THE WRITING AND DRAWING FIGURE
In his "Memoirs" Robert-Houdin eulogizes the various automata which he
claims to have invented. The picturesque fashion in which he describes
the tremendous effort put forth ere success crowned his labors 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
performances, though he asserts that he planned to exhibit it between
performances at his own theatre. This automaton, he says, laid the
foundation of his financial success and opened the way to realizing his
dream of appearing as a magician.
[Illustration: Writing and drawing figure claimed by Robert-Houdin as
his invention. From Manning's Robert-Houdin brochure.]
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
inventions 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, who
immediately agreed to advance two thousand five hundred francs, and if
the figure was completed in eighteen months, two thousand five hundred
francs more were to be paid for it, making five thousand francs in all.
If the figure was never completed, then Monsieur G---- was to reimburse
himself for the amount advanced by selecting automatic toys from
Robert-Houdin's regular stock.
After liquidating his debt, Robert-Houdin retired to Belleville, a
suburb of Paris, where for eighteen months he worked upon the figure,
seeing his family only twice a week, and living in the most frugal
fashion.
He employed a wood-carver to make the head, but the result was so
unsatisfactory that in the end he was obliged, not only to make all the
complicated machinery which operated the figure, but to carve the head
itself, which, he adds, in some miraculous fashion, resembled himself.
This resemblance, however, cannot be traced in existing cuts of the
figure.
The chapter devoted to this particular automaton is so diverting that I
quote literally from its pages, thus giving my readers an opportunity to
take the true measure of the writer and the literary style of his
"Memoirs." Here is his description of his moment of triumph:
"I had only to press a spring in order to enjoy the long-waited-for
result. My heart beat violently, and though I was alone I trembled at
the mere thought of this imposing trial. I had just laid the first sheet
of paper before my writer and asked him this question: 'Who is the
author of your being?' I pressed the spring, and the clockwork
started--began acting. I dared hardly breathe through fear of disturbing
the operations. The automaton bowed to me, and I could not refrain from
smiling on it as on my own son. But when I saw the eyes fix an attentive
glance on the paper--when the arm, a few seconds before numb and
lifeless, began to move and trace my signature in a firm hand--the tears
started in my eyes and I fervently thanked Heaven for granting me
success. And it was not alone the satisfaction I experienced as an
inventor, but the certainty I had of being able to restore some degree
of comfort to my family, that caused my deep feeling of gratitude.
"After making my Sosia repeat my signature a thousand times, I gave it
this question: 'What o'clock is it?' The automaton, acting in obedience
to the clock, wrote, 'It is two in the morning.' This was a timely
warning. I profited by it and went straight to bed."
[Illustration: Specimens of penmanship executed by the Droz writing
automaton in 1796 and 1906 respectively. From the brochure issued by the
Society of History and Archæology, Canton of Neuchatel, Switzerland.]
Robert-Houdin injects a little humor into this chapter, for he relates
that as Molière and J. J. Rousseau consulted their servants, he decided
to do likewise; so early the next morning he invited his portress and
her husband, Auguste, a stone-mason, to be present at the first
performance of the figure. The mason's wife chose the question, "What is
the emblem of fidelity?" The automaton replied by drawing a pretty
little greyhound, lying on a cushion. The stone-mason wished to see the
works, saying: "I understand about that sort of thing, for I have always
greased the vane on the church steeple, and have even taken it down
twice."
When the work was completed, according to page 208 of the American
edition of his "Memoirs," he returned to Paris, collected the remaining
two thousand five hundred francs due him from Monsieur G----, to whom he
delivered the figure, and two thousand francs more on an automatic
nightingale made for a rich merchant of St. Petersburg. Incidentally he
mentions that during his absence his business had prospered, but he
fails to state who managed it for him, and here is where I believe
credit should be given Opre, the Dutch inventor, who was unquestionably
Robert-Houdin's assistant for years.
In 1844 he claims to have borrowed the writing and drawing figure from
the obliging Monsieur G---- to exhibit it at the Quinquennial
Exposition, where it attracted the attention of Louis Philippe and his
court, thus insuring its exhibitor the silver medal.
At this point Robert-Houdin deliberately drops the writing and drawing
figure, leaving his readers to believe that it was returned to its
rightful owner, Monsieur G----, but, unfortunately for his claims,
another historian steps in here to cast reflections on Monsieur G---- 's
ownership of the figure. This writer is the world's greatest showman,
the late P. T. Barnum, who purchased the figure at this same exposition
of 1844, paying for it a goodly sum, and this incident is one of the
significant omissions of the Robert-Houdin "Memoirs." Either
Robert-Houdin sold the figure to Mr. Barnum for Monsieur G----, or such
a person as Monsieur G---- never existed, for in his own book Mr. Barnum
writes:
"When I was abroad in 1844 I went to Paris expressly to attend the
'Quinquennial Exposition'--an exhibition then held every five years. I
met and became well acquainted with a celebrated conjurer, as he called
himself, Robert-Houdin, but who was not only a prestidigitateur and
legerdemain performer, but a mechanic of absolute genius. I bought at
the exposition the best automaton he exhibited and for which he obtained
a gold medal. I paid a round price for this most ingenious little
figure, which was an automaton writer and artist. It sat on a small
table, pencil in hand; and, if asked, for instance, for an emblem of
'fidelity,' it would instantly draw the picture of a handsome dog; if
love was wanted, a cupid was exquisitely pencilled. The automaton would
also answer many questions in writing. I took this curiosity to London,
where it was exhibited for some time at the Royal Adelaide Gallery, and
then I sent it across the Atlantic to my American Museum, where it
attracted great attention from the people and the press. During my
visit, Houdin was giving evening legerdemain performances, and by his
pressing invitation I frequently was present. He took great pains, too,
to introduce me to other inventors and exhibitors of moving figures,
which I liberally purchased, making them prominent features in the
attractions of the American Museum."
[Illustration: The late P. T. Barnum, the world's greatest showman, who
bought the writing and drawing figure from Robert-Houdin, and wrote at
length of the French conjurer in his autobiography. Born July 5, 1810.
Died April 7, 1891. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
[Illustration: The figure of Cupid as executed by the Droz drawing
figure. From the brochure issued by the Society of History and
Archæology, Canton of Neuchatel, Switzerland.]
Barnum then continued to describe Robert-Houdin's greatness and his
cleverness in the use of electricity. The showman was always a welcome
guest at the magician's house, and he relates how, at luncheon time,
Robert-Houdin would touch a knob and through the floor would rise a
table, laden with inviting viands. These details in the Barnum book make
it all the more inexplicable that Robert-Houdin should omit all mention
of the great showman's name in his "Memoirs."
[Illustration: Hanger advertising the Professor Faber talking machine,
exhibited by P. T. Barnum during 1873 in his museum department. This
automaton was the first talking figure. From the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
Just at this time the amusement-seeking public seemed greatly interested
in automata, so it was only natural that Barnum, great showman that he
was, should scour Europe for mechanical figures. Soon after he purchased
the writing and drawing figure claimed by Robert-Houdin, he brought to
America a talking figure invented by Professor Faber of Vienna, to which
he refers most entertainingly in his address to the public dated 1873:
"The Museum department contains 100,000 curiosities, including Professor
Faber's wonderful talking machine, costing me $20,000 for its use for
six months; also the National Portrait Gallery of one hundred life-size
paintings, including all the Presidents of the United States, etc.; John
Rogers' groups of historic statuary; almost an endless variety of
curiosities, including numberless automaton musicians, mechanicians, and
moving scenes, etc., etc., made in Paris and Geneva."
It can be imagined how wonderful this talking machine must have been
when Barnum gave it special emphasis, selecting it from the hundreds of
curios he had on exhibition. As this talking machine is probably
forgotten, I will reproduce the bill used at the time of its appearance
in London, England.
When Barnum was in London in 1844, with Gen. Tom Thumb, who was then
performing at the Egyptian Hall, he first saw the automatic talking
machine and engaged it to strengthen his show. Thirty years later Prof.
Faber's nephew was the lecturer who explained to the American public the
automaton's mechanism and also the performer who manipulated the
machine.
Barnum always speaks of the talking automaton as being a life-size
figure, but the pictures used for advertising purposes show that it was
only a head.
The fate of both the talking automaton and the writing and drawing
figure is shrouded in mystery. If they were in the Barnum Museum when
the latter was swept by fire in 1865, they were destroyed. If they had
been taken back to Europe, they may now be lying in some cellar or loft,
moth-eaten and dust-covered, ignominious end for such ingenious
brain-work and handicraft.
So much for the claims of Robert-Houdin. Now to disprove them.
The earliest record of a writing figure I have found is in the
"Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines," compiled by Andrew Ure,
M.D., and published in New York in 1842 by Le Roy Sunderland, 126 Fulton
Street. On page 83, under the heading of "Automaton," is this statement:
"Frederick Von Knauss completed a writing machine at Vienna in the year
1760. It is now in the model cabinet of the Polytechnic Institute, and
consists of a globe two feet in diameter, containing the mechanism, upon
which sits a figure seven inches high and writes, upon a sheet of paper
fixed to a frame, whatever has been placed beforehand upon a regulating
cylinder. At the end of each line it raises and moves its hand sideways,
in order to begin a new line."
[Illustration: Portrait and autograph of Pierre Jacquet-Droz. Born 1721,
died 1790. From the brochure issued by the Society of History and
Archæology, Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.]
This does not answer the description of the figure which Robert-Houdin
claims, but it is interesting as showing that mechanical genius ran
along such lines almost a hundred years before Robert-Houdin claims to
have invented the famous automaton.
The writing and drawing figure claimed by Robert-Houdin as his original
invention can be traced back directly to the shop door of Switzerland's
most noted inventor, Pierre Jacquet-Droz, who with his son, Henri-Louis,
laid the foundation of the famous Swiss watch-and music-box industry.
In the latter part of the eighteenth century, probably about 1770, the
Jacquet-Drozes turned out a drawing figure which also inscribed a few
set phrases or titles of the drawings. In mechanism, appearance, and
results it tallies almost exactly with the automaton claimed by
Robert-Houdin as originating in his brain. The Jacquet-Droz figure
showed a child clad in quaint, flowing garments, seated at a desk. The
Robert-Houdin figure was modernized, and showed a court youth in knee
breeches and powdered peruque, seated at a desk. The Jacquet-Droz figure
drew a dog, a cupid, and the heads of reigning monarchs. The
Robert-Houdin figure, made seventy-five years later, by some
inexplicable coincidence drew a dog as the symbol of fidelity, a cupid
as the emblem of love, and the heads of reigning monarchs.
The history of the Jacquet-Drozes is written in the annals of
Switzerland as well as the equally reputable annals of scientific
inventions, and cannot be refuted.
Pierre Jacquet-Droz was born July 28th, 1721, in a small village,
La-Chaux-de-Fonds, near Neuchâtel, Switzerland. According to some
authorities, his father was a clock-maker, but the brochure issued by
"Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie" of the city of Neuchâtel, which
has recently acquired many of the Jacquet-Droz automata, states that he
was the son of a farmer and was sent to a theological seminary at Basle.
Here the youth's natural talent for mechanics overbalanced his interest
in "isms" and "ologies," and he spent every spare moment at work with
his tools. On his return to his native town he turned his attention
seriously to clock- and watch-making, constructing a marvellous clock
with two peculiar hands which, in passing each other, touched the dial
and rewound the clock.
[Illustration: Henri-Louis Jacquet-Droz, son of Pierre Jacquet-Droz, and
the superior of his father as a mechanician. Born Oct. 13th, 1752, died
November 15th, 1791. From the Jaquet-Droz brochure, issued by the
Neuchâtel Society of History and Archæology.]
At this time his work attracted the attention of Lord Keith, Governor of
Neuchâtel, then a province of Prussia, who induced the young inventor to
visit the court of Ferdinand VI. of Spain, providing the necessary
introductions. Pierre Jacquet-Droz remained for some time in Madrid and
made a clock of most complicated pattern. This was a perpetual calendar.
For hands, he utilized artificial sunbeams, shooting out from the sun's
face which formed the dial, to denote the hours, days, etc. With the
money received from the Spanish monarch he returned to Switzerland to
find that his son, Henri-Louis, had inherited his remarkable inventive
gifts. He sent his boy to Nancy to study music, drawing, mechanics, and
physics. During his son's absence in all probability he produced the
first of the marvellous automata which made the Jacquet-Drozes famous
the modern world over, namely, the writing figure.
With the return of Henri-Louis Jacquet-Droz from college commenced what
may be termed the golden age of mechanics in Switzerland. Associated
with father and son were the former's pupils or apprentices,
Jean-Frédéric Leschot, Jean-David Maillardet, and Jean Pierre Droz, a
blood relation who afterward became director of the mint at Paris and a
mechanician of rare talent. Jean Pierre Droz is credited with having
invented a machine for cutting, stamping, and embossing medals on the
face and on the edges at one insertion.
[Illustration: Jean-Frédéric Leschot. Born 1747, died 1824. Portrait
published by Société des Arts de Genève. Presented to the author by
Mons. Blind (Magicus) of Geneva.]
The output of this shop and its staff of gifted workers included the
first Swiss music box, the singing birds which sprang from watches and
jewel caskets, the drawing figure which was an improvement on the
writing figure, the spinet player, and the grotto with its many
automatic animals of diminutive size but exquisite workmanship. Years
were spent in perfecting the various automata, and none of them have
been equalled or even approached by later mechanicians and inventors.
Henri-Louis Jacquet-Droz was conceded to be the superior of his father,
Pierre Jacquet-Droz. In a German encyclopædia which I found at the
King's Library, Munich, it is stated that when Vaucanson, celebrated as
the inventor of "The Flute Player," "The Mechanical Duck," "The Talking
Machine," etc., saw the work of the younger Droz, he cried loudly, "Why,
that boy commences where I left off!"
According to the brochure issued by the Society of History and
Archæology, Canton of Neuchâtel, and an article contributed by Dr.
Alfred Gradenwits to _The Scientific American_ of June 22d, 1907, the
writing and drawing figures are made and operated as follows:
[Illustration: The Jacquet-Droz writing automaton. From the brochure
issued by the Society of History and Archæology, Canton of Neuchâtel,
Switzerland.]
"The writer represented a child of about four years of age, sitting at
his little table, patiently waiting with the pen in his hand until the
clockwork is started. He then sets to work and, after looking at the
sheet of paper before him, lifts his hand and moves it toward the
ink-stand, in which he dips the pen. The little fellow then throws off
an excess of ink and slowly and calmly, like an industrious child,
begins writing on the paper the prescribed sentence. His handwriting is
careful, conscientiously distinguishing between hair strokes and ground
strokes, always observing the proper intervals between letters and words
and generally showing the sober and determined character of the
handwriting usual at the time in the country of Neuchâtel. In order, for
instance, to write a T, the writer begins tracing the letter at the
top, and after slightly lifting his hand halfway, swiftly traces the
transversal dash, and continues writing the original ground stroke.
"How complicated a mechanism is required for insuring these effects will
be inferred from the illustration, in which the automaton is shown with
its back opened. In the first place a vertical disk will be noticed
having at its circumference as many notches as there are letters and
signs. Behind this will be seen whole columns of cam-wheels, each of a
special shape, placed one above another, and all together forming a sort
of spinal column for the automaton.
"Whenever the little writer is to write a given letter, a pawl is
introduced into the corresponding notch of the disk, thus lifting the
wheel column and transmitting to the hand, by the aid of a complicated
lever system and Cardan joints arranged in the elbow, the requisite
movements for tracing the letter in question. The mechanism comprises
five centres of motion connected together by chains.
[Illustration: View of the mechanism which operates the Jacquet-Droz
writing automaton. From the brochure issued by the Society of History
and Archæology, Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.]
"In the 'Draftsman,' the mechanism is likewise arranged in the body
itself, as in the case of the 'Writer.' The broad chest thus entailed
also required a large head, which accounts for the somewhat bulky
appearance of the two automatons. With the paper in position and a
pencil in hand, the 'Draftsman' at first traces a few dashes and then
swiftly marks the shadows, and a dog appears on the paper. The little
artist knowingly examines his work, and after blowing away the dust and
putting in a few last touches, stops a moment and then quickly signs,
'Mon Toutou' (My pet dog). The motions of the automaton are quite
natural, and the outlines of his drawings extremely sharp. The automaton
when desired willingly draws certain crowned heads now belonging to
history; for example, a portrait of Louis XV., of Louis XVI., and of
Marie Antoinette."
[Illustration: Clipping from the London _Post_, 1776, advertising the
writing and drawing figures, exhibited by their inventor, Mr.
Jacquet-Droz. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
The automata made by the Jacquet-Drozes and their confrères were
exhibited in all the large cities of Great Britain and Continental
Europe. According to the programmes and newspaper notices in my
collection, Henri-Louis Jacquet-Droz acted as their first exhibitor. As
proof I am reproducing a Droz programme from the London _Post_, dated
1776.
In support of this advertisement, note what the same paper says in what
is probably a criticism of current amusements:
[Illustration: Heads of King George and Queen Charlotte, executed in
their presence by the Jacquet-Droz drawing figure in 1774. From the
brochure issued by the Society of History and Archæology, Canton of
Neuchâtel, Switzerland.]
"This entertainment consists of three capital mechanical figures and a
pastoral scene, with figures of an inferior size. The figure on the
left-hand side, a beautiful boy as large as life, writes anything that
is dictated to him, in a very fine hand. The second on the right hand,
of the same size, draws various landscapes, etc., etc., which he
finishes in a most accurate and masterly style. The third figure is a
beautiful young lady who plays several elegant airs on the harpsichord,
with all the bass accompaniments; her head gracefully moving to the
tune, and her bosom discovering a delicate respiration. During her
performance, the pastoral scene in the centre discovers a variety of
mechanical figures admirably grouped, all of which seem endued, as it
were, with animal life, to the admiration of the spectator. The last
curiosity is a canary bird in a cage, which whistles two or three airs
in the most natural manner imaginable. Upon the whole, the united
collection strikes us as the most wonderful exertion of art which ever
trod before so close on the heels of nature. The ingenious artist is a
young man, a native of Switzerland."
The inventory of Jacquet-Droz, Jr., dated 1786, quotes the "Piano
Player" as valued at 4,800 livres, the "Drawing Figure" at 7,200 livres,
while the "Writer" had been ceded to him by his father for 4,800 livres,
in consideration of certain improvements and modifications which
Henri-Louis Jacquet-Droz made in the original invention. This shows that
while the elder Droz did not die until 1790, his son controlled the
automata previous to this date, for exhibition and other purposes.
During his later years Henri-Louis Jacquet-Droz was induced to take the
automata to Spain. His tour was under the direction of an English
manager, who, possibly for the purpose of securing greater
advertisement, announced the figures as possessed of supernatural power.
This brought them under the ban of the Inquisition, and Jacquet-Droz was
thrown into prison. Eventually he managed to secure his freedom, and,
breathing free air once more, like the proverbial Arab, he silently
folded his tent and stole away, leaving the automata to their fate.
Henri-Louis Jacquet-Droz died in Naples, Italy, in 1791, a year after
his father's death.
[Illustration: A de Philipsthal programme of 1803 before the writing and
drawing figure came under his control. From the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
[Illustration: Poster used, March 22nd, 1811, by de Philipsthal and
Maillardet during their partnership, on which the writing and drawing
figure is featured. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
The English manager, however, tarried in Spain. The figures were "tried"
and as they proved motionless the case was dropped. The Englishman then
claimed the automata as his property and sold them to a French nobleman.
Their owner did not know how to operate them, so their great value
was never realized by his family. After his death, during a voyage to
America, they lay neglected in the castle of Mattignon, near Bayonne.
After changing hands many times, about 1803 they passed into the hands
of an inventor named Martin, and were controlled by his descendants for
nearly a hundred years. One of his family, Henri Martin, of Dresden,
Germany, exhibited them in many large cities, and advertised them for
sale at 15,000 marks in the _Muenchener_ Blaetter of May 13th, 1883.
After Martin's death, his widow succeeded in disposing of them to Herr
Marfels, of Berlin, who had them repaired with such good results that in
the fall of 1906 he sold them for 75,000 francs, or about $15,000, to
the Historical Society of Neuchâtel. In April, 1907, the writing figure,
the drawing figure, and the spinet player were on exhibition in Le
Locle, Chaux-de-Fonds, and Neuchâtel.
So far we have traced only the original writing and drawing figure. This
has been done purely to show that even if Robert-Houdin had been capable
of building such an automaton, he would not have been its real inventor,
but would merely have copied the marvellous work of the Jacquet-Drozes.
Now to trace the figure which in 1844 he claimed as his invention.
With the fame of the Neuchâtel shop spreading and the demand for Swiss
watches increasing, Maillardet and Jean Pierre Droz, apprentices or
perhaps partners of Pierre Jacquet-Droz and Henri-Louis Jacquet-Droz,
removed to London and there set up a watch factory. About this time
Maillardet invented a combination writing and drawing figure which was
pronounced by experts of the day slightly inferior to the work of the
two Jacquet-Drozes. However, it must have been worthy of exhibition, for
it appeared at intervals for the next fifty years in the amusement
world, particularly in London. At first Maillardet was not its exhibitor
nor was his name ever mentioned on the programmes and newspaper notices,
but later his name appeared as part owner and exhibitor. As the Swiss
watches had created a veritable sensation and were snatched up as fast
as produced, it is quite likely that he had no time to play the rôle of
showman.
The figure first appeared in London in 1796, when the London _Telegraph_
of January 2nd carried the advertisement reproduced on the next page.
Haddock had no particular standing in the world of magic, and it is more
than likely that he rented the automata which he exhibited, or merely
acted as showman for the real inventors.
[Illustration: Haddock advertisement in the London _Telegraph_, January,
1796, in which he features the writing automaton as an androide. From
the Harry Houdini Collection.]
[Illustration: Clipping from the London _Telegraph_ in March, 1812,
proving the partnership of de Philipsthal and Maillardet in an
"Automatical Theatre." The Mr. Louis mentioned in the advertisement as
assistant engineer later secured possession of the writing and drawing
figure. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
In quite a few works on automata, notably Sir David Brewster's "Letters
on Natural Magic," Collinson is quoted as having interviewed Maillardet
as the inventor of the combination writing and drawing figure. _The
Franklin Journal_ of June, 1827, published in Philadelphia, Pa., credits
this figure to Maillardet and gives the following description: "It was
the figure of a boy kneeling on one knee, holding a pencil in his hand,
with which he executed not only writing but drawings equal to those of
the masters. When the figure began to work, an attendant dipped the
pencil in ink, and fixed the paper, when, on touching a spring, the
figure wrote a line, carefully dotting and stroking the letters."
The Robert-Houdin figure did not kneel, but this change could be made by
a mechanician of ordinary ability.
[Illustration: A Louis programme of April 3rd, 1815, in which the
writing and drawing figure is advertised as a juvenile artist. It also
features a bird of paradise automaton which Robert-Houdin claimed to
have invented thirty years later. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
The writing and drawing figure does not reappear on amusement programmes
in my collection until 1812, when it was featured by De Philipsthal, the
inventor of "Phantasmagoria." The nature of the inventions grouped
under this title can best be judged from the reproduction of a De
Philipsthal programme, dated 1803-04, and reproduced in the course of
this chapter. All evidence goes to prove, however, that De Philipsthal
did not control the writing and drawing figure exclusively, but that it
was the joint property of himself and his partner, Maillardet. One of
their joint programmes is also reproduced. Wherever De Philipsthal
appears as an independent entertainer, the writing and drawing figure is
missing from his billing. Later the writing and drawing automaton came
into the possession of a Mr. Louis, who, as it will be seen from the
billing, acted as assistant engineer to De Philipsthal and Maillardet.
Louis evidently controlled the wonderful little automaton in the years
1814-15.
The last De Philipsthal programme in my possession is dated Summer
Theatre, Hull, September 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th, 1828, when he
advertises only "rope dancers and mechanical peacock," and features
"special uniting fire and water" and "firework experiments." He must
have died between that date and April, 1829, for a programme dated at
the latter time announces a benefit at the Théâtre Wakefield for the
widow and children of De Philipsthal, "the late proprietor of the Royal
Mechanical and Optical Museum." This benefit programme contains no
allusion to the writing and drawing figure, which goes to prove that it
had not been his property, or it would have been handed down to his
estate.
In May, 1826, an automaton was exhibited at 161 Strand, a bill regarding
which is reproduced. This mechanical figure, however, should not be
confounded with the original and genuine writing and drawing figure. It
seems to have lacked legitimacy and, from what I can learn from
newspaper clippings, was worked like "Zoe," with a concealed
confederate, or, like the famous "Psycho" featured by Maskelyne, it was
worked by compressed air. This bill is interesting solely because I
believe that this fake automaton exhibited at 161 Strand was the first
figure of the sort foisted on the public after the Baron Von Kemplen
chess-player, which is described in Halle's work on magic, published in
1784.
[Illustration: Poster announcing a benefit for the widow and children of
de Philipsthal at Wakefield, in April, 1829, which proves that writing
and drawing figure formed no part of the estate left by the deceased
showman. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
[Illustration: Handbill advertising the fake automatic artist, exhibited
also at 161 Strand, London, May 7th, 1826. From the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
In 1901, while in Germany, I saw a number of these automaton artists,
all frauds. The figure sat in a small chair before an easel, ready to
draw portraits in short order. The figure was shown to the audience,
then replaced on the chair, whereupon a man under the platform would
thrust his arm through the figure and draw all that was required of the
automaton. The fake was short-lived, even at the yearly fairs, and now
has sunk too low for them.
During this interim, that is between 1821 and 1833, the famous little
figure seems to have been in the possession of one Schmidt, who,
according to the programmes in my collection, exhibited it regularly.
In 1833 Schmidt is programmed in London, playing at the Surrey Theatre,
when the writing and drawing figure is one of twenty-four automatic
devices. A program, which, judging from its printing, is of a still
later date, announces Mr. Schmidt and the famous figure at New Gothic
Hall, 7 Haymarket, for a short period previous to the removal of the
exhibit to St. Petersburg. The dates of other programmes in my
collection can be judged only from the style of printing which changed
at different periods of the art's development. Some of these indicate
that the writing and drawing figure was on exhibition during the early
40's in London at Paul's Head Assembly Rooms, Argyle Rooms, Regent
Street, etc.
It is more than likely, according to Robert-Houdin's own admission
regarding his study of automata and his opportunities to repair those
left at his shop, that at some time the writing and drawing figure was
brought to Paris to be exhibited, needed repairing, and thus reached his
shop. Whether it was bought by Monsieur G----, whose interest in
automata is featured in Robert-Houdin's "Memoirs," and brought to
Robert-Houdin to repair, or whether Robert-Houdin bought it for a song,
and repaired it to sell to advantage to his wealthy patron, cannot be
stated, but I am morally certain that Robert-Houdin never constructed,
in eighteen months, a complicated mechanism on which the Jacquet-Drozes
spent six years of their inventive genius and efforts. Modern
mechanicians agree that such a performance would have been a physical
impossibility, even had Robert-Houdin been the expert mechanician he
pictured himself.
[Illustration: Programme used by Mr. Schmidt in 1827, when he had
possession of the writing and drawing figure. From the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
[Illustration: Poster used by Mr. Schmidt in advertising the writing and
drawing figure in London just before his departure for St. Petersburg,
Russia. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
To sum up the evidence: The writing and drawing figure as turned out by
the Jacquet-Drozes was known all over Europe. It is not possible that a
man so well read and posted in magic and automata as Robert-Houdin did
not know of its existence and mechanism. And if Robert-Houdin had
invented the same mechanism it is hardly possible that his design would
have run in precisely the same channel as that of Jacquet-Droz and
Maillardet, in having the figure draw the dog, the cupid, and the heads
of monarchs.
In those days humble mechanicians, however well they were known in their
own trade, were not exploited by the public press. Nor did they employ
clever journalists to write memoirs lauding their achievements. And so
it happened that for years the names of Jacquet-Droz and Maillardet were
unsung; their brainwork and handicraft were claimed by Robert-Houdin,
who had mastered the art of self-exploitation. To-day, after a century
and a half of neglect, the laurel wreath has been lifted from the brow
of Robert-Houdin, where it never should have been placed, and has been
laid on the graves of the real inventors of the writing and drawing
figure, Pierre Jacquet-Droz and Henri-Louis Jacquet-Droz and Jean-David
Maillardet.