THE ORANGE-TREE TRICK
Robert-Houdin, on page 179 of the American edition of his "Memoirs,"
thus describes the orange-tree trick, which he claims as his invention:
"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 contemporaneous newspaper
clippings describing their inventions.
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
appeared on a programme used by Christopher Pinchbeck, Sr., and the
younger Fawkes. In 1784 it was included in the répertoire of the Italian
conjurer, Pinetti, in the guise of "Le Bouquet-philosophique." In 1822
the same trick, but this time called "An Enchanted Garden," was featured
by M. Cornillot, who appeared in England as the pupil and successor of
Pinetti.
[Illustration: Diagram of the orange-tree trick, from Wiegleb's "The
Natural Magic," published in 1794.]
The trick was first explained in public print by Henri Decremps in 1784
when his famous exposé of Pinetti was published under the title of "La
Magie Blanche Dévoilée," and in 1786-87 both Halle and Wiegleb exposed
the trick completely in their respective works on magic.
That Robert-Houdin was an omnivorous reader is proven by his own
writings. That he knew the history and tricks of Pinetti is proven by
his own words, for in Chapter VI. of his "Memoirs" he devoted fourteen
pages to Pinetti and the latter's relations with Torrini.
Now to prove that the tree tricks offered by Fawkes, Pinchbeck, Pinetti,
Cornillot, and Robert-Houdin were practically one and the same, and to
tell something of the history of the four magicians who featured the
trick before Robert-Houdin had been heard of:
[Illustration: Christopher Pinchbeck, Sr. This is the oldest and rarest
authentic mezzotint in the world pertaining to the history of magic.
From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
[Illustration: Clipping from the London _Daily Post_ of November 30th,
1728. Used by Christopher Pinchbeck before he joined Fawkes. From the
Harry Houdini Collection.]
Unquestionably, the real inventor of the mysterious tree was Christopher
Pinchbeck, who was England's leading mechanical genius at the close of
the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth. He was a
man of high repute, whose history is not that of the charlatan, compiled
largely from tradition, but it can be corroborated by court records,
biographical works, and encyclopædias, as well as by contemporaneous
newspaper clippings.
[Illustration: Advertisement from the London _Daily Post_ during 1730,
showing the orange tree as offered by the senior Fawkes, just previous
to his death. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
According to Vol. XLV. of the "Dictionary of National Biography," edited
by Sidney Lee and published in 1896 by Smith, Elder & Co., 15 Waterloo
Place, London: "Christopher Pinchbeck was born about 1670, possibly in
Clerkenwell, London. He was a clockmaker and inventor of the copper and
zinc alloy called after his name. He invented and made the famous
astronomico-musical clock. In Appleby's _Weekly Journal_ of July 8th,
1721, it was announced that 'Christopher Pinchbeck, inventor and maker
of the astronomico-musical clock, is removed, from St. George's Court
(now Albion Place) to the sign of the "Astronomico-Musical Clock" in
Fleet Street, near the Leg Tavern. He maketh and selleth watches of all
sorts and clocks as well for the exact indication of the time only as
astronomical, for showing the various motions and phenomena of planets
and fixed stars.' Mention is also made of musical automata in imitation
of singing birds and barrel organs for churches, as among Pinchbeck's
manufactures.
"Pinchbeck was in the habit of exhibiting collections of his automata at
fairs, sometimes in conjunction with a juggler named Fawkes, and he
entitled his stall 'The Temple of the Muses,' 'Grand Theatre of the
Muses,' or 'Multum in Parvo.' The _Daily Journal_ of August 27th, 1729,
announced that the Prince and Princess of Wales went to the Bartholomew
Fair to see his exhibition, and there were brief advertisements in _The
Daily Post_ of June 12th, 1729, and the _Daily Journal_ of August 22d
and 23d, 1729. There is still a large broadside in the British Museum
(1850 c. 10-17) headed 'Multum in Parvo,' relating to Pinchbeck's
exhibition, with a blank left for place and date, evidently intended for
use as a poster. He died November 18th, 1732; was buried November 21st,
in St. Denison's Church, Fleet Street.
"In a copy of the _Gentlemen's Magazine_, printed 1732, page 1083, there
is an engraved portrait by I. Faber, after a painting by Isaac Wood, a
reproduction of which appears in 'Britten's Clock and Watch Maker,' page
122. His will, dated November 10th, 1732, was proved in London on
November 18th."
[Illustration: 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.]
During one of his engagements at the Bartholomew Fair, Pinchbeck
probably met Fawkes, the cleverest sleight-of-hand performer that magic
has ever known, and the two joined forces. Pinchbeck made all the
automata and apparatus thereafter used by Fawkes, and, in Fawkes, he
had a master-producer of his tricks. Christopher Pinchbeck never
appeared on the program used by Fawkes, save as the maker of the
automata or apparatus, but directly after the death of the elder Fawkes,
and a few months before his own, the elder Pinchbeck appeared with the
son of his deceased partner, and was advertised as doing "the Dexterity
of Hand" performance. This indicates that he was inducting young Fawkes
into all the mysteries of the profession at which the two elder men, as
friends and business partners, had done so well.
Christopher Pinchbeck was survived by two sons, Edward and Christopher,
Jr. Edward, the elder, succeeded to his father's shop and regular
business. He was born about 1703, and was well along in years when he
entered into his patrimony, which he advertised in _The Daily Post_ of
November 27th, 1732, as follows: "The toys made of the late Mr.
Pinchbeck's curious metal are now sold only by his son and sole
executor, Mr. Edward Pinchbeck."
This announcement settles forever the oft-disputed question as to
whether the alloy of copper and zinc which bears the name of Pinchbeck
was invented by Christopher Pinchbeck, Sr., or by his son Christopher,
Jr.
All newspaper and magazine descriptions of the automata invented by the
elder Pinchbeck indicate that his hand was as cunning as his brain was
inventive, for they showed the most delicate mechanism, and included
entire landscapes with figures of rare grace in motion.
[Illustration: The best portrait of Isaac Fawkes in existence. The
original, now in the Harry Houdini Collection, is supposed to have been
engraved by Sutton Nichols. It is said that there is only one more of
these engravings extant.]
"Christopher, the second son of Christopher Pinchbeck the elder,"
continues the biographical sketch, "was born about 1710 and possessed
great mechanical ingenuity. While the elder son, Edward, was made
executor and continued his father's trade in a quiet, conservative
fashion, the younger son struck out along new lines and became even more
famous as an inventor than his brilliant father had been.
[Illustration: An early Fawkes advertisement, clipped from a London
paper of 1725. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
"He was a member and at one time president of the Smeatonian Society,
the precursor of the Institution of Civil Engineers. In 1762 he devised
a self-acting pneumatic brake for preventing accidents to the men
employed in working wheel-cranes. In _The Gentlemen's Magazine_ for
June, 1765, page 296, it is recorded that Messrs. Pinchbeck and Norton
had made a complicated astronomical clock for the Queen's house, some of
the calculations of the wheel having been made by James Ferguson, the
astronomer. There is no proof that Pinchbeck and Norton were ever in
partnership, and there are now two clocks answering to the description
at Buckingham Palace, one by Pinchbeck, with four dials and of a very
complicated construction, and another by Norton.
[Illustration: A clipping from the _Daily Post_, London showing that
Fawkes combined forces with Powel, the famous Bartholomew Fair puppet
man. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
"Pinchbeck took out three patents: the first (No. 892), granted 1768,
was for an improved candlestick with a spring socket for holding the
candle firmly, and an arrangement whereby the candle always occupied an
upright position, however the candlestick might be held. In 1768 (patent
No. 899) he patented his nocturnal remembrancer, a series of tablets
with notches, to serve as guides for writing in the dark. His snuffers
(No. 1119) patented 1776, continued to be made in Birmingham until the
last forty years or so, when snuffers began to go out of use. In 1774 he
presented to the Society of Arts a model of a plough for mending roads.
Pinchbeck's name first appears in the London directory in 1778, when it
replaced that of Richard Pinchbeck, toyman, of whom nothing is recorded.
"Christopher Pinchbeck, Jr., was held in considerable esteem by George
III., and he figures in Wilkes' London Museum (ii-33) in 1770 in the
list of the party who called themselves the King's friends. He died
March 17th, 1783, aged 73, and was buried in St. Martin's-in-the-Fields.
His will, which was very curious, is printed in full in _The Horological
Journal_ of November, 1895. One of his daughters married William Hebb,
who was described as 'son-in-law and successor of the late Mr. Pinchbeck
at his shop in Cockspur Street' (imprinted on Pinchbeck's portrait),
whose son Christopher Henry Hebb (1772-1861) practised as a surgeon in
Worcester. There is in existence a portrait of Christopher Pinchbeck the
younger, by Cunningham, engraved by W. Humphrey."
The mezzotints of the Pinchbecks, father and son, herewith reproduced,
are extremely rare, and when I unearthed them in Berlin I felt myself
singularly favored in securing two such treasures of great value to the
history of magic. S. Wohl, the antiquarian and dealer from whom they
were purchased, acquired them during a tour of old book and print shops
in England, and thought them portraits of one and the same person; but
by studying the names of the artists and the engravers on the two
pictures, it will be seen that they set forth the features of father and
son, as indicated by the biographical notes quoted above.
Of the early history of Fawkes, whose brilliant stage performance lent
to the Pinchbeck automata a new lustre, little is known. It is
practically impossible to trace his family history. His Christian name
was never used on his billing nor published in papers or magazines, and
after repeated failures I was about to give up the task of discovering
it, when in 1904, aided by R. Bennett, the clerk of St.
Martin's-in-the-Fields Parish Church, Trafalgar Square, London, England,
I came upon the record of his burial. This record, which I found after
many days' search among musty, faded parchments, showed that his
Christian name was Isaac, and that he died May 25th or 29th, 1731, and
was buried in St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Parish Church.
[Illustration: Clipping from the London _Post_ during 1728, showing the
oldest evidence procurable of the original "Two a Night" performance.
From the Harry Houdini Collection:
At FAWKES's Booth in the Upper Moorfields, will be presented the
following Entertainments,
First his Famous Posture-Master, that for his wonderful dexterity of
Body exceeds all Europe. 2. The Musical Temple of Arts, with two moving
Pictures, the one a Concert of Musick, the other the Siege and Bay of
Gibraltar, being the finest Piece of Clock-work in the World. 3d.
Another Machine with three moving Pictures, the first represents the
Hill of Parnassus, with Apollo and the Nine Muses playing on various
Instruments of Musick, with next a beautiful View of a River, with Swans
and other Fowls and Fish, sporting as tho' Alive. The last gives a
Prospect of the New Palace Yard, with the whole Procession of the late
Coronation of their preseat Majesties marching from the Hall to the
Abbey,
Note, Half the Performance can't be express'd in this advertisement.
Note, We show twice every Evening, the First beginning at Five, the
other at Seven.]
The records further show that he was buried in the church vault, the
coffin being carried by six men. Prayers were said in the church,
candles were used, and the great bell was tolled. As the fees amounted
to £6 12s., a goodly sum for those days, all signs indicate that the
funeral was on a scale more costly and impressive than the ordinary.
Fawkes was worth at his death £10,000, which was considered an enormous
sum in those days. Every penny of this he made performing at the fairs.
The earliest announcements of Fawkes' performance in my collection are
dated 1702 and include advertisements headed "Fawkes and Powel,"
"Fawkes and Phillips," and "Fawkes and Pinchbeck." Powel was the famous
puppet man, Phillips a famous posture master (known to-day as
contortionist), and Pinchbeck was the greatest of mechanicians. Fawkes
seems to have possessed a singular gift for picking out desirable
partners.
[Illustration: Clipping from the London _Post_, February 7th, 1724, in
which Fawkes announces his retirement and offers to teach his tricks to
all comers. Below this announcement is the advertisement of Clench,
famous as an imitator and an instrumentalist.]
From this mass of evidence I am producing various clippings. By a
peculiar coincidence one of these I believe offers the most authentic
and earliest record of "two a night" performances in England.
In my collection are a number of other clippings from the press of the
same year, in April and May, 1728, but none of them says "twice a
night," therefore I judge that the custom of giving two performances in
a night was tried previously to April, 1728, and then abandoned, or
after the first of May.
[Illustration: Clipping from the London _Daily Post_ of August, 1735, in
which Fawkes advertises his admission price as twelvepence. From the
Harry Houdini Collection.]
In the London _Post_ of February 7th, 1724, Fawkes announced an
exhibition "in the Long Room over the piazza at the Opera House in the
Haymarket." At this time he also advertised the fact that he was about
to retire and was exposing all his tricks. The clipping of that date
from my collection has the following foot-note: "Likewise he designs to
follow this business no longer than this season; so he promises to learn
any lady or gentleman his fancies in dexterity of hand for their own
diversion."
When Fawkes was not in partnership with some puppet showman, he always
advertised his own puppets as "A court of the richest and largest
figures ever shown in England, being as big as men and women!" His
admission charges varied, but 12 pence seemed his favorite figure.
About six years before his death he had his own theatre in James Street,
near the Haymarket, in which he exhibited for months at a time before
and after fairs.
[Illustration: Clipping from the London _Post_, showing that young
Fawkes collaborated with Pinchbeck and together they offered the
orange-tree trick in 1732. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
I reproduce a clipping from my collection showing Fawkes' last program.
Here it will be seen that his first trick was causing a tree to grow up
in a flower-pot on the table, and bear fruit in a minute's time. In _The
Gentlemen's Magazine_, that oft-quoted and most reliable periodical, of
February 15th, 1731, readers were informed that the Algerian Ambassadors
witnessed Fawkes' performance.
[Illustration: Clipping from the London _Post_, August 16th, 1736, when
young Fawkes was playing alone. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
At their request he showed them "a prospect of Algiers, and raised up an
apple-tree which bore ripe fruit in less than a minute's time, which
several of the company tasted of."
Fawkes, too, had a son, and thus the partnership and the friendship
which had existed between the elder Fawkes and the elder Pinchbeck were
carried on by the second generation. All of the marvellous apparatus
made by Pinchbeck the elder, for Fawkes, may have been bequeathed by the
latter to his son, but, in 1732, Pinchbeck the elder and Fawkes the
younger were in a booth together, and Pinchbeck was advertised as doing
"the dexterity of hand" performances. After Christopher Pinchbeck, Sr.,
died, young Fawkes started out on his own account. In 1746, according to
an advertisement in my collection, a Fawkes and a Pinchbeck were
together again, so the son of Pinchbeck must have joined the younger
Fawkes for exhibition purposes. The accompanying clippings from
contemporary publications trace the history of young Fawkes, and prove
that the tree which bore fruit in a minute's time was still on his
programme.
[Illustration: Reproduction of page 1226 of Hone's "Every-Day Book" in
the Harry Houdini Collection. This is a portrait of Fawkes, engraved on
a fan by Setchels in 1721 or 1728. Fans like these were distributed at
the Bartholomew Fair.]
For many years it was supposed that only one portrait of Fawkes was in
existence, but it now seems that three were made. I publish them all,
something which no one has ever before been able to do. One was taken
from a Setchels fan published about 1728, although some authorities say
1721. It appeared in Hone's "Every-Day Book," page 1226. Another, I
believe, was engraved by Sutton Nicols, as Hone mentions it in his
description of Fawkes. In the fan engraving, it will be noticed that
there appears a man wearing a star on his left breast. It is said that
this is Sir Robert Walpole, who was Prime Minister while Fawkes was at
the height of his success, and who was one of the conjurer's great
admirers. Hogarth also placed Fawkes in one of his engravings as the
frontispiece of a most diverting brochure on "Taste," in which he
belittles Burlington Gate. This makes the third portrait from my
collection herewith reproduced.
According to an article contributed by Mons. E. Raynaly in the
_Illusionniste_ of June, 1903, the orange tree next appeared in the
répertoire of a remarkable peasant conjurer, whose billing Mons. Raynaly
found among "Affiches de Paris." This performer was billed as the
Peasant of North Holland, and gave hourly performances at the yearly
fairs at Saint-Germain.
It is more than possible that he purchased this trick from Fawkes or
Pinchbeck, having seen it at the Bartholomew Fair in England.
He featured the orange tree as follows: "He has a Philosophical Flower
Pot, in which he causes to grow on a table in the presence of the
spectators trees which flower, and then the flowers fall, and fruit
appears absolutely ripe and ready to be eaten."
His posters are dated 1746-47 and 1751.
The next programme on which the mysterious tree appears is a Pinetti
handbill, dated in London, 1784, when the following announcement was
made:
"Signore Pinetti will afterwards present the assembly with a Tree called
Le Bouquet-philosophique composed of small branches of an orange-tree,
the leaves appearing green and natural. He will put it under a bottle,
and at some distance, by throwing some drops of water of his own
composition, the leaves will begin to change and the bouquet will
produce natural flowers and various fruits."
[Illustration: 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.]
Pinetti is one of the most fascinating and picturesque figures in the
history of magic. His full name was Joseph Pinetti de Willedal, and,
like Pinchbeck and Fawkes, he was a man of parts and readily made
friends with the nobility. In fact, there is some question as to whether
he did not come of a noble family.
He was born in 1750 in Orbitelle, a fortified town once claimed by
Tuscany. What can be gleaned regarding his early history goes to prove
that his family connections were excellent and his education of the
best. One of his portraits, reproduced herewith, shows a half-crown of
laurel decorating the frame, and on one side of the bust is a globe,
while in the rear of the picture is a stack of books. This would
establish his claim that he was once a professor of physics and
geography. In fact, the legend beneath the portrait, being translated
from the French, runs:
"I. I. Pinetti Willedal de Merci, Professor and Demonstrator of Physics,
Chevalier of the Order of St. Philipe, Geographical Engineer, Financial
Counselor of H.R.H. Prince of Linbourg Holstein, Born in Orbitelle in
1750."
[Illustration: A wood-cut used by Pinetti during his engagement at
Hamburg, Germany, in October, 1796. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
As it has so often happened in the history of savants and students,
there ran in Pinetti's blood a love of the mysterious with that peculiar
strain of charalatanism which went to make up the clever performer in
old-time magic. Evidently he resigned his duties as a professor for the
more picturesque life of the travelling magician, and he is first heard
from in this capacity in the French provinces in 1783. His fame quickly
carried him to Paris, where in 1784 he appeared before the court of
Louis XVI. His arrival was most opportune, for just then all Paris and,
for that matter, all Europe had been aroused to a new interest in magic
by the brilliant Cagliostro.
[Illustration: The only authentic portrait of Pinetti in existence, the
only known copy extant being in the Harry Houdini Collection.]
From Paris he went to London, playing at the Haymarket and creating a
sensation equal to that which he made in France. Later he toured
Germany, playing in Berlin and Hamburg. Next he went back to his native
land, Italy, but later returned to Germany for a second engagement. In
1789 he appeared in Russia and never left that country. There he married
a Russian girl, daughter of a carriage manufacturer. They had two
children. Pinetti would have left enormous wealth, but in his later
years he became interested in ballooning, the sensation of the hour, and
spent his entire fortune on balloon experiments. He died in Bartichoff,
Volhinie, aged fifty years.
[Illustration: Henri Decremps, the French author who exposed and
endeavored to ruin Pinetti, but succeeded only in immortalizing him.]
Pinetti was a man of rare inventive genius and almost reconstructed the
art of conjuring, so numerous were his inventions. For half a century
after his death his successors drew upon Pinetti's inventions and
répertoire for their programmes. Naturally such ability aroused bitter
jealousies, especially as Pinetti made no attempt to conciliate his
contemporaries, either magicians or writers on magic. He issued one
book, whose title-page reads:
"Amusements Physiques et Differentes Expériences Divertissements,
Composées et Executées, tant à Paris que dans les diverses Courts de
l'Europe. Par M. Joseph Pinetti de Willedal, Romain, Chevalier de
l'Ordre Mérite de Saint-Phillipe, Professeur de Mathématiques et de
Physiques, Protégé par toute la Maison Royale de France, Pensionnaire de
la Cour de Prusse, etc., 1785."
The work, however, was not a clear and lucid explanation of his methods
and tricks. In fact some of his contemporaries claimed that he
deliberately misrepresented his methods of performing tricks. Among
these writers was Henri Decremps, a brilliant professor of mathematics
and physics in Paris, who proceeded to expose all of Pinetti's tricks in
the book referred to in the preceding chapter, "La Magie Blanche
Dévoilée." This work was in five volumes and was so popular in its day
that it was translated into nearly every modern language. The following
explanation of the trick is taken from page 56 of the English
translation, entitled "The Conjurer Unmasked":
"The branches of the tree may be made of tin or paper, so as to be
hollow from one end to the other in order that the air which enters at
the bottom may find its exit at the top of the branch. These branches
are so adjusted that at intervals there appear twigs made from brass
wire, but the whole so decorated with leaves made from parchment that
the ensemble closely resembles nature.
"The end of each branch is dilated to contain small pieces of gummed
silk or very fine gold-beater's skin, which are to catch the figures of
the flowers and fruit when the latter expand by the air driven through
the branches to which they were fastened by a silk thread.
[Illustration: Decremps's signature written by himself on the last page
of a copy of his book now in the Harry Houdini Library.]
"The tree or nosegay is then placed on a table, through which runs a
glass tube to supply air from beneath the stage, where a confederate
works this end of the trick, and causes the tree to 'grow' at the
prearranged signal."
Later it was described as being accomplished entirely by springs, and
real oranges were first stuck on the tree by means of pegs or pins, and
the leaves were so secured around them that at first appearance they
could not be seen. Then a piston was used to spread all the leaves,
another that forced the blossom up through the hollow branches, etc.
Pinetti's personality was almost as extraordinary as his talents. A
handsome man who knew how to carry himself, acquiring the graces and the
dress of the nobility, he became rather haughty, if not arrogant, in his
bearing. He so antagonized his contemporaries in the fields of magic and
literature that he was advertised as much by his bitter enemies as by
his loving friends. Many of his methods of attracting attention to
himself were singularly like those employed by modern press agents of
theatrical stars. He never trusted to his performances in theatres and
drawing-rooms to advertise his abilities, but demonstrated his art
wherever he appeared, from barber-shops to cafés.
Perhaps the best pen pictures of Pinetti and his methods are furnished
by E. G. Robertson in his "Memoirs." Robertson was a contemporary of
Pinetti, and, like him, a pioneer in ballooning. His "Memoirs," written
in the French language, were published in 1831. The following extracts
from this interesting book tell much of Pinetti's life in Russia and of
his professional history as tradition and actual acquaintance had
presented it to M. Robertson:
"Pinetti had travelled a great deal and for a long time had enjoyed a
great European reputation. He had done everything to attain it. There
was never a man that carried further the art of the 'charlatisme.' When
he arrived in a town where he intended to give a show, he took good care
to prepare his public by speeches, which would keep it in suspense. In
St. Petersburg great and incredible examples of mystification and of
prestidigitation were told about him.
"One day he went to a barber-shop to get shaved, sat down in the chair,
had the towel tied around his neck, and laid his head back ready for the
lather. The barber left him in this position to get hot water, and when
he returned, guided by force of habit, he applied the lather where the
chin should be, but he found feet, arms, hands, and body in a coat, but
no head! Such lamentations! No more head! What could it mean? He opened
the door, and, frightened to death, ran away. Pinetti then went to the
window and called the barber back. He had put his head in his coat in
such a clever way, covering it with his handkerchief, that the surprise
and the fright of the barber were quite natural. Of course this barber
did not fail to spread over the whole town that he had shaved a man who
could take his head off and on to his wish.
[Illustration: Frontispiece of Pinetti's book, "Amusements Physiques,"
published in Paris, 1785, one of the first treasures of the Evanion
Collection purchased by the author.]
[Illustration: Pinetti's autograph, written by him on the back of the
frontispiece, reproduced on page 78. Original in the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
"Pinetti met in a summer-garden a young Russian who sold small cakes. He
bought a few cakes, bit into them, and complained of finding a hard
substance. The youth protested, but Pinetti opened the cake before him
and found inside a gold piece. The magician pocketed the gold piece,
bought another cake, then a third cake, and in each case found a new
gold piece inside. He tried to buy the rest of the cakes. The passers-by
had in the mean time come round the seller, and everybody wanted to buy
as well. The market seemed to be all right, a ducat for a kopeck! Twelve
francs for a cent! The young man refused to sell any more, hurried away,
and when alone opened the cakes that were left. He found only the
substances of which the cakes were made--nothing else. He had two left,
so he hurried back to offer these to Pinetti. Pinetti bought them from
him, opened them and showed in each one the gold piece, which the young
man could not find in the two dozen cakes which he had spoilt. The poor
boy bit his lips and looked at Pinetti with wondering, frightened eyes.
This little adventure was advertised here, there, and everywhere, and
was told in the clubs and in the society gatherings, and very soon the
name of Pinetti gave the key to the enigma, and Pinetti was in demand by
everybody.
"When Pinetti came on the stage, he had the knack of attracting members
of the nobility around his table, by letting them learn some small
secrets. This would render them confederates in working his tricks. He
would appear in rich suits, embroidered in gold, which he changed three
and four times in the evening. He would not hesitate to deck himself in
a quantity of foreign decorations. In Berlin it was told how Pinetti
would go through the streets, in a carriage drawn by four white horses.
He was clad in fine embroidery and decorated with medals of all nations.
Several times it happened that, as he passed by, the soldiers would call
arms and salute, taking him for a prince. One day the King of Prussia
rode out in his modest carriage drawn by two horses. Ahead of him drove
the supposed prince. When the King witnessed the mistake made by his
soldiers, he made inquiries as to the rank of this man to whom his men
were paying such honor, then gave the Cavalier Pinetti twenty-four hours
to get beyond Prussia's borders."
[Illustration: Reproduction of a handbill distributed on the streets of
London in September, 1822. The orange-tree trick is on the bill under
the name of "Enchanted Garden." From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
Whatever may be said of Pinetti's charlatanism, it must be admitted that
he gave to the art of conjuring a great impetus which was felt for
several generations. It is not remarkable, therefore, that when the
French magician Cornillot appeared in London in 1822 he announced
himself as the pupil and successor of Pinetti. This was when
Robert-Houdin was seventeen years of age, twenty-three years before he
made his professional début, and on Cornillot's programme we find
another version of the now famous and almost familiar tree trick. As
will be seen from the accompanying reproduction of a Cornillot handbill,
the tree now appears as "An Enchanted Garden," and, if the wording of
the bill is to be believed, Cornillot had improved the trick and was
using more than one tree or plant.
Cornillot remained in England for some time and is classed among the
conjurers of good repute. Another bill in my collection shows that he
played at the Theatre of Variety, Catherine Street, Strand, in October,
1823. He was then assisted by several singers and dancers, including the
famous Misses Hamilton and Howe, pupils of M. Corri. In his company was
also an Anglo-Chinese juggler, who, in addition to feats of juggling,
"swallows an egg, a sword, and a stone, a la Ramo Samee."
To sum up the evidence against Robert-Houdin in this particular trick:
Four magicians of high repute gave public performances before
Robert-Houdin knew and operated the orange-tree trick. Three eminent
writers exposed it clearly and accurately. Robert-Houdin, as an
indefatigable student of the history of magic, must have known of the
trick and its _modus operandum_. He may have purchased it from
Cornillot, or as a clever mechanician he had only to reproduce the trick
invented by his predecessors, train his confederate in its
operation--and--by his cleverly written autobiography--attempt to
establish his claim to its invention.