emile Houdin managed his father's theatre until his death in 1883, when the theatre was [ 47 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,42 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 42 | EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT-HOUDIN tastes led him back to his father's trade, watchmaking. While working for his cousin at Blois, he visited a book- shop in search of Berthoud's "Treatise on Clockmaking," but by mistake he was given several volumes of an old encyclopaedia, one of which contained a dissertation on "Scientific Amusements," or an exposition of magic. This simple incident, he asserts, changed the entire current of his life. At eighteen, he first turned his atten- tion to magic. At forty, he made his first appearance as an independent magician or public performer. On page 44 of his "Memoirs," American edition, Robert- Houdin refers to this book as an encyclopaedia, but several times later he calls it "White Magic." In all probability it was the famous work by Henri Decremps in five vol- umes, known as "La Magie Banche Dévoilée," or "White Magic Exposed." This was written by Decremps to injure Pinetti, and it exposed all the latter's tricks, in- cluding the orange tree, the vaulting trapeze automaton, and in fact the majority of the tricks later claimed by Robert-Houdin as his own inventions. In 1828, while working for M. Noriet, a watchmaker in Tours, Jean-Eugene Robert was poisoned by improperly prepared food, and in his delirium started for his old home in Blois. He was picked up on the roadside by Torrini, a travelling magician, who nursed him back to health in his portable theatre. Just as young Jean recovered Torrini was injured in an accident, and his erstwhile patient remained to nurse his benefactor and later to help Torrini's assistant present the programme of magic by which they made their living. His first public appearance as the representative of Torrini was made at Aubusson. [ 35 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,48 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 48 | EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT-HOUDIN than likely that one died before his wife. He married again soon, and though he gives his second wife great credit as a helpmate he does not state her name. By this time he had acquired more than passing fame Robert-Houdin as he appeared to the English critics. Reproduced from the Illustrated London News, December 23d, 1848. as a repairer of automata, and in 1844 he mended Vau- canson's marvellous duck, one of the most remarkable automata ever made. Doubtless other automata found [ 4I ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,125 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 125 | Ebeatte, Mr. Louis's ROYAL, MECHANICAL, and OPTICAL Darhibition wall continue open Four Nights longer only, with the Addition of a New Pirca. Monday, April 1,1815, Wednesday, Thurday and Friday following, the 5th, 6th, and 7th. And, in erder to make his Exhibition mill more wartly of the Public Patrosage, the Proprietor bege leave to inform them, that, in Addition to the whale Selection already exhibited with UNBOUNDED APPLAUSE, he will introduce, every Evening, A SUPERB MECHANICAL Peacocl AS LARGE AS LIFE, In its Natural Plumage! Which imitates, so closely, the CRIES, ACTIONS, and ATTITUDES of that stately and beautiful Bird, that it is not unfrequently supposed to be an absolute living Animal. properly trained to act as as Amasing Deception. Ahbongh - Description cas property itlestrate these . Ast. yet to merey to the pablic sa des of their and of the imitative powers with waxh these Figares - esplanation mbitted, they exb.bited the follewing - " are . manaer TWO ELEGANT AUTOMATA, As large as melare, the - . POLONNESE, the - . sov. Nething cae the adroicable of these Pieces. The large Figure - alment with bumse Faculties, eshiliting the esual feste of . Mope- Dancer, in the felless of hfs. The - Figare . envested with equally astonishing powere of activa. To sech ledice - are spectasore it - be . very that these exertious do not escite thowe - whird arese the aight of Pigares freught with lite. performies feas ettended with - mech dange. A Superb MUSICAL LADY, Represeeting the BELLE BOXLANE, whe pleye with the grentess preceise Sistere Arra, every - preveede frove the presere of the and feet, - the apprepriate keys, - keing persea, with the of her besd. eyes, and eye-hds, . directed to the heye. The compect and well preperticeed forma, and easy enaffected air of thie Female Figure, have been gvessly and considured by the very best jedges - happy combission of the asta of Desige - Nechaniom, whish predeces . the same tiase the of respiratice. THE MSCHANICAL DRAWING AND WRITING MASTER, A JUVENILE ARTIST. The fig… | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,190 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 190 | FOR THE FIRST TIME. The Mechanical PEACOCK, THE VIEW OF THE CITY or A - Piece of Anificial Animation which imitases, 6 clofely. the Cries, Altions, and Assicudos of the Sasely and beastifel Bied. thas it ie sot enfrequently fappoled to be an abfolate liv ing Animal, propedly imaned 10 aû as - amuling deception apos the Public. Stockholm, The Magnetic Clock, or to - Viss ell be - ender Sell .... the arrsa well as TRE SEAUTITUC SCENS or THE Nowly is fapported on two Chryfal Columna, and termounted by a charaCerific Figur of which will amule and divert the Company. by difoovering Voyage of Captain Parry to the their arc. on an Aiphobetical Dial Plate, fernifhed with a feif-moving fedex. The Senfative WIND-MILL, North Pole: Which regulases its motion by the apparens impalie of a Word from any Speflator-sa forms - obey the With of the Company by a pelitive Gift of Incaition, His paseage threugh the Frotes Straits, amonger the SELECT EXPERÉMENTS IN FLOATING ICE. HYDRAULICS, Os the Sbore will be - Sequimere, with their Sledges draws by Degs.-Besre persued and , hilled b As See sal be represested Esquimaux Wome is their native Boate; also the Londing of the Sailore from the Discesery Ships. Fary and Hecla. A GRAND DISPLAY OF WATER-WORKS, THIRD PART THE CITY OF The rifes from the frome of the Suge, endafter forming into many delightful Fountains, is conjoined with Amsterdam, FIRE OF DIFFERENT KINDS, wa ou Ast the - bellile Ziements ferioully rell together to the Cieling of the Thestre, the Water The Vise . - the ote The Viee of the Bridge " es the Ametel. The Toes . - ages late Morese thie - - .. of the Met " alfo to the fimme heigle a Lafkre with Candles burning. FIRE-WORKS PLAYING, An Aquatic Exhibition on the River. A . le - several Trephico of Victery. the Ascras of the ie ", tring - diepery oth Experimess, without any Offeince even to the mon delicase but efter Ellers. Perase is - - gaie the Top, .. beer eve, the Pras. TOURTUI PLECE. THE WOVOERFUL ANO UNRIVALLED To will be added fevera) Original Experiments in the Sc… | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,260 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 260 | Fire Nights only. AT THE NEW ASSEMBLY ROOMS. The celebrated CHING LAU LAURO, - - - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CLA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - a - - - - - - - - - - - - The - - - - 1 - - - - CHING LAULAURO um - - - Os Munday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, March the the 1218 121h, and 14th, 1834. = - - - - - - - - - PART #. THE CHEST OF ARCHIMEDES, The Column of - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A at Whet Tim the Wax Candies Eschanted ELEPHANT OF KNOWLEDGE, Forge, Printiag! Flying Watch, MAGE SOTTLE, APPLES OF BEELZEBUB, MAGIC EGGS, LOTEAL 440 with WARIETY - FART n. VENTRILOQUISI - - ROGEERIES OF NICHOLAS. of the Creation, - - the Thruals, Blackbied. Lark, A. - - - - - - de Hir Surprising Poccers of Imitation, CHANGES OF CDUN. - - - Agwy - - the LND DECEPTIONS. PARTE 101. of Strength, - . SEPTO ASTIC EXERCISES. the Jir upou Nothing!! - - - - - - - Allesdance. - - - - - - - M. PABAER - MALE PRICE - - Fim - - - - - - Friday Morsing, at - - 2 - Collection. sumpension in 1832. From the Harry | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,258 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 258 | Five Nights only. AT THE NEW ASSEMBLY ROOMS, The celebrated CHING LAU LAURO, Norcules, and the - furope, Magaro, Nechanicies, of the - and veluable Mechssical, Optical, and Nagient Transformatives - whese Performances the greatest and they hate been eshibited. C.L.L. be had the of Serforming before thes " the " Rreghtee, and ressived letter, by chais Mayesties commend, &m al approvel of ear% Perfermasce, wich Sagether with several others from the Earts of Dewlogh, Nredfent, Marquia leses . Nr Passs's, High etreet of whrth the folloning " repy - Sie rese. Ste, Ny these I have to state that vour Performiece+ " the Pevilion. . the isth of sembei were appreved of by these Majestive Ching Les Lovre, - em vou' Servant See Notel. H The Nebility, Gestry. and the Publer of eiverhamptor and " we séformers the CHING AULAURO LATF or VAUNHALL GARDENS AND DHUNY LINE 1H1 ATKE Well have the beneut of appearing be fore them On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, Narch the 10th, lith, 12th, 13th, and 14th, 1934, To Talente in . complete serice of Ammements. combreing- PART I. THE CHEST OF ARCHIMEDES, AND The Column of These self-ecuing pleces of were recruted by the celebrated am! entraded the Cablest of Curiosities at Paris, ber unforeces the Gefore the completies of these Master pieces of Art, they sere dieposed of and gower - gratify the Public with anch advaired pieces of A Game at Whist, Time Flies, the Wax Candles Enchanted ELEPHANT OF KNOWLEDGE, Fulcan's Forge, Miraculous Printing Flying Watch, NAGIC BOTTLE, APPLES OF BEELZEBUB, MAGEC mags, LOYAL NETAMORPHOSE, &c. with , " II.LUSIONS TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION PART II. VENTRILOQUISII. CHINO LAU LAURO - the hesour to ansounce that, previons to bas return to Loudon to resume his Eagagements, be bes been induced to preseet novel and popular SATIRICAL LEC TURE. and NOV DIVENTI<EMENT, en.itled ROGUERIES OF NICHOLAS. Imitations of the Feathered Crestion, such as the Thrush, Biackbird. Nightingale, Sky Lark, &c. Also vertraying a variety of Eecentric and Cheracters diaw… | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,312 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 312 | For Six Nights only. BY PERMISSION OF the Night the Atayor. In the Large Room, opposite the Custom-House, IN WHITEFRIAR-GATE The Inhabitanits of HULL and its yicinity are respeeifully informed, that On Wednesday Evening, Aug. 26, 1818. And Thursday, Priday, Satarday, Monday ind Eveninge following, The Indian Jugglers Will exhibil their unrivalled Performances: These extraordinary Indians are Natives of Seringapatani, and have been eihibiting for some tume past in the Metropolis, before many of the Nobility, who unanimiously pronouaced them to be the first Masters of the Art in this Kingdom. Amongst the semerous Performances the follewing may be acticed: Various Deceptions with Cups and Balls; CHANGING SAND TO DIFFERENT COLOURS; A SERIES or EVOLUTIOS With Four hollow Brass Balls, about the size of Oranges. The pewer of the Jeggiot over these is miraculess he causes them to describe every possible Circle-horidontally, pendiculasiy, obliquely. transversely, rosed his Legs, under bis abost his Head, in small and lange Circumferences, with wondross rapidity, and keeping the whole is Motion at the same timo. This being the solo fruit of Elort, Activity. quickesse of Eye, and rapidity of Motion, ao one who has not witocsacd it can form as iden of its excellenco. This part of the Performsece will be accumpanied with Music STRINGING BEADS WITH HIS MOUTH, Ae the rame time terning Ringt with bi, Fingers and Tees. Wonberful geat with Large TOGETHER WITH SEVERAL Feats of Balancing, la which ome of the Indians hes a School Doy's common Peg-top, which be commences to spia with great relocity in bis hand, and from theace conveys it os a point as hac as a Needle, Which is balenced on his Chie, and in this situation makes et bow to the Company, while revelving on the before -mentioned point, and afterwards restorce it b, the Werd of Commund, to the Equilibriam sad Stcadiness as whes first spea. Erecting a curious Pagoda on the top of his Nose, AND ASNOVING THE SANE WITH INGENUITY. His manly activity in throwing a Large Ball, the s… | |
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unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,29 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 29 | H Eranion Last photograph of Henry Evans Evanion, conjurer and collector, taken especially for this book in which he was deeply interested. Died June 17th. 1905. From the Harry Houdini Collection. [ 22] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,366 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 366 | ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Eckartshausen's Clock Trick 160 Engraving, Reproduction of, from an Old German Encyclopedia 227 Evanion, Henry Evans 22 Exposure of Barney Eagle 154,155 Faber, Professor, Hanger Advertising Talking Machine 9° Falck Poster Used in 1835 183 Fawkes Advertisement 60,61,62 Fawkes Clipping 64,65,66,67 Fawkes, Isaac, Portrait 59 Frikell, Herr und Frau 3° Frikell Villa 28 Frikell, Wiljalba, in His Youth 297 Garnerin Poster Used in 1815 120 Goose Poster 220 Gyngell, Lithograph 126 Gyngell, Portrait of 122 Gyngell Poster Used in 1816 I2I Gyngell Programme of 1823 125 Haddock Advertisement, 1706 166 Handbill Advertising the Fake Automatic Artist, 1826 III Hardeen, Theo. Weiss 25 Heimburger, Alexander, Illustration 24° Heimburger, Alexander, Portrait of 238 Heimburger, Alexander, Poster 242 Heller, Robert and Haidee, Portraits. 202 Heller, Robert, Grave of 208 Heller, Robert, Programme of 1851, only one in existence 204 Heller Poster Used in 1853 206 Herrmann, Compars, Billings 196,19 Herrmann, Compars, Portrait 194 Herrmann, Compars, Programme 232 Hocus-Pocus, Frontispiece Second Edition, 1635 10 Hofzinser, Johann Nep, Engraving 162 Hogarth's Engraving Entitled 'Taste' 7° Hone's Every Day Book," Reproduction of page 226 68 Houdin and Son Emile 201 Houdin Bas-Relief 47 Houdin Grave 46 Houdin, Robert 8,24,34,41,48 Houdin, Robert, Favorite Lithograph for Advertising Purposes 38 Houdin, Robert, First Appearance before Queen Victoria 39 Houdin, Robert, Poster Used at Sadler's Wells, 1853 44 [iii] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,367 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 367 | ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Houdin, Robert, Poster Used at St. James Theatre, London 40 Houdin, Robert, Poster Used for Emile Houdin Benefit, 1848 43 Houdin, Robert, Poster Used in London, 1848 42 Houdin, Robert, Poster Used in 1852 223,224 Houdin, Robert, Poster Used to Advertise His Trapeze Perform- ance 167 Houdin, Robert, Programme for the Opening of Robert Houdin's * Theatre in Paris 37 Houdin, Robert, The only Poster Showing his Complete Stage- setting 36 Houdini, Harry Frontispiece Indian Basket Trick 276,277,279 Indian Juggler's Handbill 283 Ingleby's Book Frontispiece 259 Ingleby Handbill Dated 1808 258 Jacobs, M., Lithograph 158 Jacobs Poster Featuring the Travelling Card 151 Jefferini Handbill Dated 1833 256 Katterfelto 165 Katterfelto Clipping of 1782 161 Lauro, Ching Lau, Handbill 23I Le Confiseur Galant 139 Leschot, Jean Frédéric, Portrait 95 Louis Programme of 1815 108 Macallister, Andrew, Portrait 193 Macallister, Domingo 134 Macallister Programme 192 M'Kean, Master, Front and Back of Original Handbill distributed in London Streets in 1831 213 Manfrede, Blasius de Manfre or Blaise, Rare Woodcut 272 Marchand, Floram 275 Marriot Programme Featuring Cabalistic Art in 1831 255 Mysterious Lady Billing 215 Mysterious Lady Cut 2 1 6 Neve, Richard, Frontispiece, 1715 17 Philipsthal, de, Poster Used in 1811 104 Philipsthal Programme of 1806 173 Philipsthal Programme of 1803 102,103 Phillippe and Assistant Domingo 134 Phillippe Lithograph, 1842 137 Phillippe Poster 184 Phillippe Poster Used in 845-46 132 [iv] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,352 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 352 | ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Phillippe, Reproduction of Pastel Portrait 13° Pinchbeck, Jr., Christopher, A Very Rare Mezzotint 57 Pinchbeck, Sr 53 Pinetti Clipping of 1784 2T0 Pinetti, I. I., Portrait of 73 Pinetti, I. I., Woodcut Used in 1796 72 Pinetti's Autograph 79 Pinetti's Book Frontispiece 78 Porta, John Baptist II Poster of the Learned Goose 220 Poster Used for Benefit of de Philipsthal, 1829 IIO Programmes and Posters Reproduced, 26, 37,39.40,42,43,44.81, 102, 193, 104, 108, IIO, III, II3, II4, 118, 120, 121, 125, 132, 147. 150, 151, 154, I 55, 156, 161, 167, 170, 173, 182, 183, 184, 188,189,191,192,196,197,204,206,212,214,215,216,220, 221,223,224,231,232,234,242,253.254,255,256,258,261, 269,272,282,283,292,309,311. 3°3 Rannin Lithograph, Showing Him Doing Sword-Walking Act 269 Robin, Henri 198 Robin, M. and Mme., in Second Sight 218 Samee, Ramo, Handbill 282 Savren, James, Poster Used by, in 1855 26 Schmidt Programme Used in 1827 113 Schmidt Poster IT4 Schmidt Programme of 1821 182 Suspension Chloriforeene Lithograph 234 Thiodon Bill of 1825 173 Testot, Programme Featuring Cabalistic Art in 1826 254 Testot Rare Handbill Printed about 1800 253 Water Spouter 272 Water Spouter and Juggler 275 White, John 15 Whole Art of Legerdemain, Frontispiece from Ingleby's Book 259 Wiegleb's Diagram of Orange-Tree Trick 52 Witgeest's, Simon, Frontispiece from Book of Natural Magic, 1682 13 Writing and Drawing Figure from Manning's Robert-Houdin Brochure 84 Young, E. W., Lithograph 152 | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,365 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 365 | ILLUSTRATIONS PAGR Breslaw Lithograph 164 Buck, English Conjurer, Only Portrait Known 257 Buck Handbill Dated 1844 261 Cabalistic Art 254 Cabalistic Art Featured on Marriott Programme in 1831 255 Cabalistic Art Featured on Testot Programme in 1826 254 Cabinet Trick Offered by Davenport Brothers 200 Cagliostro, Comtesse de, Portrait of 251 Cagliostro, l'Almanach de, The Brahmin's Suspension 229 Cagliostro, Rare Pastel Portrait 248 Charles Poster Used in 1820. 128 Chinese Magicians 227 Ching Lau Lauro Handbill 23X Clipping Advertising the Writing and Drawing Figures Exhibited by Jacquet Droz 99 Clipping of 1812 Proving the Partnership of de Philipsthal and Maillardet 197 Clipping Used by Christopher Pinchbeck in 728 54 Clock Trick, Eckartshausen's 160 Cornillot, M., Reproduction of Handbill 81 Davenport Brothers' Announcement 292 Davenport Brothers 14 Davenport Brothers' Cabinet Trick 200 Davenport Brothers in Their Prime, Portraits of 288 Decremps, Henri 74 Decremps Signature 76 Döbler, Farewell Programme 180 Döbler, Ludwig, Portrait 187, 100 Döbler Programme 19.1 Döbler Programme Dated 1842 188 Domingo Macallister 134 Don Carlos, "the Double-sighted Dog Billing Used 221 Droz Automaton 96,98 Droz Figure of Cupid 80 Droz, Henri-Louis Jacquet 94 Droz, Jacquet, Drawing Figure TOO Droz, Pierre Jacquet, Portrait of 02 Droz Writing Automaton Specimens in 1796 86 Dutchwoman, Decoration Used to Advertise 214 Eagle, Barnardo, Frontispiece from Eagle's Book 153 Eagle, Barney, Poster 156 Eckartshausen's Automatic Rope Vaulter 169 [ii] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,340 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 340 | IM SARL. Dienstag, dem 25. Januar 1648. Neue und ausserordentliche VORSTELLUNG im Gebiete der NATÜRLICHEN' ZAUBEREI, mit Hülfe der Experimental-Physik, Mechanik, Electricität, Hydraulik und des Galvanismus, gegeben von dem grossen nordischen Zauberer Professor I. ANDERSON aus London bekannt in England unter dem Namen: "THE GREAT WIZARD OF THE NORTH." Herr Professor Anderson schmeicheit sich mit der Hoffunn. dass seine Productio- nea, welche in LONBON.PETERSBURG, BERLIN.STOCKHOLN, COPÉNHAGEN und zuletzt in HAMBURG die chrendste Amerkennung fanden. sich auch der Theilnahme des hiesigem hochverehrlichen Publikums erfreuen werden. Progra me m. Erste Abtheilung: 1. Zwei fliehende Schnapflücher. 2. Die wonderbare Mühle und der gelebrte Ägyptier. 3. Ein neues Zauberspiel, genannt die apsserordentliche Metamorphose. 4. Der Todte wird lebend, der Lebeade stirbt. (Neu.) 5. Ein schuell zubereitetes Frühstück. 6. Zum Erstenmale! Ausserordentliches Experiment: Herr Professor ANDERSON wird 6 Uhren durch den Körper. eines der Anwesenden passiren lassen, ohne dass derselbe lndi- gestionen bekomnit. 7. Ein grosses Manöver mit 12 Schnapflüchern. 8- Aus dem Hate irgend eines Anwesenden entwickeln sich auf den Wink des grossen Zaubrers Tausende von Blumen-Bouquetts, Tausende von Flaggen aller Nationen, Schuüren, Puppen ect. sowie ein vollständiges zweischläfriges Federbett. Zweite Abtheilung: 1. Banknoten und Preussische Thalerscheine halten die Feuerprobe. 2 Die gehorsame Flasche. 3. Die sprechenden und tanzenden Thaler. 4. Das Wasser wird lebend. 5. Die schnelle Wäsche. Ein gitter Rath für unerfahrne Hausmütter. 6. Die ägyptischen Wunder. Preise der Plätze Erster Platz 16 Ggr. Zweiter Platz 8 Ggr. Gallerie 4 Ggr. Cassen-Oeffnung 6 Uhr. Anfang 7 Uhr. Eatrée-Billets sind am Tage der Vorstellung im Ballhofs-Saale bei Herrn Evers, zu erhalten. Handbill used by Anderson in Germany. January, 1848, when Robert- Houdin claimed that he was playing in the English provinces. From the Harry Houdini Collection. [311] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,369 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 369 | INDEX PAGE PAGB Tolmaque 289 Trick, Suspension 49,222,31 Tom and Jerry 230 Trick, Suspension, Ethereal, Tom Thumb, Gen 24I 222-312 Torrini, 35,38,52,140,209, Trick, Suspension, Chlorifo- 250,300,301 reene 233 Toulet, Mlle. Louise 289 Trick, Suspension, of Sheshal 230 Tours de Cartes et de Gibe- Trick, The Inexhaustible Bot- cière 279 tle 49,312 Travelling Bottle 185,188 Trick, The Pastry Cook of the Travelling Card, Poster of Palais Royal 49 Jacobs. 151 Trick, The Vaulting Trapeze Tribune, New York 240,241 Automaton 49, 141 Trick, Apple-Tree 5 I Trick, Watch in Loaf of Trick, Basket, Illustrations, Bread 276,277,279 Trick, Writing and Drawin~ Trick, Bell 242 Figure 49 Trick Cabinet of the Daven- Two Elegant Automata 172 port Brothers 290 Trick, Chinese, of Climbing Unmasking of Robert-Hou- into Air 227 din 33 Chinese, Reproduction Ure, Andrew, M.D of 227 T. rick Clock, Diagram of I 60 Van Esten, Mr 168 Trick Disappearing Hand- Vaucanson 41,95 kerchief 245-254 Verlag. Heusers 287 Trick, Indian Basket, Voisin 163 276,277,291 Trick. Magic Clock. Diagram Walking Cards, The 156 of 160 Water-spouter 272,273,275 Trick, Mystic 163 Water-spouter and Juggler 27. Trick, Obedient Card, fea- Webster, Daniel 243 tured on a Barney Eagle Weiss, Rev. M. S., Poster 156 dedication page Trick, Orange-Tree 51-55 Weiss, Ehrich (Harry Hot- Trick, Orange-Tree, Diagram dini) Frest. spièce of 52 Weiss, Theodore Hardeen 1 25 Trick, Rope-tying 293 White Magic 35 Trick, Second Sight 49,200,312 White Magic Exposed Trick, Secret of Trained Bird White, John I2 and Bell 243 White, John, Portrait of 15 Trick, Shoulder of Mutton Wiegleb, Johann Cliristian 14 and Card 257 Willmann, Carl 305 1- GENERAL BOOKBINDING co. 125ST C34 6017 75 53 ED QUALITY CONTROL MARK | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,354 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 354 | INDEX PAGE PAGE Adelphia Theatre 256 185, 191, 233,235,289,297 Advertisement from the Lon- 308-310 don Daily Post during 1730 Anderson, Mrs. Hannah 146 showing the Orange Tree Anderson, Mrs. Leona A., as as Offered by the Senior she Appeared in the Sus- Fawkes 55 pension Trick 236 Album des Soirées 217 Anderson Poster, Alexander the Conjurer 233 Alexander the Conjurer, Illus- Anderson Window Poster Ex- tration 240 posing Barney Eagle 155 Allen, Prof. George 267 Announcement used by Day- Althotas 251,252 enport Brothers 292 American Magicians, Society Antonio 302 of 307 Apple-tree Trick 5r Anatomie of Legerdemain 180 Appleby's Weekly 55 Anciens et Nouveaux Tours A rts, Manufactures a n d d'Escamotage 279 Mines, Dictionary of 9. I Anderson and Son Lithograph Astley, Philip, Esq., An His- presenting 'Suspension torical Circus Director 19 Chloriforeene" 234 Astley, Philip, Esq., Portrait Anderson Billing of 1838 150 of 19 Anderson's Book Cover-de- Astor Library 24I sign 148 Astronomic Musical Clock 55 Anderson Handbill used in Aufschlüsse zur Magie, Repro- Hannover, Germany 311 duction of an Illustration. 169 Anderson, J. H., 14, 23, 25, Autograph a n d Portrait, 119,131,145 Pierre Jacquet-Droz 92 Anderson, J. H., Lithograph, Autograph of Decremps, 75 186,317 Automata, Two Elegant 172 Anderson, J. H., Portrait of Automaton Chess Player, 266, 267 Wife and Son 146 Automaton Trapeze 166 Anderson, J. H., Very Rare Automaton Writer of Jac- Poster used in 1838, 147, quet-Droz 96 [321] 1 | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,355 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 355 | INDEX PAGE PAGE Balls, Crystal 222 Bosco 235,298,302,393 Balsamo, Joseph 250 Bosco, Bartolomeo, Photo- Bamberg 235 engraving of 3° Barnum, P. T....43.85.241) 296 Bosco's Grave, Photograph of 306 Barnum, P. T., Portrait of 86 Bosco, Madame, Photogmaph Barrel, The Inexhaustible 180 of 305 Bartholomew Fair Memoirs, Bottle, Inexhaustible, 176, by Morley 16 181, 84, 186, 188, 195, 222 Basch, Ernst 49.138 Bottle, Infernal, Poster used Basch, Ernst, and Le Confi- by Phillippe 184 seur Galant, Photograph 139 Bottle, Magic 192 Basket Trick, Indian 276,277 Bottle of Sobriety and In- Basket Trick, Indian Boy. II- ebriety 182 lustration 279 Bottle, Travelling 185 Batuta, Ian 226 Box, Crystal 222 Beckett, Mr 219 Brahmin Suspension Hlus- Beckmann 211 tration 220 Beckmann's, John, History of Breslaw 3.143.103.209, 221 Inventions and Discoveries Breslaw, Book on Magic, Published in 1797 14 Frontispiece of 144 Bell Trick 242 Breslaw Lithograph 164 Benton 143 Breslaw, Triple Colored Lith- Berthoud's Treatise on ograph of 164 Clockmaking 35 Brewster, Sir David 181 Bertram, Charles 16 Brick-mason Macallister 193 Bertram, Charles, Portrait of 20 Britten's Clock and Watch Billing used by Mysterious Maker 56 Lady 215 Broken Heart, The 286 Billing used for the dog, Don Buck, Only Known Por- Carlos. 221 trait 257 Biography, Dictionary of Buck Handbill 261 National 54 Bismarck 7 Cabalistic Art featured on Blackstone 7 Marriott Programme 255 Blitz, Signor, 4.235.267 Cabalistic Art featured on Blitz, Signor Antonio, Por- Testot Programme 254 trait of 18 Cabalistic or Obedient Clock, Boaz 23 156-157 Bolin, T 49,163 Cabinet Trick offered by Bologna 116 Davenport Brothers 200 Bologna Bill of 1812 170 Cabinet Trick Print 290 Bologna Poster 118 Cagliostro. 72.250.252,254 [322] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,356 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 356 | INDEX PAGE PAGE Cagliostro, Comtesse de, rare Clipping from the London Portrait 251 Telegraph in March, 1812 107 Cagliostro, l'Almanach 209 Clock and Watch Maker, Cagliostro, Pastel Portrait of 248 Britten's 56 Calhoun 243 Clock, Astronomic Musical. 55 Card in the Pocket 183 Clock Pedestal 166 Card Trick as featured by Clock Trick, Diagram Ex- Anderson in 1836-1837 142 poses 160 Cards, The Obedient 141-156 Clockmaking, Berthoud's Caroly's L'Illusionniste 199 Treatise on 35 Castinia, Sieur 166 Confectioner's Shop 166 Century of Inventions 281 Confidences d'un Prestidigita- Charles 116,127 teur 300 Charles Poster dated about Confidence et Révélations 49 821 128 Conjurer Unmasked, The, Chess Congress, Book of First 74.75.168 American 267 Conjurer's Pocket, The 160 Chess Player, Automaton, 266, 267 Comment on Devient Sorcier 265 Chinese Trick, Reproduction Cook, the Pastry, of the of an Engraving 227 Palais Royal 116,172 Ching Lau Lauro Suspension 230 Cornillot 25.52 Ching Lau Lauro Programme 231 Cornillot Handbill 79 Ching Ling Foo. 240 Count Pererilli 235 Chloriforeene Suspension. 233 Course of Experimental Phi- Chloriforeene Suspension, losophy 18: Lithograph 234 Creation of Flowers Igo Chronicle, The 177 Crystal Balls 222 Cireus Director Astley 10 Crystal Box 222 Circus Life and Circus Celeb- Cupid, The Figure of, as ex- rities 16 ecuted by the Droz Draw- Clay, Henry 243 ing Figure 87 Clayton, Sir William 49 Clipping from Newspaper fea- Dale, E. J 207 turing Pinetti, Second Sight 2T0 Davenport Brothers, Clipping from Newspaper of 149, ,287.289.291,316 Jacquet-Droz 101 Davenport Brothers, An- Clipping from Newspaper of nouncement of 202 Katterfelto, from 1782 161 Davenport Brothers, Cabinet Clipping from the London Trick of 290 Daily Post of Nov. 3°, Davenport Brothers, Photo- 1728, used by Christopher graphs of 288 Pinchbeck 54 Dean, Henry 180 [323] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,358 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 358 | INDEX PAGE PAGE Faber, Prof 88 Gantziony, Natural and Un- Falaise, James de 275 natural Magic, dated 1489 I 2: Falck of Koenigsberg, Garde Française 222 182, 183, 184 Garnerin 116,119 Falck of Koenigsberg Poster 183 Garnerin Poster I20 Fantastic Portfolio 222 Garrick Theatre 286 Father of English Prose 226 Gazette, Evening 24I Fawkes 14, 51, 52, 56,58 Gentlemen's Magazine 56 Fawkes Advertisement 55,60 Globe, The 177 Fawkes, Isaac, Portrait of, 59, 68 Goose, Learned 219 Fawkes Newspaper Clipping, Goose, Learned, Poster 220, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67 Grande Initiation au vraie Feliciani, Seraphinia, Com- Pratique des Célèbres Phy- tesse de Cagliostro, rare siciens-Prestidigitateurs. 278: Portrait 251 Grave of Bartolomeo Bosco 306 Fifty Years in the Magic Cir- Grave of Robert Heller 208. cle 267 Grave of Robert-Houdin 46. Flora's Gift 183,100 Grisy, Count Edmond de 38: Flowers, Creation of 190 Guillon, Marie Catherine 33: Flowers, Origin of 222 Gun Delusion, The 128,155 Frikell, Herr und Frau, Por- Gutle, Johann Conrad 163, trait of 3° Guyot's Physical and Math- Frikell, Villa 28 ematical Recreations 14.3. Frikell, Wiljalba, 9, 26,27 Gyngell, 29,31.32,235,296,299 25,116,121,124,166,172 Frikell, Wiljalba, in his Gyngell's Colored Lithograph 126. Youth 297 Gyngell's Letter to Evanion 124 Frontispiece from Breslaw's Gyngell's Portrait I22 Book on Magic 144 Gyngell's Poster I2I Frontispiece from Eagle's Gyngell's Programme 125 Book 259 Frontispiece from Hocus Po- Haddock 105,116,117 cus, second edition of 1635, Haddock Advertisement 106 IO-12 Halle, Johann Samuel 14 Frontispiece from Ingleby's Halle's, Johann Samuel, Ma- Book, Whole Art of Leger- gic or The Magical Power demain 259 of Nature 14. Frontispiece from Richard Hamilton 45, 28q. Neve's Book on Magic 17 Handbill Advertising the Frontispiece from Simon Fake Automatic Artist III Witgeest 13 Handbill of Buck 261 Frost, Thomas. 16,228 Handbill of Ingleby 258: 1325] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,359 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 359 | INDEX PAGE PAGE Handbill of Jefferini 256 History of Inventions 211 Handbill of Original Indian History of Inventions and Jugglers 283 Discoveries, by John Beck- Handbill of Ramo Samee. 282 mann 14 Handbill of Testot 253 Hobbs, Hart & Cou, London 28: Handbill, Reproduced Front Hocus-Poeus 43. TSo and Back, used to Adver- Hoeus-Pocus, Frontispiece tise Master M'Kean : 212 second edition. 1635 10,12 Handbill used by Anderson Hoffmann, Professor, in Germany 311 265, 278,279. 281, 286 Handkerchief, Disappearing, Hofzinser, Johann Nep., rare 245-254 Engraving of 162 Hardee's "Tactics" 7 Hooper's Recreations 211 Heads of King George and Houdin, Cecile Eglantine 33 Queen Charlotte, executed Houdin. Emile 47 in their Presence by Droz Houdin, Emile, Benefit Post- Drawing Figure in 1774 100 er at St. James Theatre in Hebb, William 62 1848. 42 Heimburger, Alexander, II- Houdin, Favorite Lithograph lustration 24° for Advertising Purposés Heimburger, Alexander. Pho- used by Robert-Houdin 38 tograph of 238 Houdin, Jean-Eugene Ro- Heimburger, Alexander, Pro- bert- Portrait taken in 1868 34 gramme, the Suspension Houdin Poster announcing Trick 242 the Appearance of Robert- Heimburger, Herr 233.237 Houdin before Queen Vic- Heller, Robert 205,207 toria and her Court 39 Heller, Robert and Haidee, Houdin Poster used during Portraits of 202 an Eastern Engagement at Heller, Robert, Grave 208 the St. James Theatre, Heller, Robert, Programme. - 204 London 49 Heller, Robert, Poster 206 Houdin Programme for the Henry, M 116,125 Opening of Robert-Houdin Herald, New York 241 Theatre in Paris, July 3. Herrmann, Alexander 179 845 37 Herrmann, Compars, Houdin, Robert-, 7. 16, 23, 25, 195,233,235,296,297,299 35. 38. 45, Herrmann, Compars, Best 50, 52. 195. 197. 235 Portrait in Existence 194 Houdin, Robert-, and Son Herrmann. Compars, Billing 196 Emile, Illustration pre- Herrmann, Compars, Pro- senting Second Sight...... 201 grammes 197,232 Houdin. Robert-, as he ap- [326] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,368 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 368 | INDEX PAGE PAGE Henri, Second Sight. 218 Spirit Bell 24 l'Almanach de Ca- Suspension, Brahmin Illustra- TO 229 tion 229 ge, George, & Co 278 Suspension Chloriforeene. 233 Jules de 116, 128 Suspension Chloriforeene larence Theatre 256 Lithograph 234 Inn 166 Suspension, Ethereal 222,312 Suspension featured by Com- W 217 pars Herrmann, a Pro- erz 28q gramme of 1848 232 Ramo, Handbill. 282, 286 Suspension Trick 222 James 25 Suspension Trick, As Mrs. James, Poster 26 Leona A. Anderson ap- berg 267 peared 236 112, 116,172,181 182 Suspension Trick, Programme Poster 114 Presenting, by Alexander Programmeof 1821, 182 Heimburger 242 Programme used in Suspension Trick used by 113 Robert-Houdin 224 ic Amusements 35 Sight 200 Talking Machine, Hanger Sight, by M. and Mme. Advertisement 88 218 Taste, Engraving by Hogarth 7° Sight, Illustration 201 Testot Handbill 253 Sight of the Young Testot, M. Félix 255 landers 214 Testot Programme featuring de la Prestidigitation 49 Cabalistic Art 254 of Conjuring and Theatre, Adelphia 256 265,278 Theatre, Garrick 286 of Magic 49,302 Theatre, Liverpool 256 of Stage Conjuring. Theatre, Robert-Houdin 47 279,281,299 Theatre, Royal Clarence 256 230 The Secrets of Conjuring and onfectioner's 166 Magic 265-278 re of Decremps 75 The Secrets of Stage Conjur- Elder & Co 54 ing 279, 281, 299 of American Magi- The Temple of the Muses 56 397 The Trapeze Automaton.... 166 ens of Penmanship The Trapeze Performer 168 ited by Droz's Writing The Trapeze Tumbler 222 maton in 1796 and Thiodon Bill of 1825 173.1 174 respectively 84 Three Talented Highlanders. 214 [331] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,361 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 361 | INDEX PAGE PAGE Lee, Sidney 54 lin in 1784 by Johann Le Manuel des Sorciers 279 Samuel Halle 14 Le Prieuré 49 Magic, The Old and the New, L'Escalopier, Count de 43,280 by H. R. Evans 16 Les Radiations Lumineuses. 49 Magie des XIX. Jahrhun- Les Secrets de la Prestidigita- derts von Uriarte 287 tion et de la Magie 278 Magie et Physique amusante, Les Tricheries des Grecs 49 49,279 Letter to Evanion from Gyn- Mahomet 285 gell 124 Maillardet 105 Letters on Natural Magic 181 Mandeville, Sir John 11,226 Le Voltigeur Trapeze 166 Manfrede, Blaise 271,274 Lewis, Angelo J 265 Manfrede, Blaise, Wood-cut. 272 Lithograph of Rannin doing Marchand, Floram 274 the Sword-walking Act 269 Marchand, Floram, Publica- Lithograph showing All of tion 275 Phillippe's Tricks 137 Marriott, the Celebrated, Pro- Liverpool Theatre 256 gramme featuring Cabal- Lives of the Conjurers 16,228 istic Art 255 London Daily Post Clipping Martin, Henri 104 of Christopher Pinchbeck, Martinka, Francis J 207 from Nov. 30, 1728 54 Maskelyne IIO London Telegraph Clipping Masonic Order 252 of March, 1812 107 Materia Prima 252 Louis Programme 108,171 Mechanism, View of Jacquet- Droz Writing Machine 98 Macallister 134,135,195 Melies, M 48 Macallister, Andrew, Por- Memoirs of Marquis de Mer- trait of 193 ville 287 Macallister, Brick-mason. 193 Memoirs, Robert-Houdin's, Macallister Programme 192 14-51, 52, 176, 203, 217, M'Kean, Louis Gordon 213 2 22,225,245,266,268,280, M'Kean, Master, Handbill 212 295,296,300,302,318 MacKenzie, R. Shelton 49,265 Merode, Cleo de 3I Maëlzel 266,267 Merville, Memoirs of Marquis Mag, Miss Matilda 289 de 287 Magazine, Gentlemen's 56 Mezzotint of Christopher Magic Bottle 192 Pinchbeck, Jr 57 Magic, Natural and Unnat- Mezzotint of Christopher ural, by Gantziony 1 2 Pinchbeck, Sr 53 Magic, or the Magical Power Mitchell, Dr. J. K 266 of Nature, printed in Ber- Mitchell, John 45,297 [328] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,362 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 362 | INDEX PAGE PAGE Modern Magician 239 Origin of Flowers 222 Morley's Memoirs of Bartho- Original Billing used by Mys- lomew Fair 16 terious Lady 215 Morse, S. F. B 24I Mortimer, Dr. W. Golden 207 Pastel Portrait of Cagliostro. 248 Mortimer's Mysteries 207 Pastry Cook of the Palais Moving Pictures 67 Royal 116,172,193 Mysterious Lady, Billing used Pedestal Clock 166 by 215 Pepper, Mr 299 Mysterious Lady, Cut of 216 Pererilli, Count 235 Mystic Bell Trick, The 163 Phantasmagoria, A de Phil- ipsthal Programme 102,103 Naconnier, Françoise Mar- Philipsthal's Programme of guerite Olympe 33 806 173 Narrowness of Robert-Hou- Phillippe, 23, 45, 116, 129, din's Memoirs 295 133, 135, 184, 185, 193, 195 Natural Magic, by Johann Phillippe Lithograph and his Christian Wiegleb 14 Scotch Assistant Domingo. 134 Natural Magic, by Simon Phillippe Pastel Portrait 130 Witgeest I 2 Phillippe Poster 132,184 Natural Magic Frontispiece 13 Phillippe Poster featuring Natural Magick in XX Bookes the Infernal Bottle 184 by John Baptist Porta I 2 Philosophy, Course of Exper- Neve, Richard 14 imental 181 Neve, Richard, Frontispiece, Photo-engraving of Bartolo- Work on Magic 17 meo Bosco 301 Newspaper, The Lady's 177 Photograph of Alexander Niblo's Garden 24I Heimburger 238 Noriet, M 35 Photograph of Bosco's Grave 306 Nouveau Manuel Complet Photograph of Mme. Bosco. 305 Sorciers, les scènes de Ven- Pinchbeck, Christopher, triloquie 279 52, 54, 56, 58 Nouveile Magie Blanche Dé- Pinchbeck, Christopher, Jr., voilée et Cours Complet de a very rare Mezzotint 57 Prestidigitation 278 Pinchbeck, Christopher, Sr., The Oldest and Rarest Obedient Cards, The 141-156 Mezzotint in the Wor'd Old and New Magic 16 Pertaining to the History Old London Fairs 16 of Magic 53 Old Showman, The 16 Pinchbeck, Clipping from Opre 140 London Daily Post of Nov. Orange Trick 51-55 30. 1729 54 [329] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,363 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 363 | INDEX PAGE PAGE Pinetti, 23,35, 38, 52, 69, 71, Programme of de Philipsthal 73, 76, 171, 209, 2II, 213, Benefit IIO 221, 298, 300, 301, 302 Programme of Döbler 188 Pinetti, Chevalier 182 Programme of Macallister 192 Pinetti, Clipping featuring Punch 177 Second Sight 210 Punch Cartoon reproduced, Pinetti, Engraving of 7² proving J. H. Anderson's Pinetti, Signora 211,213 Inexhaustible Bottle Trick 186 Pocket, Conjurer's 160 Polk, President 243 Ramo Samee Handbill 282,286 Polonnese 1 7 2 Rannin Lithograph 269 Ponsin, J. N 278 Rannin Lithograph showing Porta, John Baptist 12 Walking on Swords 269 Porta, John Baptist, Por- Rare Poster of Learned Goose 220 trait of II Raynaly, Mons. E 69 Portrait of Buck 257 Recreations, Hooper's 2II Portrait of Compars Herr- Recreations, Physical a n d mann 194 Mathematical, by Guyot 143 Portrait of Eugene Bosco 315 Recréations Physiques 279 Portrait of Henry E. Evanion 22 Redmond, Professor 289 Portrait of Henri Robin 198 Reproduction of an Engrav- Portrait of Robert and ing of Chinese Trick Climb- Haidee Heller 202 ing into the Air 227 Portrait of Wiljalba Frikell Reproduction of an Illustra- in His Youth 297 tion in "Aufschlüsse zur Poster of Robert-Houdin on Magie' 169 which his Complete Reper- Reproduction of Cartoon in toire Appears 224 Punch, 1843, proving An- Poster used by Anderson in derson's Inexhaustible Bot- London, 1848 313 tle Trick 186 Poster used by Falck of Koe- Reproduction of Handbill nigsberg 183 used to Advertise Master Poster used by Heller 206 M'Kean 212 President Polk 235,243 Reproduction of Handbills Print showing Cabinet Trick. 290 used by Mysterious Lady. 216 Programme, Farewell, of Dö- Robert, Jean-Eugene, bler 189 33,34,35,40 Programme of Anderson 848 309 Robert, Prosper 33 Programme of Ching Lau Robertson, E. G 76 Lauro 231 Robin, Henri, 197,199,217 Programme of Compars Herr- 289,296,297,298 mann 196,197,232 Robin, Henri, Portrait of 198 [330] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,360 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 360 | INDEX PAGE PAGE peared to the English Crit- Indian Jugglers Handbill 283 ics. Reproduced from the Inexhaustible Bottle, The, Illustrated London News, 176, 181, 184, 186, 188, 195, 222 December 23, 1848 4t Infernal Bottle Poster used Houdin, Robert-, Bas-relief by Phillippe in 1838 184 on Tombstone 47 Ingleby Handbill 258 Houdin, Robert-) Grave of 46 Ingleby the Senior 256,258 Houdin, Robert-, last Photo- Ingleby's Book, Frontispiece, graph taken and used as Whole Art of Legerdemain 259 the Frontispiece for Mem- Introduction 7 oirs. 48 Inventions, History of 211 Houdin. Robert-, only Poster showing his Complete Stage Jacobs, M. 149,296,297 Setting 36 Jacobs, M. Portrait of 158 Houdin, Robert-, Portrait 8 Jacobs, M., Poster 151 Houdin, Robert-, Poster on Jefferini Handbill 256 which His Complete Reper- Jefferini. Mr 256 toire Appears 223 Jeux de Société 279 Houdin, Robert- Poster used Jugglers, Indian, Handbill 283 in London in 1848 42 Journal des Sciences 268 Houdin. Robert-, Poster used Journal. The Court 177 ito Advertise His Trapeze Performance 167 Katterfelto 23,161,166 Houdin, Robert- Poster when Katterfelto Clipping of 1782. 161 he Played at Sadler'sWells, Katterfelto Portrait 165 London, in 1853 44 Kempelen, M. de 266 Houdin, Robert-, Rare Litho- King George and Queen Char- graph 24 lotte Heads, executed by Houdini, Harry, Portrait, the Droz Drawing Figure Frontispiece in 1774 TOO How to Become a Wizard 278 Koin King, The, T. Nelson Hulton, Charles 181 Downs 265 Kraus, K. K 260 Illusionniste, The 199 Illustration of Hindoo Basket Lady's Newspaper 177 Trick 276,277,279 L'Almanach Cagliostro 299 Illustration of the Brahmin La Magie Blanche Dévoilée, Suspension 229 or White Magic Exposed, Inaudi 203 35.52.211 Indian Basket Trick, Learned Goose 210 276,277,279 Learned Goose Poster 220 Indian Jugglers 275 Le Confiseur Galant 137 [327] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,34 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 34 | INTRODUCTION "Herr verreist," meaning "The master is on tour." This, I knew, from his age, could not be true, SO I took a week off for personal investigation. I ar- rived at Kötchenbroda on the morning of April 8th, 1903, at 4 o'clock, and was directed to his home, known as "Villa Frikell." Having found my bearings and studied well the exterior of the house, I returned to the depot to await daylight. At 8:30 I reappeared at his door, and was told by his wife that Herr Frikell had gone away. I then sought the police department from which I secured the following information: "Dr." Wiljalba Frikell was indeed the retired magician whom I was so anxious to meet. He was eighty-seven years old, and in 1884 had celebrated his golden anniversary as a conjurer. Living in the same town was an adopted daughter, but she could not or would not assist me. The venerable magician had suf- fered from domestic disappointments and had made a VOW that he would see no one. In fact he was leading a hermit-like life. Armed with this information, I employed a photog- rapher, giving him instructions to post himself opposite the house and make a snap shot of the magician, should he appear in the doorway. But I had counted without my host. All morning the photographer lounged across the street and all morning I stood bareheaded before the door of Herr Frikell, pleading with his wife who leaned from the window overhead. With that peculiar fervency which comes only when the heart's desire is at stake, I begged that the past master of magic would lend a help- ing hand to one ready to sit at his feet and learn. I urged [27] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,38 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 38 | INTRODUCTION After the performance I dropped into the König Kaffe and was much annoyed by the staring and gesticulations of an elderly couple at a distant table. It was Frikell with his wife, but I did not recognize them and, not being certain on his side, he failed to make himself known. That was mid-week, and for Saturday, which fell on October 8th, 1903, I had an engagement to call at the Villa Frikell. On Thursday, the Central Theatre being sold out to Cleo de Merode, who was playing special engagements in Germany with her own company, I made a flying business trip to Berlin, and on my return I passed through Kötchenbroda. As the train pulled into the station I hesitated. Should I drop off and see Herr Frikell, or wait for my appointment on the morrow? Fate turned the wheel by a mere thread and I went on to Dresden. So does she often dash our fondest hopes! My appointment for Saturday was at 2 P.M., and as my train landed me in Kötchenbroda a trifle too early I walked slowly from the depot to the Villa Frikell, not wishing to disturb my aged host by arriving ahead of time. I rang the bell. It echoed through the house with pe- culiar shrillness. The air seemed charged with a quality which I presumed was the intense pleasure of realizing my long cherished hope of meeting the great magician. A lady opened the door and greeted me with the words: "You are being waited for." I entered. He was waiting. for me indeed, this man who had consented to meet me, after vowing that he would never again look into the face of a stranger. And Fate had forced him to keep that VOW. Wiljalba Frikell was dead. The body, clad in the best his wardrobe afforded, [ 3I ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,22 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 22 | INTRODUCTION C JOHN WHITE, Autbor of ART's Treafury, and Hocus Pocus ; or a Rich Cabinet of Legerdemain Curiofities. John White, an English writer on magic and kindred arts in the early part of the eighteenth century. Only portrait in existence and published for the first time since his book was issued in 1715. From the Harry Houdini Col- lection. [ 15 | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,33 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 33 | INTRODUCTION Corn Exchange, Maidstone, legacy, which is now the central jewel in my col- FOR TWO NIGHTS ONLY. lection. Evanion died UNDER DISTINGUASHED PATRONAGE. THEBAND ten days later, June 17th, and within a short time or THE vertzun LIGET INFANTSY MILITIA his good wife followed wn attend on each Erening by the tund cerminsion of Col. Ser Thos. M. Wilson, Bart. him into the Great Un- known. Even more dramatic was my meeting with the widow of Frikell, the great German conjurer. I had heard that Frikell and not Robert-Houdin SOIREES MYSTERIEUSES 1! was the first magician MR. J. SAVREN, to discard cumbersome, draped stage apparatus, Artist in Experimental Philosophy, and Natural Magic, Sege . inform the - of thet of and to don evening . Novel - The te deme by - - of the The MISTICAL ILLUSTRATION will MODERN clothes, and I was most anxious to verify this MAGIC rumor, as well as to in- terview him regarding equally important data The Illusionary of Natural Science, Egyptian Mystery, the Manipulation of the Chinese, the greatest Recamotes in the World. PROGBAMME EXTRAORDINAIRR bearing on the history of PARE L The Obediees Carde and theie Eccestricities Le Mouchod- de confocum, " What wit be The Croutal Torala, its Divination, ne the Oracle Hundred Yeare? magic. Having heard of Fomale Destiny The Grand Escomotago, the Mireculous Pre- The VANGAL of VENUS is the Prisco of sectasion to the Bacchue The Bassers of - - Molti- The Wateh Mascrovre, or the Wooders of Magical farione Production in of the that he lived in Kötchen- Manipsiation ALLIES PART IL A Night is the PALACE of NANKIN, or Novel The Coffers of the Stores Represvetation of the Wonder Working broda, a suburb of Dres- and Spint like Tou de phymique Magie of the great Celestial Empire of The Evenoncent Powers of Bodino CHINA Fiora's Tree . Minatore and CONE a Liquid Metamorphosi and reprodection of the Le Estraordisaire, les Bonlots des Allies Coldee Circled in Peratorial The CHINESE CREATION, the mout Brilliant den, I wrote to him from The Mesallic Currency, i… | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,24 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 24 | INTRODUCTION Frontispiece from Richard Neve's work on magic, showing him performing the egg and bag trick about 1715. Photographed from the original in the British Museum by the author. 2 [ (17 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,20 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 20 | INTRODUCTION Het Natuurlijk TOVER-BOECK of SPEEL =TONEEL der KONSTEN Frontispiece from Simon Witgeest's "Book of Natural Magic" (1682), showing the early Dutch conception of conjuring. From the Harry Houdini Collection. [*3] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,16 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 16 | INTRODUCTION Houdin, over his own signature, claimed credit for the invention of many tricks and automata which may be said to have marked the golden age in magic. My in- vestigations disproved each claim in order. He had announced himself as the first magician to appear in regulation evening clothes, discarding flowing sleeves and heavily draped stage apparatus. The credit for this revo- lution in conjuring belonged to Wiljalba Frikell. Robert- Houdin's explanation of tricks performed by other magicians and not included in his repertoire, proved so incorrect and inaccurate as to brand him an ignoramus in certain lines of conjuring. Yet to the great charm of his diction and the romantic development of his personal reminiscences later writers have yielded unquestioningly and have built upon the historically weak foundations of his statements all the later so-called histories of magic. For a time the disappointment killed all. creative power. With no laurel wreath to carve, my tools lay idle. The spirit of investigation languished. Then came the reaction. There was work to be done. Those who had wrought honestly deserved the credit that had been taken from them. In justice to the living as well as the dead the history of the magic must be revised. The book, accepted for more than half a century as an authority on our craft, must stand forth for what it is, a clever romance, a well-written volume of fiction. That is why to-day I offer to the profession of magic, to the world of laymen readers to whom its history has always appealed, and to the literary savants who dip into it as a recreation, the results of my investigations. These, I believe, will show Robert-Houdin's true place in the [9] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,25 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 25 | INTRODUCTION Houdin. I have not borrowed from the books of other writers on magic. I have gone to the very fountain head of information, records of contemporary literature, news- papers, programmes and advertisements of magicians who Signor Antonio Blitz, author of "Fifty Years in the Magic Circle" (1872). Original negative of this photograpli is in the Harry Houdini Collection. preceded Robert-Houdin, sometimes by a century. It would cost fully a million dollars to forge the collection of evidence now in my hands. Men who lived a hundred years before Robert-Houdin was born did not invent [ 18] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,27 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 27 | INTRODUCTION Often when the bookshops and auction sales did not yield fruit worth plucking, I had the good fortune to meet a private collector or a retired performer whose assistance proved invaluable, and the histories of Charles Bertram (James Bassett), the English author and conjurer, who wrote "Isn't it Wonderful ?" Born 1853, died Feb. 28th, 1907. From the Harry Houdini Collection. these meetings read almost like romances, so skilfully did the Fates seem to juggle with my efforts to secure credible proof. To the late Henry Evans Evanion I am indebted for [20] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,14 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 14 | INTRODUCTION T HIS book is the natural result of the moulding, dominating influence which the spirit and wri- tings of Robert-Houdin have exerted over my professional career. My interest in conjur- ing and magic and my enthusiasm for Robert-Houdin came into existence simultaneously. From the moment that I began to study the art, he became my guide and hero. I accepted his writings as my text-book and my gospel. What Blackstone is to the struggling lawyer, Hardee's "Tactics" to the would-be officer, or Bismarck's life and writings to the coming statesman, Robert-Houdin's books were to me. To my unsophisticated mind, his "Memoirs" gave to the profession a dignity worth attaining at the cost of earnest, life-long effort. When it became necessary for me to take a stage-name, and a fellow-player, possessing a veneer of culture, told me that if I would add the letter "i" to Houdin's name, it would mean, in the French language, "like Houdin," I adopted the suggestion with enthusiasm. I asked nothing more of life than to become in my profession "like Robert-Houdin." By this time I had re-read his works until I could re- cite passage after passage from memory. Then, when Fate turned kind and the golden pathway of success led me into broader avenues of work, I determined that my first tour abroad should be dedicated to adding new [7] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,31 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 31 | INTRODUCTION Very rare and extraordinarily fine lithograph of Robert-Houdin, which he gave only to his friends. It depicts him among his so-called inventions. His son, Emile, doing second siglit, is behind him. The writing and drawing figure is on his left. On his right under the clockwork is a drawing which, on close examination of the original, shows the suspension trick. From the Harry Houdini Collection. [ 24] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,23 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 23 | INTRODUCTION again we have a purely local and personal history, without general value. Thomas Frost wrote three books relating to the history of magic, commencing about 1870. This list included 'Circus Life and Circus Celebrities,' "The Old Show- men and the Old London Fairs," and "Lives of the Conjurers." These were the best books of their kind up to the time of their publication, but they are marked by glaring errors, showing that Frost compiled rather than investigated, or, more properly speaking, that his in- vestigations never went much further than Morley's "Memoirs of Bartholomew Fair." Charles Bertram who wrote "Isn't it Wonderful?" closed the nincteenth-century list of English writers on magic, but his work is marred by mis-statements which even the humblest of magicians could refute, and, like Frost, he drew heavily on writers who preceded him. So far, in the twentieth century, the most notable con- tribution to the literature of magic is Henry Ridgely Evans' "The Old and the New Magic," but Mr. Evans falls into the error of his predecessors in accepting as authoritative the history of magic and magicians fur- nished by Robert-Houdin. He has made no effort whatever to verify or refute the statements made by Robert-Houdin, but has merely compiled and re-written them to suit his twentieth-century readers. The true historian does not compile. He delves for facts and proofs, and having found these he arrays his indisputable facts, his uncontrovertible proofs, to refute the statements of those who have merely compiled. That is what I have done to prove my case against Robert- [r6 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,39 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 39 | INTRODUCTION all of which had been donned in honor of his expected guest, was not yet cold. Heart failure had come suddenly and unannounced. The day before he had cleaned up his souvenirs in readiness for my coming and arranged a quan- tity of data for me. On the wall above the silent form were all of his gold medals, photographs taken at various stages of his life, orders presented to him by royalty- all the outward and visible signs of a vigorous, active, and successful life, the life of which he would have told me, had I arrived ahead of Death. And when all these were arranged, he had forgotten his morbid dislike of strangers. The old instincts of hospitality tugged at his heart strings, and his wife said he was almost young and happy once more, when suddenly he grasped at his heart, crying, "My heart! What is the matter with my heart ? " That was all! There we stood together, the woman who had loved the dear old wizard for years and the young magician who would have been SO willing to love him had he been allowed to know him. His face was still wet from the cologne she had thrown over him in vain hope of reviving the fading soul. On the floor lay the cloths, used SO ineffectually to bathe the pulseless face, and now laughing mockingly at one who saw himself defeated after weary months of writing and pleading for the much-desired meeting. I feel sure that the personal note struck in these remi- niscences will be forgiven. In no other way could I prove the authoritativeness of my collection, the thorough- ness of my research, and the incontrovertibility of the facts which I desire to set forth in this volume. [ 32 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,30 | 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 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,21 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 21 | INTRODUCTION fully as reliable a book as the earlier "Hocus Pocus" books, but it is not so generally known. Richard Neve, who was a popular English conjurer just before the time of Fawkes, published a book on somewhat similar lines in I715. Germany contributed the next notable works on magic. First came Johann Samuel Halle's "Magic or the Magical Power of Nature," printed in Berlin, in 1784. One of his compatriots, Johann Christian Wiegleb, wrote eighteen books on "The Natural Magic" and while I shall always contend that the German books are the most complete, yet they cannot be accepted as authorities save that, in describing early tricks, they prove the existence of inventions and working methods claimed later as original by men like Robert-Houdin. English books on magic were not accepted seriously until the early part of the ninetcenth century. In Vol. III. of John Beckmann's "History of Inventions and and Discoveries," published in 1797, will be found a chapter on "Jugglers" which presents interesting matter regarding magicians and mysterious entertainers. I quote from this book in disproving Robert-Houdin's claims to the invention of automata and second-sight. About 1840, J. H. Anderson, a popular magician, brought out a series of inexpensive, paper-bound vol- umes, entitled "A Shilling's Worth of Magic," "Parlor Magic," etc., which are valuable only as giving a glimpse of the tricks contemporary with his personal successes. In 1859 came Robert-Houdin's "Memoirs," magic's classic. Signor Blitz, in 1872, published his reminis- cences, "Fifty Years in the Magic Circle," but here [14 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,17 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 17 | INTRODUCTION history of magic and give to his predecessors, in a pro- fession which in each generation becomes more serious and more dignified, the credit they deserve. My investigations cover nearly twenty years of a busy a or focus b2 the Frontispiece of "Hocus Pocus," Second Edition, 1635, one of the earliest works on magic. From the Harry Houdini Collection. professional career. Every hour which I could spare from my professional work was given over to study in libraries, to interviews with retired magicians and col- lectors, and to browsing in old bookstores and antique [10] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,19 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 19 | INTRODUCTION ing tales of travellers who witnessedmagical performances, but they are not authentic records of performers and their work. One of the oldest books in my collection is "Natural and Unnatural Magic" by Gantziony, dated 1489. It is the author's script, exquisite in its German chirography, artistic in its illuminated illustrations, but worthless as an historical record, though many of the writer's descriptions and explanations of old-time tricks are most interesting. Early in the seventeenth century appeared "Hocus Pocus," the most widely copied book in the literature of magic. The second edition, dated 1635, I have in my library. I have never been able to find a copy of the first edition or to ascertain the date at which it was published. A few years later, in 1658, came a very important con- tribution to the history of magic in "Natural Magick in XX. Bookes," by John Baptist Porta, a Neapolitan. This has been translated into nearly every language. It was the first really important and exhaustive work on the subject, but, unfortunately, it gives the explanation of tricks, rather than an authentic record of their in- vention. In 1682, Simon Witgeest of Amsterdam, Holland, wrote an admirable work, whose title reads "Book of Natural Magic." This work was translated into German, ran through many an edition, and had an enormous sale in both Holland and Germany. In 1715, John White, an Englishman, published a work entitled "Art's Treasury and Hocus Pocus; or a Rich Cabinet of Legerdemain Curiosities." This is [iz] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,15 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 15 | INTRODUCTION laurels to the fame of Robert-Houdin. By research and study I would unearth history yet unwritten, and record unsung triumphs of this great inventor and artiste. The pen of his most devoted student and follower would awaken new interest in his history. Alas for my golden dreams! My investigations brought forth only bitterest dis- appointment and sad- dest of disillusionment. Stripped of his self- woven veil of romance, Robert-Houdin stood forth, in the uncom- promising light of cold historical facts, a mere pretender, a man who waxed great on the brainwork of others, a mechanician who had boldly filched the in- ventions of the master craftsmen among his predecessors. "Memoirs of Robert- Houdin, Ambassador, Robert-Houdin in his prime, immedi- Author and Conjurer, ately after his retirement. From the Harry Houdini Collection. Written by Himself,' proved to have been the penwork of a brilliant Parisian journalist, em- ployed by Robert-Houdin to write his so-called auto- biography. In the course of his "Memoirs," Robert- [8] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,28 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 28 | INTRODUCTION many of the most important additions to my collection of conjuring curios and my library of magic, recog- nized by fellow-artistes and litterateurs as the most complete in the world. Evanion was an Englishman, by profession a parlor magician, by choice and habit a collector and savant. He was an entertainer from 1849 to the year of his death. For fifty years he spent every spare hour at the British Museum collecting data bearing on his marvellous col- lection, and his interest in the history of magic was shared by his excellent wife who conducted a "sweet shop" near one of London's public schools. While playing at the London Hippodrome in 1904 I was confined to my room by orders of my physician. During this illness I was interviewed by a reporter who, noticing the clippings and bills with which my room was strewn, made some reference to my collection in the course of his article. The very day on which this inter- view appeared, I received from Henry Evanion a merc scrawl stating that he, too, collected programmes, bills, etc., in which I might be interested. I wrote at once asking him to call at one o'clock the next afternoon, but as the hour passed and he did not appear, I decided that, like many others who asked for interviews, he had felt but a passing whim. That after- noon about four o'clock my physician suggested that, as the day was mild, I walk once around the block. As I stepped from the lift, the hotel porter informed me that since one o'clock an old man had been waiting to see me, but so shabby was his appearance, they had not dared send him up to my room. He pointed to a bent figure, [ 2I ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,26 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 26 | INTRODUCTION posters or write advertisements in order to refute the claims of those who were to follow in the profession of magic. These programmes, advertisements, newspaper notices, and crude cuts trace the true history of magic as Philip Astley, Esq. Ruc. by Alex. Bogg. & c. Aug 1.1806. Philip Astley, Esq., an historical circus director, a famous character of Bartholomew Fair days, and author of "Natural Magic" (1784). From the Harry Houdini Collection. no romancer, no historian of a single generation possibly could. They are the ghosts of dead and gone magicians, rising in this century of research and progress to claim the credit due them. [r9] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,18 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 18 | INTRODUCTION shops where rare collections of programs, newspapers, and prints might be found. In order to conduct my researches intelligently, I was compelled to pick up a smattering of the language of JOH BAPT PORTA Ca Philosoph, Madamatitor and Atrologic zus govo. on John Baptist Porta, the Neapolitan writer on magic. From an old woodcut in the Harry Houdini Collection. each country in which I played. The average collector or proprietor of an old bookshop is a canny, suspicious individual who must accept you as a friend before he will uncover his choicest treasures. As authorities, books on magic and kindred arts are practically worthless. The earliest books, like the magi- cian stories written by Sir John Mandeville in 1356, read like prototypes of to-day's dime novels. They are thrill- [ II ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,36 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 36 | INTRODUCTION the debt which he owed to the literature of magic and which he could pay by giving me such direct information as I needed for my book. Frau Frikell heard my pleadings with tears running down her cheeks, and later I learned that Herr Frikell also listened- to them, lying grimly on the other side of the shuttered window. At length, yielding to physical exhaustion, I went away, but I was still undaunted. I continued to bombard Herr Frikell with letters, press clippings regarding my work, etc., and finally in Russia I received a letter from him. I might send him a package containing a certain brand of Russian tea of which he was particularly fond. You may be sure I lost no time in shipping the little gift, and shortly I was rewarded by the letter for which I longed. Having decided that I cared more for him than did some of his relatives, he would receive me when next I played near Kötchenbroda. With this interview in prospect, I made the earliest engagement obtainable in Dresden, intending to give every possible moment to my hardly-won acquaintance. But Fate interfered. One business problem after another arose, concerning my forthcoming engagement in Eng- land, and I had to postpone my visit to Herr Frikell until the latter part of the week. In the mean time, he had agreed to visit a Dresden photographer, as I wanted an up-to-date photograph of him and he had only pictures taken in his more youthful days. On the day when he came to Dresden for his sitting, he called at the theatre, but the attachés, without informing me, refused to give him the name of the hotel where I was stopping. [29] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,87 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 87 | MASQUERADE Masquerade and opera at Burlington Gate. Reproduction of Hogarth's engraving entitled "Taste," belittling the artistic taste of London. This caricature verifies the Fawkes advertisement, reproduced on page 64, for here the conjurer is pictured leaning from the window of the 'long room" and calling attention to his performances. From the Harry Houdini Collection. | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,233 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 233 | MELODEON FOR POBITIVELY TWO WEEKS ONLY. MONDAY, MAY 15TH, FIRST NIGHT or ROBEAT THE FAMOUS SOMATIC CONJURER, PIANO-SOLOIST AND CAUSEUR, wae MAS rest ass 365TH PERFORMANCE IN NEW YORK, Belag . career " success which . other Conjurer has, et asy time, accemplished le that eity, PART 1.-MAGIC. WONDER 1 HELLER'S CABALISTIC CLOCK WONDER II. THE ERIAL DELI. VONDER III INPORNAD celebrated Patent Mediciné Ware- bouse in the Netherlund WONDER IV THE_ WITCHES POLE, with singular developments in Cartomancy WONDER V ANIMATED DOLLARS, with Life and Intellegence Manifested WONDER VI. HELLER'S ARABESQUE RINGS WONDER VII THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL PART II-MUSIC. No. & GRAND FANTASIA on Airs from the "Sonnambula" of Thalberg, performed by ROBERT HELLER, on Steinway's Grand Pianoforte. No. 3 Ma Laughable Description the Piano-practice of a Boarding School Young Lady.-Illustrated. The Young Lady by Robert Heller. PART II.--MBTE. 200. 2. HELLER'S SECOND-SIGHT MYSTERY Anvented by Sim, by éle and which has made bie colebrity frota hio appresesee in public, being designated as No. PLUMES OF VICTORY . wisse PART PARLOR KAOIC, or Tricks Made Ensy, every - person in the Audiends not , only shown the Tricks, but taught publicly how to do them, do that they may go and start out asconjurers for them esivesani achieve as great a fortune as bas fallen to the lot of Rosear, Poster used by Robert Heller during his Boston engagement in 1853. From the Harry Houdini Collection. [206] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,200 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 200 | Mechanical and Mathematical FEATS OF Alhough - description ese property thefe Mechnaical Pieces of Art, yet to convey " the Pablic - ides of theis and of the incuitive Powers wich which they feem invelled, the is Dexterity. Two Elegant Automats, . dotail of these which evrite the the liants Oue of which a FEMALE FIGURE, as large as life, performs as a ROPE DANCER in inication of Le Belle fo jutly celebrated throaghos Earope -the other is an arrsa rellowine es LITTLE PAILASSE, whofe apperent Naivesse and Powers of Action are equally aftomifhing. Pinses , fee - Homee FOR THE FIRST TIME. The Mechanical PEACOCK, THE VIEW OF THE ciry OF A monk Pista of Anificial Animation which imitates, fo clofely. the Cries, Altions, and Atticades of - and besetifel Bird, thas it ie sot enfrequently fappoled to be an abfolute) lie ling Animal, property " ad as as amuling deception epon the Public. Stockholm, The Magnetic Clock, or le - Viee ell - of Sull - " the be the Forte . Shore arrsa waics will as PROSENTED vas SCENS os THE Monly is on two Chryfal Columma, and furmosnced by a charaßeriftic Figus FALSTAFF, which will amafe and diven the Company. by difovering Voyage of Captain Parry to the chaie Thenghto, are. os an Alphobetical Dial Plase, fornified with a Geil- moving Index. The Senfative WIND-MILL, North Pole: Which segulases its motion by the appasent of a Word from any forme . obey the is the Company by a politive Gif of Inteition. Hie passage threagh the Froses Straits, amonget the SELECT EXPERIMENTS IN FLOATING ICE. HYDRAULICS, Os the There eill De - Equimest, with their Sledges drawa by Degs.-Bears pursued and , hilled b Seilora. As eal be represcated Women in their native Bosts; also the Londing of the Sailore from the Discosery Ships. Fery and Hecle. A GRAND DISPLAY OF WATER-WORKS, THIRD PART-THI CITY OF Th Waser rifas from the fromt of the Suge, and after forming into many delightful Fountains, de. & conjoined with Amsterdam, FIRE OF DIFFERENT KINDS, vas ou Ast - Ziements farioully rell segether the Cieling of the The… | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,334 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 334 | NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS" Eugene was said to be the superior of his famous father in sleight-of-hand, but he was wild and given to excesses. Women and wine checked what might have been a brill- iant professional career. Disabled, poverty-stricken, and Only photograph of Madame Bosco, given to the author by Mrs. Mueller, Madame Bosco's niece, at the funeral of Wiljalba Frikell. respected by none, he soon disappeared from the con- juring world, and according to Carl Willman in the "Zauberwelt" he died miserably in Hungary in 1891. In the mean time, Bosco and his wife lived in poverty in Dresden, where the once brilliant conjurer died March 20 [305] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,342 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 342 | NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS" STRAND THEATRE Festively the Last wight of PEOFESSOR NND ERSON'S ASTONISHING SOIRKES MYSTEBLEUSES, TO sa THE Legitimate Wonders of the Nineteenth Century! NEW WONDERS OF WITCACHAFT, An NAGIC! This Evening, THURSDMY, Jau. - the - APPEGRANCE AND 1848 ROVAL ENTERTAINMENT, Mistrative of the Fallecy of Magle, - THE GREATEST WONDER OF THE AGE SON WILLE CONDENSEL CHLOROFORM 68 MUST SEC SUAPRISING SGAIN MAZING BEATS NOYAL PROGRAMNE of SCIENTIZIC WONDERS PAST PART n. The RECHANTED - CMANGEABLE some - SIGET; its Fallacy illustrated. CANDLE with - ANIMATED MOUCHOS The EFSTIC VOLUNS Grand EYDRAULIO - NON.EFTUCT on The BANE, 2 Fishing GRAND SCRAP 8008 ELECTRIS SCAAPS Thes of aux WATCHES - The EYSTIO Grand POTROUREI of The Learned Deves, the Broken The - - - LAST woudsa, ANDER-INS Orange, and Exchanted SUSPENSION CILOROFOREENE cma of the Am; Jack in the (8, your NENUT "Jack sa de MASTER ANDERSOS S. - - bie . - purcles of ered - - Me - - - - Elhet of Drag. - 2 ** - CEAPEAU DU BIASLE = - ANDURMON - - THS will IN THE AIR, " ^ - - . n - ONLT SUPPOS? A VALKING STICS. Poster used by Anderson during his closing week at the Strand Theatre, London, January 11th, 1848. From the Harry Houdini Collection. [ 313 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,330 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 330 | NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS" by Torrini, as is set forth on page IO4. He pictures Torrini as dogging the footsteps of Pinetti through all Italy and finally driving him in a state of abject misery to Russia, where he died in the home of a nobleman, who sheltered him through sheer compassion. Robert-Houdin Bartolomeo Bosco in his prime. From an engraving in the Harry Houdini Collection. must have known this was absolutely untrue, for he quotes Robertson, who published Pinetti's true experi- ences in Russia. Pinetti took a fortune with him to Russia, acquired more wealth there, and then lost his [301] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,346 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 346 | NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS" certainly he was not justified in picturing his rival as one who had passed his prime, whose popularity had waned, whose répertoire no longer attracted the public. John Henry Anderson as he appeared in his later years. From a cut in the Harry Houdini Collection. For, in addition to duplicating Robert-Houdin's entire ré- pertoire, Anderson offered tricks of which Robert-Houdin knew nothing, and for years to come he constantly recon- [317] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,326 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 326 | NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS" chapter III. of this book will show. Frikell was the pioneer in dispensing with cumbersome stage draperies. Robert- Houdin claimed this innovation as the product of his own ingenuity. Compars Herrmann was playing in London when Robert-Houdin made his English début under Minnel Wiljalba Frikell in his youth, showing the peculiar costume worn by con- jurers at that time. The author secured this portrait a few weeks before Frikell's death and sent it to the veteran conjurer, who was amazed to learn that this print was in existence. Now in the Harry Houdini Collection. Mitchell's direction, and was presenting, trick for trick, the répertoire claimed by Robert-Houdin as original with him. Henri Robin disputed Robert-Houdin's claim to having invented the inexhaustible bottle, and proved his case, as will be seen by reference to chapter VIII. Jacobs [ 297 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,344 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 344 | NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS" comic. Besides, it had the double result of making the London public laugh and bringing a great number of shillings into the skilful puffer's pockets." Reference to my collection of Anderson programmes Eugene Bosco, son of the original Bosco. From the Harry Houdini Collection. and press clippings proves that while on the Continent his performances had created such a sensation that, according to the ethics and etiquette of his profession, Anderson was quite justified in assuming the title of "The Napoleon of Necromancy " and in depicting even kings [315] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,336 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 336 | NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS" graveyard devoted to the poor and unclaimed dead. To prevent this, I purchased the lot and tombstone, and presented the same to the Society of American Magicians, of which organization, at the present writing, I am a member. A man of noble birth and brilliant attainments was the original Bosco, and his name became a by-word all over the Continent as the synonym, not of cruelty, but of clever deception, yet never has posterity put the name of a great performer to such ignoble uses. For who has not heard the cry of the modern Bosco, "Eat-'em-alive"? To-day I can close my eyes and summon two visions. First I see myself standing bareheaded before a neglected grave in the quiet cemetery on Friedrichstrasse, Dresden, the sunlight pouring down upon the tombstone which bears not only the cup-and-balls and wand, insignia of Bosco's most famous trick, but this inscription: "Ici repose le célèbre Bartolomeo Bosco.-Né a Turin le II Janvier, 1793; décédé à Dresden le 2 Mars, 1863." The history of this clever conjurer, with all its lights and shadows, sweeps before me like a mental panorama. The second vision carries me into the country, to the fairs of England and the side-shows of America: "Bosco! Bosco! Eat-'em-alive Bosco. You can't af- ford to miss this marvel. Bosco! Bosco!" Follow me into the enclosure and gaze down into a den. There lies a half-naked human being. His hair is long and matted, a loin cloth does wretched duty as clothing. Torn sandals are on his feet. The eulogistic lecturer dilates upon the powers of this twentieth-century Bosco, but you do not listen. Your fascinated gaze is fixed on various hideous, wriggling, writhing forms on [307] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,328 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 328 | NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS" nach Cagliostro, shows Robin offering this figure in March, 1846, or a year and seven months before it was presented by Robert-Houdin. Yet the only reference made by Robert-Houdin to this popular and gifted contemporary is in "The Secrets of Stage Conjuring" where he remarks slightingly that Robin spoiled Mr. Pepper's business by giving a poor imitation of the latter's ghost show. Again, in ignoring Herrmann, he proves his narrowness of mind, his utter unwillingness to admit any ability in his rivals. Compars Herrmann was no ordinary trickster or mountebank, but a conjurer who remained in London almost a year, playing the very best houses, and later scoring equal popularity in the provinces. He was deco- rated by various monarchs and was famous for his large gifts to charities. Even the present generation, including theatre-goers and students of magic, remembers the name of Herrmann, when Robert-Houdin is forgotten or would be but for his cleverly written autobiography. Wiljalba Frikell, to whom should go the credit of cutting out heavy stage draperies, never claimed the innovation as a carefully planned conceit, but as an acci- dent. His paraphernalia were destroyed in a fire, but he desired to live up to his contract and give a performance as announced. He therefore offered sleight-of-hand, pure and simple, with the aid of a few tables, chairs, and other commion properties which were absolutely undraped. He was also compelled to don regulation, severely plain, evening clothes. The absence of draperies, which natu- rally aid a conjurer in attaining results, created so pleasing a sensation that Frikell never again draped his stage nor wore fancy raiment. Had Robert-Houdin told the [ 299 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,348 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 348 | NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS" the hand of another man, who at his instigation belittled his contemporaries, and juggled facts and truth to further his egotistical, jealous ambitions. But the day of reckoning is come. Upon the history of magic as promulgated by Robert-Houdin the search- light of modern investigation has been turned. Credit has been given where it belongs, to those magicians who preceded Robert-Houdin and upon whose abilities and achievements Robert-Houdin built his unearned, un- merited fame. The dust of years has been swept from names long forgotten, which should forever shine in the annals of magic. Thus end, also, my researches, covering almost two decades of time, researches in which my veneration for old-time magicians grew with each newly discovered bit of history; researches during which my respect for the profession of magic has grown by leaps and bounds. And the fruits of these researches I now lay before the only true jury, the great reading public. My task is finished. [319 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,332 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 332 | NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS" time the bird trick was not in his répertoire exclusively. All English magicians employed it. Apparently the head of the fowl was amputated, but often in reality it was tucked under the wing, and the head and neck of another fowl was shown by sleight-of-hand. Quite probably the Parisian public did not consider Bosco cruel. Robert- Houdin and his friend Antonio, being versed in sleight- of-hand and conjuring methods, read cruelty between the deft movements. Certain it is that the name of Bosco has not been handed down to posterity by other writers as a synonym of cruelty. The animus of Robert-Houdin's attack on Bosco is evident at every point of the narrative. Now he accuses him of bad taste in appearing in the box-office. Again he suggests that the somewhat impressive opening of Bosco's act savors of both charlatanism and burlesque, when in reality the secret of showmanship consists not of what you really do, but what the mystery-loving public thinks you do. Bosco undoubtedly secured precisely the effect he desired, because Robert-Houdin devotes more than a page to a most unnecessary attempt to explain away what he considered Bosco's undeserved popularity. Bosco was not only a clever magician, but a man of many adventures, so that his life reads like a romance. This soldier of fortune, Bartolomeo Bosco, was born of a noble Piedmont family, on January IIth, 1793, in Turin, Italy. From boyhood he showed great ability as a nec- romancer, but at the age of nineteen he was forced to serve under Napoleon I. in the Russian campaign. He was a fusilier in the Eleventh Infantry, and at the battle of Borodino was injured in an engagement with Cossacks. [303] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,231 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 231 | NEW STRAND THEATRE. C SOIREZE MYSTÉRIEUSES DE ROBERT HELLER. These elegant and original Performances will be given at the above Theatre C Commencing at 8 A MORNING PERFORMANCE EVERY MONDAT TEUREDAY, AT HALF-PAST 2 O'CLOCK. On each occasion will be presented the following inexplicable experiments, invented and performed by Ecbert Heller. PART I. The Cabaliatic Clock Le pendule Cabalistique The Obedient Dove La colombe Obéimente The Fans and Balle Les eventails et les boulets de Canons The Plumes of Feathers Les plumes The Basket of Flowers La corbeille de Flueis 000 The Marvelious Orange Tree. L'Oranger PART II. The Mysterious Port-folio Port-feuille mysterieus The Mystic Boquet Le bouquet mystique The Wonderful Balance L'equilibre The Automaton Cook Le cuisnier automate The Safety Casket L'écrin de Sureté The Magio filtration Le filtration magique PART III. THE SECOND SIGHT I LA SECONDE VUE or ERNEST HELLER. ESCAMOTAGE or ERNEST HELLER WHO WILL VANISH FROM THS ETES or THE AUDIENCE The Bottle LA bouteille The cornucopies Le corne d'abondance From which Fana, Toys, Bonbons, Journals, &c. will be shovered upon the audience in the greatest profusion. Dears de epm at 7, and at sfer the Morning - PRIVATE moxes 1s. a £1 11s 6d. Stalls 3a.; Boxes Pit Gellery 6d. The Bes Cillee epea from " to & dally: where Tickets and Finses may be secured. a - Programme used by Robert Heller in 1851-52, when he was about e years of age. Probably the only programme of this date in existence. in the Harry Houdini Collection. [2041 | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,119 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 119 | Performances. The utmoft Efforts of Imitators have not begn able to produce the Effect intended; and he is too grateful for the liberal Encouragement he has received in the Metropolis, not to, caution the Public againit thofe purious Copies, which, failing of the Perfection they iffume, can only difguft and difappoint the Spectators. M. D.E PHILIPSTHAL Will have the Honour to EXHIBIT (as ufual) his Optical Illufions and Mechanical Pieces of Art. At the LYCEUM, and at no other Place of Exhibition in London. SELECT PARTIES may be accommodated with a MORNING REPRESENTATION at any appointed Hour, on Sending timely Notice. To prevent Miftakes, the Public are requited to Notice, that the PHANTASMAGORIA is on the Left-hand, on the Ground Floor, and the en the Right-hand, up Staise, | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,60 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 60 | Pinchestic stopher Pinchbeck, Sr. This is the oldest and rarest authentic mezzotint in the orld pertaining to the history of magic. From the Harry Houdini Collection. [ 53 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,322 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 322 | ROBERT HOUDIN'S IGNORANCE OF MAGIC she will be unable to slip her wrists. I do not mean by this any hand-cuff that will not come to any size, or the common cuffs which when locked will lock only to a certain size, but I mean a cuff that can be locked and adjusted to any size of wrist. In rope-tying, the principal trick is to allow yourself to be tied according to certain methods of crossing your hands or wrists, so that by eventually straightening your hands you have made enough room to allow them to slip out very easily. It is not always the size of the wrist that counts. It is the manner of holding your hands when the knots are being tied. The gift of seeing in the dark, with which Robert- Houdin endowed the Davenports, is equally preposterous. Professor Hoffmann defends Robert-Houdin by citing in- stances of prisoners who had been confined in cells for an indefinite period and who had learned to see in the dark. This is quite true, but they did not alternate daylight and darkness. Eminent opticians and oculists inform me that the faculty of seeing in the dark cannot be acquired by parties like the Davenports, who spent most of their time in the light. While the Davenports were pioneers in rope-tying and cabinet séances, had Robert-Houdin been the clever sleight-of-hand performer and inventor he claims to have been, these tricks would have been clear and solvable to him. But as he obviously joined the ranks of the amazed and bewildered masses, making only a futile attempt to explain the performances, he convicts himself of igno- rance regarding his own art. A man who has made a fortune in the world of magic [ 293 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,311 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 311 | ROBERT-HOUDIN'S IGNORANCE OF MAGIC "We will not venture to question the fact vouched for by SO high an authority as Robert-Houdin, that the Indian Basket Trick may sometimes be performed after the THEJUSTLY CELEBRATED RAMO SAMEE, CHIEF OF The Indian Jugglers, Neving Saushed Are Proviscal Eagagements, will, O. MONDAY. JULY 16. Aad. for a short persod so through the ahole of Estraordinary Fente of Strength and Agility, 222, PICCADILLY, Consusting of e Reviso of with FOUR BRASS BALLS THE SIZE OF ORANGES. possi over these le almost miraculous, he casses them to describe every DRICIONTALLY, PERPENDICULANLY, OBLIQUELY, TRANSTERSELY ROUND - - UNDER in and ABOUT ius MEAD, is large and - the whole is at the - timin. This being the gread - of - activity, of the " and appidity of actica. These who Dave set * - - - of ite escellence. SEVERAL FEATS OF BALLANCING is which la will estroduce the Building a Canopy with his Tongue ON THE TOP OF HIS NOSE . AND RENOVING THE SAME WITE SURPRIZING INGENUITY yas Spinning of a Tepion a Point as fiue as a Needle, ave BALANCING THE SAME ON IIIS CHIN, - * now to the Audiesce while revolving es the and by the word of command, restores it to the - Equilibries and whee Grot Spea. TRS. WONDERFUL FEAT WITH LARGE KNIVES ase SW.ALLOWING A STONE THE arze OF AN EGC. Aloo. bie maniy Activity is Throwing a Large Ballthe size of an 18-pound Shot To parts of bie Body, with the greated - be places * botwodh N and by - thance to averal other parts of Frame: bot finally, with manterly jerti, throws the wand spring, throws It over bis Shoulder, from whence it alights os the bond of Nio Ara, asd without the améstance of bie after several other achievements, be will concludo - SEVERAL NOVEL FEATS. ylenical Performances to commence every Day at One o Clock, and every Evening a Sight Sa ech.Childres Half-prics; CA whe A Ramo Samee handbill, featuring his stone-swallowing act. From the Harry Houdini Collection. manner above described, but we doubt very much whether such is the usual or customary method." Robert-… | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,318 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 318 | ROBERT-HOUDIN'S IGNORANCE OF MAGIC Both were below medium height, rather handsome men, and, as will be seen from the accompanying engrav- ing, looked much alike. Their career, which started in America, ran from about 1853 to the early 70's. They made a trip to Europe in 1864, remaining until August, 1869. Both married abroad; Ira a daughter of France, Mlle. Louise Toulet, and William Henry a Polish girl, Miss Matilda Mag. On the whole, their foreign tour was most profitable, though in some cities they paid a high price for their notoriety. In England they waged bitter warfare with John Henry Anderson, Tolmaque, and Pro- fessor Redmond. On the occasion of their Paris opening at the Salle Herz they claimed that the hoodlum element mobbed the theatre and broke up their performance at the instiga- tion of Henri Robin, who was playing in opposition. Hamilton, who had succeeded to the management of Robert-Houdin's theatre, in a letter published after wit- nessing their initial performance announced that he shared this belief; but as Robert-Houdin and Henri Robin were bitter rivals, I believe Hamilton's letter was the result of two things: first the intense ill-will he harbored against Robin, and second, as he had Robert-Houdin as his mentor, he was really ignorant of the Davenport methods and therefore not in a position to defend them. The letter, which is given in full, appeared in Gazette des Étrangers, Paris, September 27th, 1865: "Messrs. Davenport: Yesterday I had the pleasure of being present at the séance you gave, and I came away from it convinced that jealousy alone was the cause of the outcry raised against you. The phenomena pro- 19 [289] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,306 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 306 | ROBERT-HOUDIN'S IGNORANCE OF MAGIC In my collection is the handbill of a stonc-swallower who exhibited at No. IO Cockspur Street, London, charg- ing an admission fee of half-a-crown. These performers actually swallowed the water, stones, Indian fakir seated in the basket after the subject has been "vanished." pebbles, etc., and retched them up again so cleverly and at such carefully selected instants that the audience did not know that the disgorging had been accomplished. Swallowing glass was a different matter, and the mod- [ 277 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,304 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 304 | ROBERT-HOUDIN'S IGNORANCE OF MAGIC James de Falaise, a Norman, about fifty years of age, living in the Rue St. Honoré. It is said that this extraordinary man will swallow whole walnuts, shell and all, a tobacco FLORAM MARCHAND. Water spouter & Juggler. Floram Marchand. From an old, undated English publication in the Harry Houdini Collection. pipe, three cards rolled together, a rose with all its leaves, long stalk, and thorns, a living bird, and a living mouse, and, lastly, a live eel. Like to the Indian jugglers, he [ 275 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,296 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 296 | ROBERT-HOUDIN'S IGNORANCE OF MAGIC and, extending to the Chinese Museum, burnt it down on July 5th, 1854. An interesting account of the Automaton Chess-Player, written by Prof. George Allen, of this city, will be found in "The Book of the First American Chess Congress,' recently published in New York." Signor Blitz, in his book "Fifty Years in the Magic Circle," corroborates the Mackenzie correction, by telling how he saw Maëlzel in Havana, Cuba, where the famous German met his professional Waterloo, first in small audiences, then in the death of his faithful confederate, Schlomberg. Finally, broken in health and spirit, Maëlzel sailed from Havana for Philadelphia, but death overtook him at sea. His body was consigned to the ocean's depths, and his few effects were sold to liquidate the cost of passage and other debts. That Robert-Houdin should make an error concerning a world-famous automaton the history of which could be traced through contemporary periodicals and libraries, is almost inconceivable and proves the carelessness with which he gathered and presented facts. His inability to grasp the principles on which other performers built their tricks is shown most clearly when he attempts to describe and explain the performances of the Arabian mountebanks whom he saw during his stay in Algiers. These tricks have been handed down from one generation to another, and now that Arabian con- jurers and acrobats are imported for hippodrome and vaudeville performances in all civilized countries, the tricks described by Robert-Houdin are familiar to the general public. They are also copied by performers of other nationalities, and can be seen in circus side-shows [ 267 ] | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,314 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 314 | ROBERT-HOUDIN'S IGNORANCE OF MAGIC cover of the basket sinks until the basket seems empty, to the spectators at least. The fakir now takes off the cover of the basket, leaving the sheet over it, however. Then he jumps into the presumably empty basket, stamps all around, and takes out the net in which are found the tur- : ban worn by the subject and the thumb tie. To prove further that the basket is still empty, the fakir seats him- il self in the basket, as shown in the illustration. The lid of the basket is now replaced, and under this friendly cover the sheet is taken off and the basket tied up. Now commences the true Hindoo magic. The magi- cian is a real actor. He apparently adjures Mahomet. He gets very angry and with fierce looks, ejaculations, and muttered curses he grabs up a sword or cane and jabs it through different parts of the basket. During all this time the subject, who is something of a contortion- ist, is wriggling about on the bottom of the basket, keep- ing out of reach of the sword, and in fact often guiding its thrusts between his legs, as every movement on the part of the fakir has been carefully thought out and rehearsed in advance. By this time the fakir has convinced his audience that the basket is empty. To be sure he has not allowed any spectators to come too near him or the basket, nor has any hand save his touched it, but his clever acting almost persuades even an intelligent or sceptical onlooker that the basket is empty. With the lid of the basket replaced, this time above the friendly sheet, and the basket tied, he resumes his weird incantations. He screams and runs back and forth, playing on a small instrument with a hideous tone | |
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,298 | unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 298 | ROBERT-HOUDIN'S IGNORANCE OF MAGIC maintained his balance, but, in reality, they supported the whole weight of his body. Hence, the only require- ment for this trick is to have the stomach more or less Pressed in, and I will explain presently that this can be effected without any danger or injury." In this explanation Robert-Houdin is entirely wrong. Singhalese THE KANDIN from the IsleorCeylon A WITH THE IRON SHIN A Rannin lithograph, showing him doing the sword-walking act which Robert-Houdin claimed to have been a fraud. Rannin is still working in Ger- many, imitated by many, equalled by none. From a photograph in the Harry Houdini Collection. The real secret of lying on top of a sharp-edged razor, sword, or sabre rests on the fact that the performer does actually lie upon it in a perfectly motionless position. Were he to move but the width of a hair, backward or [ 269] |
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