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[Illustration: Harry Houdini]
_Frontispiece_]
THE UNMASKING
_OF_
ROBERT-HOUDIN
_BY_
HARRY HOUDINI
[Illustration]
_NEW YORK_
_THE PUBLISHERS PRINTING CO._
_1908_
_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.
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_
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION, 7
CHAPTER
I. SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT-HOUDIN, 33
II. THE ORANGE-TREE TRICK, 51
III. THE WRITING AND DRAWING FIGURE, 83
IV. THE PASTRY COOK OF THE PALAIS ROYAL, 116
V. THE OBEDIENT CARDS--THE CABALISTIC CLOCK--THE
TRAPEZE AUTOMATON, 141
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 BETRAYED
BY HIS OWN PEN, 264
XI. THE NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S "MEMOIRS," 295
INTRODUCTION
This book is the natural result of the moulding, dominating influence
which the spirit and writings of Robert-Houdin have exerted over my
professional career. My interest in conjuring 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 recite 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 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.
[Illustration: Robert-Houdin in his prime, immediately after his
retirement. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
Alas for my golden dreams! My investigations brought forth only
bitterest disappointment and saddest of disillusionment. Stripped of his
self-woven veil of romance, Robert-Houdin stood forth, in the
uncompromising 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 inventions of the master craftsmen among his predecessors.
"Memoirs of Robert-Houdin, Ambassador, Author and Conjurer, Written by
Himself," proved to have been the penwork of a brilliant Parisian
journalist, employed by Robert-Houdin to write his so-called
autobiography. In the course of his "Memoirs," Robert-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
investigations 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 revolution 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 history of magic and give to his predecessors, in a profession
which in each generation becomes more serious and more dignified, the
credit they deserve.
[Illustration: Frontispiece of "Hocus Pocus," Second Edition, 1635, one
of the earliest works on magic. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
My investigations cover nearly twenty years of a busy 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 collectors, and to browsing in old bookstores and antique shops
where rare collections of programs, newspapers, and prints might be
found.
[Illustration: John Baptist Porta, the Neapolitan writer on magic. From
an old woodcut in the Harry Houdini Collection.]
In order to conduct my researches intelligently, I was compelled to pick
up a smattering of the language of 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 magician stories written by Sir
John Mandeville in 1356, read like prototypes of to-day's dime novels.
They are thrilling tales of travellers who witnessed magical
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 contribution 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 invention.
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.
[Illustration: Frontispiece from Simon Witgeest's "Book of Natural
Magic" (1682), showing the early Dutch conception of conjuring. From the
Harry Houdini Collection.]
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 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 1715.
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 nineteenth century. In Vol. III. of John Beckmann's "History of
Inventions 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 volumes, 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 reminiscences, "Fifty Years in the Magic Circle," but
here again we have a purely local and personal history, without
general value.
[Illustration: 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 Collection.]
Thomas Frost wrote three books relating to the history of magic,
commencing about 1870. This list included "Circus Life and Circus
Celebrities," "The Old Showmen 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 investigations never went much further than Morley's
"Memoirs of Bartholomew Fair."
Charles Bertram who wrote "Isn't it Wonderful?" closed the
nineteenth-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 contribution 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 furnished 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.
[Illustration: 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.]
[Illustration: Signor Antonio Blitz, author of "Fifty Years in the Magic
Circle" (1872). Original negative of this photograph is in the Harry
Houdini Collection.]
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-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, newspapers, programmes and advertisements of
magicians who 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 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 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.
[Illustration: 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.]
[Illustration: 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.]
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 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 many of the most
important additions to my collection of conjuring curios and my library
of magic, recognized 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 collection, 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 interview appeared, I received from
Henry Evanion a mere 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
afternoon 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, 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.
[Illustration: 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.]
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 priceless treasures for which I had sought in vain--original
programmes and bills of Robert-Houdin, Phillippe, Anderson, Breslaw,
Pinetti, Katterfelto, Boaz, in fact all the conjuring celebrities of the
eighteenth century, together with lithographs long considered
unobtainable, and newspapers 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. 12 Methley Street, Kennington Park Road, S.E.
[Illustration: 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 sight, 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.]
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
wife, a most sympathetic soul, did not offer to disturb us, and it was
3:30 the next morning, or very nearly twenty-four hours after my arrival
at his home, when my brother, Theodore Weiss (Hardeen), and a thoroughly
disgusted physician appeared on the scene and dragged me, an unwilling
victim, back to my hotel and medical care.
Such was the beginning of my friendship with Evanion. In time I learned
that some of his collection had been left to him by James Savren, an
English barber, who was so interested in magic that at frequent
intervals he dropped his trade to work without pay for famous magicians,
including Döbler, Anderson, Compars Herrmann, De Liska, Wellington
Young, Cornillot, and Gyngell. From these men he had secured a
marvellous collection, which was the envy of his friendly rival,
Evanion. Savren bequeathed his collection to Evanion, and bit by bit I
bought it from the latter, now poverty stricken, too old to work and
physically failing. These purchases I made at intervals whenever I
played in London, and on June 7th, 1905, while playing at Wigan, I
received word that Evanion was dying at Lambeth Infirmary.
After the show, I jumped to London, only to find that cancer of the
throat made it almost impossible for him to speak intelligibly. I soon
discovered, however, that his chief anxiety was for the future of his
wife and then for his own decent burial. When these sad offices had been
provided for, he became more peaceful, and when I rose to leave him,
knowing that we had met probably for the last time, he drew forth his
chiefest treasure, a superb book of Robert-Houdin's programmes, his one
legacy, which is now the central jewel in my collection. Evanion died
ten days later, June 17th, and within a short time his good wife
followed him into the Great Unknown.
[Illustration: Poster used by James Savren. From the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
Even more dramatic was my meeting with the widow of Frikell, the great
German conjurer.
I had heard that Frikell and not Robert-Houdin was the first magician to
discard cumbersome, draped stage apparatus, and to don evening clothes,
and I was most anxious to verify this rumor, as well as to interview him
regarding equally important data bearing on the history of magic. Having
heard that he lived in Kötchenbroda, a suburb of Dresden, I wrote to him
from Cologne, asking for an interview. I received in reply a curt note:
"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 arrived 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 suffered 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 photographer, 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 helping hand to one ready to
sit at his feet and learn. I urged 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.
[Illustration: The Author standing in front of Villa Frikell at
Kötchenbroda, Germany, where the master magician, Wiljalba Frikell,
spent the last years of his life. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
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 England, 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.
[Illustration: Last photograph of Herr and Frau Frikell, taken
especially for this work. Frikell died Oct. 8th, 1903, the day after
this photograph was taken. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
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 peculiar 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, 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 quantity 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? O----" 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 reminiscences will be
forgiven. In no other way could I prove the authoritativeness of my
collection, the thoroughness of my research, and the incontrovertibility
of the facts which I desire to set forth in this volume.
THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN
CHAPTER I
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT-HOUDIN
Robert-Houdin was born in Blois, France, December 6th, 1805. His real
name was Jean-Eugene Robert, and his father was Prosper Robert, a
watchmaker in moderate circumstances. His mother's maiden name was Marie
Catherine Guillon. His first wife was Josephe Cecile Eglantine Houdin,
whose family name he assumed for business reasons. He was married the
second time to Françoise Marguerite Olympe Naconnier. His death, caused
by pneumonia, occurred at St. Gervais, France, on June 13th, 1871.
[Illustration: Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin. Photograph taken--about 1868.
From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
Barring the above facts, which were gleaned from the register of the
civil authorities of St. Gervais, all information regarding his life
previous to his first public appearance in 1844 must be drawn from his
own works, particularly from his autobiography, published in the form of
"Memoirs." Because of his supreme egotism, his obvious desire to make
his autobiography picturesque and interesting rather than historically
correct, and his utter indifference to dates, exact names of places,
theatres, books, etc., it is extremely hard to present logical and
consistent statements regarding his life. Such discrepancies arise as
the mention of three children in one chapter and four in another, while
he does not give the names of either wife, though he admits his
obligation to both good women.
According to his autobiography, Jean-Eugene Robert was sent to college
at Orleans at the tender age of eleven, and remained there until he was
eighteen. He was then placed in a notary's office to study law, but his
mechanical tastes led him back to his father's trade, watchmaking.
While working for his cousin at Blois, he visited a bookshop in search
of Berthoud's "Treatise on Clockmaking," but by mistake he was given
several volumes of an old encyclopædia, 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 attention 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 encyclopædia, but several times later he calls it "White
Magic." In all probability it was the famous work by Henri Decremps in
five volumes, 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, including 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.
[Illustration: The only Robert-Houdin poster showing his complete stage
setting. This lithograph was made in France. From the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
[Illustration: Programme for the opening of Robert-Houdin's theatre in
Paris. Reproduced from the American edition of his "Memoirs."]
[Illustration: Robert-Houdin's favorite lithograph for advertising
purposes. Used on the majority of his posters and in the original
edition of his "Memoirs." From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
Torrini was an Italian whose real name was Count Edmond de Grisy. He was
a contemporary of Pinetti. In all probability, during the long summer of
their intimate companionship, Torrini not only initiated his fascinated
young guest into his own methods of performingtricks, but also into the
secrets of Pinetti's tricks. In his "Memoirs," Robert-Houdin makes no
secret of the fact that both Comus and Pinetti, together with their
tricks, were topics of conversation between himself and Torrini.
[Illustration: A very rare, and possibly the only, programme in
existence, chronicling Robert-Houdin's first appearance before Queen
Victoria, July 19th, 1848. The original, now in the Harry Houdini
Collection, was presented to James Savren by Robert-Houdin.]
[Illustration: Poster used by Robert-Houdin during an Easter engagement
at the St. James Theatre, London. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
When Torrini was able to resume his performances, Jean-Eugene returned
to his family in Blois. During the next few years he mixed amateur
acting with his daily labor, leaning more and more toward the profession
of public entertainer. But his ambitions along this line were nipped in
the bud by marriage. Mademoiselle Houdin, whose father was a celebrated
watchmaker in Paris, visited old friends in Blois, their native town,
and became the fiancée of young Robert. As the new son-in-law was to
share the elder Houdin's business and naturally wished to secure such
benefits as might accrue from so celebrated a family of watch and clock
makers, he applied to the council of state and secured the right to
annex "Houdin" to his name, Jean-Eugene Robert, and thereafter was known
only as Robert-Houdin.
His life between 1838 and 1844 was divided between reading every work
obtainable on magic, and his duties in his father-in-law's shop, where
he not only made and repaired clocks, but built and repaired automata of
various sorts. His family shared with him many financial vicissitudes,
and about 1842-43 his first wife died, leaving him with three young
children to raise. Earlier in his "Memoirs" he speaks of having four
children, so it is more 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.
[Illustration: Robert-Houdin as he appeared to the English critics.
Reproduced from the _Illustrated London News_, December 23d, 1848.]
[Illustration: ROBERT HOUDIN'S SOIREES FANTASTIQUES
Poster used in 1848 in London by Robert-Houdin. From the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
By this time he had acquired more than passing fame as a repairer of
automata, and in 1844 he mended Vaucanson's marvellous duck, one of the
most remarkable automata ever made. Doubtless other automata found
their way to his workshop and aided him in his study of a profession
which he still hoped to follow. During these discouraging times he was
often assisted financially by one Monsieur G----, who either advanced
money on his automata or bought them outright. In the same year, 1844,
he retired to a suburb of Paris, and there, he asserts, he built his
famous writing and drawing figure.
[Illustration: Poster for the Emile-Houdin benefit at St. James's
Theatre in 1848. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
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 in the Palais Royal. Robert-Houdin went about the work
of decorating and furnishing this theatre with a view to securing the
most dramatic and brilliant effects, surrounding his simple tricks with
a setting that made them vastly different from the same offerings by his
predecessors. He was what is called to-day an original producer of old
ideas. On June 25th, 1845, he gave his first private performance before
a few friends. On July 3d of the same year his theatre of magic was
opened formally to the public. The programme of this performance is
shown on page 37.
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 exhibition in
1844, received a silver medal for it, and very soon sold it to the late
P. T. Barnum, who exported it to America.
[Illustration: Poster used by Robert-Houdin when he played at Sadler's
Wells, London, in 1853. He never refers to this engagement in his
writings because he was not proud of having appeared in a second-class
theatre, while his rival, Anderson, held the fashionable audiences at
the St. James's, where Robert-Houdin had worn out his welcome. From the
Harry Houdini Collection.]
This question naturally arises: If Robert-Houdin built the original
writing and drawing figure, why could he not make a duplicate and
include it in his programme? Surely it was one of the most remarkable of
the automata which he claims as the creations of his brain and hands.
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 financial failure.
In 1848 the Revolution closed the doors of Parisian theatres,
Robert-Houdin's among the rest, and he returned 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.
[Illustration: Robert-Houdin's grave, in the cemetery at Blois, France.
From a photograph taken by the author, especially for this work, and now
in the Harry Houdini Collection.]
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 newspaper of 1848, goes to prove that Hamilton was an
Englishman who entered Robert-Houdin's employ. Hamilton 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 retired to his home at St. Gervais. Here he continued to work
along mechanical and electrical lines, and in 1855 he again came into
public notice, winning awards at the Exhibition for electrical power as
applied to mechanical uses. In 1856, according to his autobiography, he
was summoned from his retirement by the Government to make a trip to
Algeria and there intimidate revolting Arabs by the exhibition of his
sleight-of-hand tricks. These were greatly superior to the work of the
Marabouts or Arabian magicians, whose influence was often held
responsible for revolts. What Robert-Houdin received for performing
this service is not set forth in any of his works. He spent the fall of
1856 in Algeria.
[Illustration: Bas-relief on Robert-Houdin tombstone. From a photograph
taken by the author, especially for this work, and now in the Harry
Houdini Collection.]
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 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 sold for 35,000 francs. The historic temple of magic still
stands under the title of "Théâtre Robert-Houdin," under the management
of M. Melies, a maker of motion picture films.
[Illustration: The last photograph taken of Robert-Houdin and used as
the frontispiece for the original French edition of his "Memoirs,"
published in 1868.]
During my investigations in Paris, I was shocked to find how little the
memory of Robert-Houdin was revered and how little was known of France's
greatest magician. In fact, I was more than once informed that
Robert-Houdin was still alive and giving performances at the theatre
which bears his name.
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" (oeuvre 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 Pastry
Cook of the Palais Royal, The Vaulting Trapeze Automaton, and the
Writing and Drawing Figure.
His fame, which has been sung by writers of magic without number since
his death, rests principally on the invention of second sight,
suspension, and the writing and drawing automaton. It is my intention to
trace the true history of each of these tricks and of all others to
which he laid claim as inventor, and show just how small a proportion of
the credit was due to Robert-Houdin and how much he owed to magicians
who preceded him and whose brain-work he claimed as his own.