THE OBEDIENT CARDS--THE CABALISTIC CLOCK--THE TRAPEZE AUTOMATON
_The Obedient Cards._
To trace here the history of three very common tricks claimed by
Robert-Houdin as his own inventions would be sheer waste of time, if the
exposure did not prove beyond doubt that in announcing the various
tricks of his répertoire as the output of his own brain he was not only
flagrant and unscrupulous, but he did not even give his readers credit
for enough intelligence to recognize tricks performed repeatedly by his
predecessors whom they had seen. Not satisfied with purloining tricks so
important that one or two would have been sufficient to establish the
reputation of any conjurer or inventor, he must needs lay claim to
having invented tricks long the property of mountebanks as well as
reputable magicians.
The tricks referred to are the obedient card, the cabalistic clock, and
the automaton known as Diavolo Antonio or Le Voltigeur au Trapèze.
[Illustration: Card trick as featured by Anderson in 1836-37. From a
poster in the Harry Houdini Collection.]
The obedient-card trick, mentioned on page 245 of the American edition
of his "Memoirs," as "a novel experiment invented by M. Robert-Houdin,"
can be found on the programme of every magician who ever laid claim to
dexterity of hand. Whether they accomplished the effect by clock-work
or with a black silk thread or a human hair, the result was one and the
same. It has also been worked by using a fine thread with a piece of wax
at the end. The wax is fastened to the card, and the thread draws it up.
The simplest method of all is to place the thread over and under the
cards, weaving it in and out as it were, and then, by pulling the
thread, to bring the different cards selected into view.
So common was the trick that its description was written in every work
on magic published from 1784 to the date of Robert-Houdin's first
appearance, and in at least one volume printed as early as 1635. The
majority of French encyclopædias described the trick and exposed it
according to one method or another, and Robert-Houdin admits having been
a great reader of encyclopædias.
The trick first appears in print in various editions of "Hocus Pocus,"
twenty in all, starting with 1635. The majority contain feats with
cards, showing how to bring them up or out of a pack with a black
thread, a hair spring, or an elastic.
In 1772 the rising-card trick was shown in Guyot's "Physical and
Mathematical Recreations," also in the Dutch or Holland translations of
the same work. In 1791 it was minutely explained by Hofrath von
Eckartshausen, who wrote five different books on the subject of magic.
The fourth, being devoted principally to the art of the conjurer, was
entitled "Die Gauckeltasche, oder vollständiger Unterricht in
Taschenspieler u. s. w.," which translated means "The Conjurer's Pocket
or Thorough Instructions in the Art of Conjuring." The title was due to
the fact that in olden days conjurers worked with the aid of a large
outside pocket. The five books, published under the general title of
"Aufschlüsse zur Magie," bear date of Munich, Germany.
On page 138 of the third edition of Gale's "Cabinet of Knowledge,"
published in London in 1800, will be found a description of the
rising-card trick as done with pin and thread, and the same book shows
how it is accomplished with wax and a hair. This book seems to have been
compiled from Philip Breslaw's work on magic, "The Last Legacy,"
published in 1782. Benton, who published the English edition of
Decremps' famous work on magic, exposing Pinetti's répertoire, also
described the trick. "Natural Magic," by Astley, the circus man, and
Hooper's "Recreations," in four volumes, published in 1784, expose the
same trick.
[Illustration: CONJURER UNMASKED
OR
_the Art of Sleight of hand_
Reproduction of frontispiece in Breslaw's book on magic, "The Last
Legacy," published in 1782. Original in the Harry Houdini Collection.]
As to magicians who performed the trick, their names are legion, and
only a few of the most prominent conjurers will be mentioned in this
connection.
[Illustration: J. H. Anderson's birth place as drawn by him from memory.
The following is written under the sketch in his own handwriting: "A
rough sketch of the farm house called 'Red Stanes,' on the estate of
Craigmyle, Parish of Kincardine O'Neil, Aberdeenshire. The house was
built by my grandfather, John Robertson, in the year 1796, and in it I
was born on the 15th day of July, 1814. John Henry Anderson."
Photographed from the original now in the possession of Mrs. Leona A.
Anderson, by the author.]
The man who obtained the best effects with this trick was John Henry
Anderson, who startled the world of magic and amusements by his
audacity, in 1836, nine years before Robert-Houdin trod the stage as a
professional entertainer.
Anderson was born in Kincardine, Scotland, in 1814, and started his
professional career as an actor. He must have been a very poor one, too,
for he states that he was once complimented by a manager for having
brought bad acting to the height of perfection.
[Illustration: John Henry Anderson, wife and son, from a rare photograph
taken in 1847 or 1848. Said to be an especially good likeness of Mrs.
Anderson and the only one extant. Photograph loaned by Mrs. Leona A.
Anderson, daughter-in-law of the "Wizard of the North."]
[Illustration: Very rare poster of 1838 in which John Henry Anderson is
billed as "The Great Magician." From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
[Illustration: Cover design of Anderson's book, exposing the Davenport
Brothers; now a very rare book. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
Anderson was first known as the Caledonian magician, then assumed the
title of the Wizard of the North, which he said was bestowed on him by
Sir Walter Scott. Thomas Frost belittles this statement, on the grounds
that Scott was stricken with paralysis in 1830. However, Anderson became
famous in 1829, so he should be given the benefit of the doubt. He was
the greatest advertiser that the world of magic has ever known, and he
left nothing undone that might boom attendance at his performances. He
started newspapers, gave masked balls, and donated thousands of dollars
to charities. He was known in every city of the world, and, when so
inclined, built his own theatres. He sold books on magic during his own
performances, and would sell any trick he presented for a nominal sum.
His most unique advertising dodge was to offer $500 in gold as prizes
for the best conundrums written by spectators during his performances.
To make this scheme more effective, he carried with him his own
printing-press and set it up back of the scenes. While the performance
was under way, the conundrums handed in by the spectators were printed,
and, after the performance, any one might buy a sheet of the questions
and puns at the door. As every one naturally wanted to see his conundrum
in print, Anderson sold millions of these bits of paper. In 1852, while
playing at Metropolitan Hall, New York City, he advertised his conundrum
contest and sold his book of tricks, etc., and such notables as Jenny
Lind and General Kossuth entered conundrums.
He was among the first performers to expose the Davenport Brothers,
whose spiritualistic tricks and rope-tying had astonished America.
Directly on witnessing a performance and solving their methods, Anderson
hurried back to England and exposed the tricks.
To sum up his history, he stands unique in the annals of magic as a doer
of daring things. He rushed into print on the slightest pretext, was a
hard fighter with his rivals and aired his quarrels in the press, and he
was a game loser when trouble came his way. Not a brilliant actor or
performer, he yet had the gift of securing excellent effects in his
_mise en scène_. He made and lost several fortunes, generally recouping
as quickly as he lost. He was burned out several times, the most notable
fire being that of Covent Garden, London, in 1856. He was liked in
spite of his eccentricities, but when he died, February 3d, 1874, his
fortune was small.
[Illustration: Anderson billing of 1838, featuring obedient cards as
"Napoleon's Trick." From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
[Illustration: Jacobs poster, featuring "The Travelling Card." From the
Harry Houdini Collection.]
Anderson had numerous imitators, including M. Jacobs, "Barney" Eagle,
and E. W. Young, all of whom used the rising-or obedient-card trick.
They copied not only his tricks, but the very names he had used and the
style of his billing. All three of these men were professional magicians
before Robert-Houdin appeared, and Anderson was his very active
contemporary.
A Jacobs bill is here reproduced, showing the card trick featured among
other attractions. The lithograph of Jacobs used in this connection is
an actual likeness and I believe it to be as rare as it is timely.
[Illustration: Lithograph used by E. W. Young, who copied all of John
Henry Anderson's billing and featured the obedient-card trick. This
setting shows how cumbersome was the apparatus employed by magicians
before Wiljalba Frikell proved that he could score with apparently no
apparatus. Original in the Harry Houdini Collection.]
[Illustration: Frontispiece from Eagle's book, in which he exposes
Anderson's gun delusion. Said by Henry Evanion, who knew Eagle, to be a
fine likeness. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
Young's name has been handed down in history because he made money on
Anderson's reputation, by the boldest of imitations, assuming the title
of Wizard of the North with his own name in small type. One of his bills
is also reproduced.
Barnedo or "Barney" Eagle is the man of the trio of the imitators who
deserves more than passing notice. He became Anderson's bitterest enemy,
and their rivalry made money for the printers.
Eagle could neither read nor write, but having a quick brain he hired a
clever writer to indite his speeches and duplicated Anderson's show so
closely that Anderson's pride was hurt. He therefore decided to expose
Eagle, and thousands of bills, constituting a virulent attack upon his
imitator, were distributed. One of these is reproduced. It is so rare
that I doubt whether another is in existence.
[Illustration: An Anderson poster, exposing "Barney" Eagle's tricks.
Only bill of this sort in existence. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
[Illustration: Window poster issued by Anderson to belittle his imitator
"Barney" Eagle and show how the latter secured royal patronage. From the
Harry Houdini Collection.]
As Eagle had advertised that he was patronized by royalty, Anderson had
another bill printed, showing Eagle playing before the King at the Ascot
race-track, and an assistant passing the hat in mountebank fashion. In
revenge, Eagle had a book published, in which he exposed Anderson's best
drawing trick, The Gun Delusion, in which the magician allowed any one
from the audience to shoot a gun at him using marked bullets. These
bullets were caught in his mouth or on the point of a knife. This trick
became as common as the obedient-card trick.
In the face of such overwhelming evidence, Robert-Houdin's claim to
having invented the obedient-card trick is nothing short of farcical.
[Illustration: A "Barney" Eagle poster on which the obedient-card trick
is featured as "The Walking Cards." From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
_The Cabalistic or Obedient
Clock_
There might be said to exist a very reasonable doubt as to the exact
date at which Robert-Houdin produced the cabalistic clock which he
included among his other doubtful claims to inventions.
On page 250 of the American edition of his "Memoirs" he has the
Cabalistic Clock on his opening programme for July 3d, 1845, but in the
appendix of the French edition he states that the clock first made its
appearance at the opening of the season of 1847. In nearly all his
statements he is equally inaccurate.
The mysterious clock might be termed the obedient clock, for the trick
consists in causing the hand or hands to obey the will of the conjurer
or the wishes of the audience.
The hands will point to a figure, move with rapidity, or as slowly as
possible, or in time to music. In fact the performer has full control of
the hands--he can make them do his every bidding.
The mysterious clock is a trick as old as the obedient-card trick, if
not older. It was explained according to various methods in books before
Robert-Houdin's appearance on the stage. In fact, the majority of
old-time conjuring books explain mysterious clocks carefully.
Before electricity was introduced, magnets were employed, but the
earliest method was to make use of thread wound about the spindle of the
clock hand, and that method is still the very best used to-day, owing to
its simplicity. The clock, on being presented to the audience, may be
hung or placed in the position best suited to the particular method by
which it is being "worked."
It shows a transparent clock face, such as you see in any jewelry shop.
Some magicians utilize only one hand, which permits the easy use of
electricity or magnet, while others employ two and even three hands.
When more than one hand is used the hours and minutes are indicated
simultaneously and, if cards are pasted on the clock face, the largest
hand is used to find the chosen cards.
The clock may be placed on a pedestal, in an upright position, or hung
in midair on two ribbons or strings. It can be hung on a stand made
expressly for the purpose, on the style of a music stand, or it can be
swung in a frame. In fact, as stated before, it is usually placed so as
to facilitate the method of working.
[Illustration: M. Jacobs, magician, ventriloquist, and bold imitator of
John Henry Anderson. From a rare lithograph now in the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
When the cabalistic clock is taken off the hook or the stand on which it
is placed, and handed to one of the spectators to hold, the latter
places the hand on the pin in the centre of the glass face, and
revolves it. The arrow or hand is worked by a counterweight, controlled
by the performer, who has it fixed before he hands it to the innocent
spectator. The clock can be purchased from any reliable dealer of
conjuring apparatus, in almost any part of the world.
For a clock worked by counterweight the hand of thin brass is prepared
in the centre, where there is a weight of peculiar shape which has at
the thin or tapering end a small pin. This pin is fixed permanently to
the weight and can be revolved about the small plate on which it is
riveted. Through this plate there is a hole, exactly in the centre. This
hand has all this covered with a brass cap, and, to make the arrow point
to any given number, you simply move the weight with your thumb. The pin
clicks and allows you to feel it as it moves from one hole to another.
With very little practice you can move this weight, while in the act of
handing it to some one to place it on the centre of the clock face; and
when spun, the weight, of its own accord, will land on the bottom,
causing the hand to point where it is forced by the law of gravity. The
plate on which the weight is fastened is grooved or milled, so that it
answers to the slightest movement of your thumb.
When the clock is on the stage and the hand moves simply by the command
of the performer or audience, it is manipulated by an assistant behind
the scenes, either by the aid of electricity or by an endless thread
which is wrapped about the spindle and runs through the two ribbons or
strings that hold the clock in midair. Some conjurers work the clock so
arranged as to make a combination trick; first by having it worked by
the concealed confederate; then, taking the clock off the stand and
bringing it down in the midst of the audience. But for this trick you
can use only one hand.
[Illustration: The above diagram exposes the magic clock trick, as
offered in the time of Hofrath von Eckartshausen, a German writer on
magic in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries. Fig. 15 shows the
clock in position for the trick, hung against the rear wall or "drop."
Gaily-colored ribbons hide thin leather tubes through which run two sets
of stout silk thread or catgut, connecting with the hour and minute
hands. The thread then passes through the two iron rings, p and o in
Figures 17 and 19, which are screwed to the ceiling; thence to the
hidden confederate, who manipulates the clock hands as the hour and
minute are announced by magician or spectator. Fig. 16 shows the two
faces of the clock, with the fine connecting rod around which the string
is wound to manipulate the hands. This mechanism is hidden by a flat
brass band which encircles the edges of the two transparent faces. From
Eckartshausen's "The Conjurer's Pocket," edition of 1791.]
Years ago when I introduced this trick in my performance, I called a
young man on my stage and asked him to place the hand on the spindle. It
would then revolve and stop at any number named. But first I made him
inform the audience the number he had chosen, which gave me time to fix
the weight with my thumb. I then gave him the hand, but he was a skilled
mechanic, and possibly knew the trick. Instead of holding the clock by
the ring at the top, which was there for that purpose, he grasped the
dial at the bottom, causing the number 6 instead of 12 to be on top.
When the hand started to turn, of course it would have stopped at the
wrong number. I managed to escape humiliation by pretending I was afraid
he would break the clock by letting it fall, so took it away from him,
holding it myself.
[Illustration: Newspaper clipping of 1782, showing that Katterfelto used
the cabalistic clock. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
[Illustration: Reproduction of rare engraving of Johann Nep. Hofzinser,
who invented the clock worked by a counter-weight, and who was one of
the world's greatest card tricksters. Original in the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
The mechanic walked off the stage winking at me in the most roguish
manner.
Robert-Houdin worked The Mystic Bell trick in connection with The Clock.
This was manipulated in the same way. The bell was worked with thread,
pulling a small pin, which in turn caused the handle to fall against the
glass bell. Naturally, having electricity at his command at that time,
he made use of that force whenever it suited his fancy.
I am positive that Robert-Houdin presented the electrical clock, because
T. Bolin, of Moscow, visited Paris and bought the trick from Voisin, the
French manufacturer of conjuring apparatus. The trick which
Robert-Houdin presented, according to his claims, was with the clock
hanging in midair to prove that it was not electrically connected, but
the truth of the matter is that the strings which held the clock
suspended in midair concealed the wires through which his electrical
current ran.
In my library of old conjuring books the thread method is ably described
by Hofrath von Eckartshausen, mentioned earlier in this chapter. In fact
in the pictorial appendix of this work he gives this trick prominence by
minutely illustrating the same. He makes use of two hands, and to make
the trick infallible he explains that the best way would be to use two
glass disks, have them held together by a brass rim, and your threads
will work with absolute certainty. The spectators imagine that they are
seeing only one glass clock.
Johann Conrad Gutle, the well-known delver after secrets of natural
magic, also explains several cabalistic clock tricks in his book
published in 1802.
[Illustration: Reproduction of a triple colored lithograph. This section
features Breslaw in stage costume. Original in the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
I am reproducing herewith a number of programmes describing the effect
of the trick and proving that it was no novelty when Robert-Houdin
"invented" it. In fact the trick was so common that only the supreme
egotism of the man can explain his having introduced it into the pages
of his book as an original trick. The mysterious clock worked by the
counterweight, which has been described, is credited as having been the
invention of Johann Nep. Hofzinser.
[Illustration: Katterfelto, the bombastic conjurer, who is famous for
having sold sulphur matches in 1784, before the Lucifer match is
supposed to have been discovered. Reproduced from a rare copy of "The
European Magazine," dated June, 1783, now in the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
In an advertisement, published in the _London Post_ of May 23d, 1778,
included in my collection, this announcement, among others of much
interest, will be found:
"PART II.--Breslaw will exhibit many of his newly invented deceptions
with a grand apparatus and experiments and particularly the Magic Clock,
Sympathetic Bell, and Pyramidical Glasses in a manner entirely new."
In 1781, while showing at Greenwood's Rooms, Haymarket, London, Breslaw
heavily advertised, "Particularly an experiment on a newly invented
mechanical clock will be displayed, under the direction of Sieur
Castinia, just arrived from Naples, the like never attempted before in
this metropolis."
There is every reason to believe that Katterfelto, the greatest of
bombastic conjurers, used the electrical clock in his performances, as
he made a feature of the various late discoveries, and in his programme
of 1782 he advertises "feats and experiments in Magnetical, Electrical,
Optical, Chymical, Philosophical, Mathematical, etc., etc." Among
implements and instruments or articles mentioned I found Watches,
Caskets, Dice, Cards, Mechanical Clocks, Pyramidical Glasses, etc., etc.
Gyngell, Sr., the celebrated Bartholomew Fair conjurer, whose career
started about 1788, had on his early programmes, "A Pedestal Clock, so
singularly constructed that it is obedient to the word of command." On
the same programme (Catherine Street Theatre, London, February 15th,
1816) I find "The Russian Inn," "The Confectioner's Shop," and "The
Automaton Rope Vaulter." This programme is reproduced in full in Chapter
IV.
Without devoting further space to Robert-Houdin's absurd claim to having
invented this clock, we will proceed to discuss his claims to the
automaton rope walker, which he called a trapeze performer.
_The Trapeze Automaton_
Though "Diavolo Antonio" or "Le Voltigeur Trapeze" was not a simple
trick, but a cleverly constructed automaton, worked by a concealed
confederate, it was a common feature on programmes long before
Robert-Houdin claimed it as his invention. Yet with the daring of one
who believes that all proof has been destroyed, he announces on page 312
of the American edition of his "Memoirs" that he invented "The Trapeze
Performer" for his season of 1848. In the illustrated appendix of his
French edition he states that the figure made its first appearance at
his Paris theatre, October 1st, 1849. He thus describes the automaton:
[Illustration: Copy of a poster used by Robert-Houdin to advertise his
trapeze performer. This proves how accurately he duplicated the Pinetti
figure, even to the arrangement of floral garlands. From the Harry
Houdini Collection.]
"The figure is the size of an infant, and I carry the little artist on
my arm in a box. I put him on the trapeze and ask him questions, which
he answers by moving his head. Then he bows gracefully to the audience,
turning first this way, then that; suspends himself by his hands and
draws himself up in time to the music. He also goes through the motions
of a strong man, hangs by his head, hands, and feet, and with his legs
making the motions of aërial telegraphy."
[Illustration: Reproduction of an illustration in "Aufschlüsse zur
Magie," by Hofrath von Eckartshausen, showing the automatic rope vaulter
as exhibited in 1784 by Pinetti. Original in the Harry Houdini
Collection.]
[Illustration: A Bologna bill of 1812, featuring the automatic rope
dancers. From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
Decremps in his exposé, "The Conjurer Unmasked," published in 1784, thus
describes the automaton and its work: "Our attention was next called to
observe an automaton figure, that vaulted upon a rope, performing all
the postures and evolutions of the most expert tumblers, keeping exact
time to music. By seeing Mr. Van Estin wind up the figures, and being
shown the wheels and levers contained in the body of the automaton,
caused us to believe it moved by its own springs, when Mr. Van Estin
thus explained the deception: 'To make a figure of this kind depends a
great deal on the proportion and the materials with which it is
composed: The legs and thighs are formed out of heavy wood, such as ash
or oak; the body of birch or willow, and made hollow, and the head,
for lightness, of papier-maché. The figure is joined by its hands to a
bar of iron, that passes through a partition, and is turned by a
confederate; the arms are inflexible at the elbows, but move freely at
the shoulders by means of a bolt that goes through the body; and the
thighs and legs move in the same manner at the hips and knees, and are
stayed by pieces of leather to prevent them from bending in the wrong
way. The bar is covered with hollow twisted tubes, and ornamented with
artificial flowers, so as no part of it can be seen to turn; the
confederate by giving the handle a quarter of a turn to the left, the
automaton, whose arms are parallel to the horizon, lift themselves by
little and little, till they become vertical and parallel to the rest of
the body; if in following the same direction, the other part of the body
moves forward; and by watching the motions through a hole, he seizes the
instant that a leg passes before the bar, to leave the automaton
astride; afterward he balances it by jerks, and causes it to take a turn
around, keeping time with the music as if it was sensible of harmony.
"N.B.--Three circumstances concur here to favor the illusion: First, by
the assistance of a wire, the confederate can separate the bar from the
automaton, which, falling to the ground, persuades one it loses itself
by real machinery. Secondly, in winding up the levers shown in the body,
confirms the spectators in the idea that there is no need of a
confederate. Thirdly, the tubes that are twisted around the bar, except
where the automaton is joined to it, seem to be the rope itself, and
being without motion, as is seen by the garlands which surround them, it
cannot be suspected that the bar turns in the inside, from whence it is
concluded that the figure moves by its own machinery."
According to one of de Philipsthal's advertisements, page 103, the
trapeze automaton which he featured was six feet in height. But Pinetti
programmes show that he had a smaller figure known as the rope vaulter.
This is probably the trick exposed in Decremps' book.
On page 108 will be found a Louis programme of 1815, on which a figure
is thus featured:
"TWO ELEGANT AUTOMATA
As large as nature, the one representing a beautiful POLONNESE, the
other a little boy.
Nothing can surpass the admirable construction of these Pieces. The
large figure seems almost endowed with human Faculties, exhibiting the
usual feats of a Rope-Dancer, in the fullest imitation of life. The
small Figure is invested with equally astonishing powers of action. To
such ladies as are spectators it must be a very pleasing circumstance
that these exertions do not excite those disagreeable sensations which
arise from the sight of Figures fraught with life, performing feats
attended with so much danger."
By referring to page 113 the reader will find a Schmidt programme, dated
1827, on which the figure is featured as follows:
"THE ROPE DANCER,
Whose surprising performances surpass, in agility, attitudes, and
evolutions, every Professor of the art, keeping correct time to the
music of the machinery."
A Gyngell programme, dated 1823, which is reproduced in the chapter
devoted to "The Pastry Cook of the Palais Royal," page 125, reads as
follows: "Two automatons, one of which will execute wonderful feats on
the tight rope, and the other dance a characteristic hornpipe."
As Gyngell figured in the amusement world from 1788 to 1844, the little
figure must have been tolerably well known to the magic-loving public of
England by the time Robert-Houdin appeared in London in 1848.
[Illustration: A de Philipsthal programme of 1806 on which both the
automatic tight-rope performer and the magnetic clock were featured.
From the Harry Houdini Collection.]
[Illustration: A Thiodon bill of 1825, in which he claims the invention
of a figure that could be lifted on or off the stage or pole. This was
twenty-five years before Robert-Houdin claimed the same invention. From
the Harry Houdini Collection.]
A magician named York, who appeared in London in 1844, the year before
Robert-Houdin made his professional début, featured under date of
January 29th "two automatons, one of which will execute wonderful feats
on the Tight Rope, and the other dance a characteristic Hornpipe."
Bologna announced for his performance at the Sans Pareil Theatre,
Strand, London, under date of March 18th, 1812, "The Two Automaton Rope
Dancers from St. Petersburg, whose Feats of Agility were never equalled,
and cannot be surpassed, will perform together in a style of Excellence
hitherto unknown in this country."
De Philipsthal also featured a pair of automatic tight-rope performers
from 1804 until his death; and in the early 30's the figures were
exhibited by his widow. By referring to Chapter III. a De-Philipsthal
programme of 1806 is reproduced as evidence.
From 1825 to 1855 J. F. Thiodon played London and the provinces,
advertising on his programmes:
"FOURTH PIECE.--The Wonderful and Unrivalled Automaton on the Flying
Rope. The only one of this construction in the Kingdom; and forms a more
extraordinary Novelty from the circumstances of its not being fastened
on the Rope by the Hands, like others hitherto exhibited. The Rope will
be in continual Motion, and the Figure will sit perfectly easy and in a
graceful attitude while on the Swing, and perform the most surprising
Evolutions, scarcely to be distinguished from a Living Performer, as it
moves with the utmost Correctness, without any apparent Machinery."
From this overwhelming evidence it can be argued beyond doubt that if
Robert-Houdin even constructed the automaton he merely copied figures
presented by both his predecessors and his contemporaries, and he was
fully aware of the existence of several such automata when he advertised
his as an original invention. They were made by many mechanicians.
In the illustrated appendix of the French edition of his "Memoirs" he
goes further; he deliberately misrepresents the mechanism of the figure
and insinuates that the automaton is a self-working one. This is not
true, as it was worked by a concealed confederate, as described above by
Decremps.
Robert-Houdin even used the garlands of flowers to hide the moving bars
as Pinetti and others of his predecessors had done. The truth was not in
him.