August 19, 2025 • 19 mins
In Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, Harry Houdini embarks on a provocative journey to challenge the legacy of the man he once idolized, the esteemed magician Robert-Houdin. Initially inspired by Houdins brilliance, Houdini adopted his name, adding an i to pay homage. However, feeling slighted by the Robert-Houdin family, he penned this work as a means to dismantle their revered image. Ironically, Houdinis efforts to discredit his predecessor backfired, leading to unexpected revelations. Join us as we explore the intricate relationship between two of magics greatest figures. - Summary by Cavaet
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section seven of the Unmasque of Robert Houdain. This is
a LibriVox recording. All libervox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Read by Caveat The Unmasking of Robert Houdin by Hallie Houdini,
Chapter six. The Inexhaustible Bottle. While Robert Houdin claims to
(00:26):
have invented the Inexhaustible Bottle for a special program designed
to create a sensation at the opening of his season
of eighteen forty eight, in the illustrated appendix of the
original French edition of his memoirs, he states that it
had its premiere presentation December the first, eighteen forty seven.
These discrepancies occur with such frequency that it is difficult
(00:46):
to refute his claims in chronological order. Perhaps he adopted
this method intentionally to confuse future historians of magic, particularly
concerning his own achievements. In order to emphasize the brilliancy
of this trick, Robert Houdan turned boastful in describing it.
On page three hundred and forty eight of the American
edition of his memoirs, he states that the trick had
(01:08):
created such a sensation and was so much exploited in
the London newspapers that the fame of his inexhaustible bottle
spread to the provinces, and on his appearance in Manchester
with a bottle in his hand, the workmen who made
up the audience nearly mobbed him. In fact, the description
of this scene is the most dramatic pen picture in
his memoirs. The truth, sad state, is that the bottle
(01:29):
trick did not create the sensation he claims for it
in London, nor did the press eulogize it. It was
classed with other ordinary tricks, and twenty London newspapers bear
mute testimony to this fact. In a complete collection of
press clippings regarding his first London appearance, only four of
the London papers mentioned the trick. The Times, the great
conservative englishpaper, in reviewing Robert Houdin's performance in its issue
(01:52):
of May third, eighteen forty seven, ignored the trick entirely.
The four London newspapers which made mention of the bottle trick,
and then only in a passing comment with The Chronicle,
The Globe, the Ladies Newspaper, and the Court Journal. Anyone
acquainted with the last two named periodicals will know that
they rarely reach the hands of the humble artisans in Manchester. Punch,
(02:13):
London's great comic paper, gave the trick some space. However,
the trick of pouring several sorts of liquors from the
same bottle has been presented in various forms and under
different names. To prove the futility of Robert Houdin's claims,
I will explain the mystery of this trick, which is
of an interesting nature to all intents and purposes. The
(02:34):
bottle used looks like glass, but it is invariably made
of tin heavily japanned. Ranged around the central space, which
is free from deception, are five compartments, each tapering to
a narrow mouthed tube which terminates about an inch or
an inch and a half from within the neck of
the bottle. A small pinhole is drilled through the outer
surface of the bottle in each compartment, the holes being
(02:56):
so placed that, when the bottle is grasped with a
hand in the ordinary way, the former covers all but
one of the pin holes with his fingers and thumb.
The center section is left empty. But the other compartments
are filled with a funnel, which is a tapering nozzle
made specially for this purpose. The trick is generally started
by proving to the audience that the bottle is empty.
It is then filled with water, which is immediately poured
(03:17):
out gain all this time the five pin holes being
covered tightly with a hand or fingers, which are holding
the bottle. When a liquor is called for, the performer
raises the finger over the airhole above that particular liquor,
and the liquor will flow out. When a large number
of liquors may be called for, the performer has one
compartment filled with a perfectly colorless liquor, which he pours
(03:39):
into glasses previously flavored with strong essences. Certain gins and
cordials can be simulated in this fashion. Various improvements have
been made in this bottle trick. For instance, after the
bottle has yielded its various sorts of liquors, it is broken,
and from the bottle the performer produces some borrowed article
which has been vanished in a previous trick and then
(04:00):
apparently forgotten. This may be a ring, glove, or handkerchief,
which will be discovered tied around the neck of a
small guinea pig or dove taken from the broken bottle.
This is accomplished by having the bottle especially constructed. His
compartments end a few inches above the bottom of the bottle,
and the portion below, having a wavy or cracked appearance,
is made to slip on and off. The conjury grows
(04:22):
through the motions of actually breaking the bottle by tapping
it near the bottom with a small hammer or wand,
and the appearance of the guinea pig or lost article
causes surprise, so that the pretended breaking of the bottle
passes unnoticed. Again, this bottle can be genuine with no
loose bottom at all, and a small article can be inserted,
but this makes a great deal of trouble, and the
(04:42):
effect is not greatly increased in doing the trick. Thus
I was always compelled to have the optician cut the
bottom from the bottle, and then at times even he
would break it. To explain further, how the article is
loaded into the bottle. To perform a borrow's several articles,
for example, a ring and two watches, he will place
the ring watches into the funnel at the end of
a large horse pistol, and then shoot them at the target.
(05:05):
The two watches appear on the target or in a frame,
or at any place that he may choose. In obtaining
the articles, may have wrapped them up in a handkerchief
which he had hidden in the front of his vest.
Alexander Hermann was exceptionally clever in making this exchange, his
iron nerve and perpetual smile being great aids in the trick.
The performer now places the duplicate handkerchief on the table
(05:25):
in full view of the audience, and walks to another
table for a gun. While reaching for his gun, he
places the original articles, which he borrowed behind his table
on a servant, so that his hidden assistant may reach
for them. Place the two watches on the turnabout target,
tie the ring on the neck of the guinea pig,
shove him into the bottle, and insert the false bottom.
(05:46):
The trick is then ready in its entirety. The magician
calls for something to use as a target, and the
assistant responds with a revolving target or frame. When the
conjurer shoots, the two watches appear on the target or
in the frame. This part of the trick is acomplished
by having the center of the target revolve, or, if
the frame is used, by having a black velvet curtain
pulled up by rapid springs or strong rubbers. While all
(06:09):
this is going on, someone has brought on the stage
the loaded bottle, and as no attention is called to this,
by the time the watch has has been restored to
the owners, the conjurer introduces the bottle trick, pours out
the various liquors, and eventually breaks the bottle and reproduces
the borrowed article tied about the neck of the guinea
pig or dove. Many names have been given to this trick.
(06:30):
The old time magicians, who remained for months in one
theater had to change their programmes frequently, so for one
night they would present the bottle without breaking it under
the next they would break the bottle so as to
vary the trick. The bottle trick originated in the inexhaustible barrel.
The first trace I can find of this wonderful barrel
is in Hocus Pocus Junior, The Anatomy of lejer Domain,
(06:52):
written by Henry Dean in sixteen thirty five, second edition.
On page twenty one, is described a barrel with the
singles which can be drawn three different kinds of liquors.
This was worked precisely the same principle as was the
inexhaustible bottle tricks centuries later, by shutting up the airholes
of compartments from which liquors were not flowing. Its first
(07:14):
public appearance, according to the data in my collection tipped
from London papers of seventeen o seven and seventeen twelve,
was when the famous water works of the late ingenious
mister Henry Winstanley were exhibited by his servants for the
benefit of his widow, and the exhibition included a view
of the barrel that plays so many liquors and is
broken in pieces before the spectators. In seventeen eighty doctor
(07:36):
Segaliers presented in London a performance entitled A Course of
Experimental Philosophy, wherein the principles of mechanics, hydrostatics, pneumatics and
optics are approved and demonstrated by more than three hundred experiments.
In the course of these lectures, he produced a sort
of barrel worked by holding the fingers over the airholes.
He also exposed the real source of strength of the
(07:59):
notorious strong man of his day, John Carl von Ekeberg,
who allowed horses to pull against him, permitted heavy stones
to be broken on his bare chest, and who broke
heavy ropes simply by stretching or straightening his knees. These
lectures and expose as made doctor de Saint Claires so
famous that he was given considerable space and ducked. And
(08:19):
Sir David Brewster's Letters on Natural Magic, published in London
in eighteen fifty one, in which book the various deceptions
used by strong men are fully described. In fact, the
book is one that should be in every conjurer's library.
The old Dutch books explained the barrel trick, and in
eighteen o three Charles Hutton, the professor of Woolwich Royal Academy,
(08:40):
translated four books from Osman and Montecula, exposing quite a
number of old conjuring tricks. The barrel trick will be
found on page ninety four of volume two. The first
use of the inexhaustible bottle by modern conjurers I found
in an announcement of Herr Schmidt, a German performer who
for a time controlled the original writing and drawing figure,
(09:00):
as will be found by reference to chapter three, which
is devoted to the history of that automaton. The program
published in that chapter is dated eighteen twenty seven and
does not include the famous bottle because it was no
longer a novelty in Herr Schmidt's repertoire. But the advertisement
reproduced herewith dated eighteen twenty one, schedules the bottle trick,
thus the bottle of sobriety and inebriety, proving the inutility
(09:25):
of a set of decanters when various liquors can be
produced by one. Thus Schmidt anti dated Houdah's offering the
trick by more than a quarter of a century. Next,
the bottle turned up in eighteen thirty five in London,
when it was presented by a German who styled himself
Falk of Koenigsberg, pupil of the celebrated Chevalier Pinetti, and
(09:47):
who introduced the program with which Dobbler made such a
sensation of eighteen forty two. Mister Falk opened at the
Queen's Bazaar, Oxford Street, London, November eighth, eighteen thirty five.
Before opening, however, he gave a private performance with the
press and received quite a number of notices. A half
column clipping in my collection dated November fourth, eighteen thirty five,
(10:09):
which I think is cut from the Chronicle or the Globe,
mentions the trick, among other effects like Flora's gift, the
card in the pocket, et cetera, and adds that the
exchange of wine was so that if once in mister
Falk's company, we should not wish to exchange it. For
he poured three shots of wine, poured cherry and champagne
out of one bottle. Then he put them together, and
from such a mixture produced sherry in one glass and
(10:31):
poort in another. From this notice it will be seen
that folk had the inexhaustible bottle, and add some method
of returning all the liquors not drunk back into the
bottle and then pouring out two kinds of liquor. Perhaps
he resorted to chemicals, but one thing is evident. The
bottle was used for six different kinds of liquors at
one and the same time. Felippe from eighteen thirty six
(10:54):
to eighteen thirty eight featured an infernal bottle trick, also
the inexhaustible bottle trick. The trick also was seen on
the programme used by John Henry Anderson, the Wizard of
the North in the same years. According to these programs,
Philippe and Anderson showed the bottle empty, filled with water,
and then served five different liquors. On April thirtieth, eighteen
(11:15):
thirty eight, Anderson thus announced the trick on a programme
used as the Victoria Room's Hull. Handkerchiefs will be borrowed
from three gentlemen. The magician will load his mystic gun,
in which he will place the handkerchiefs. He will fire
a bottle containing wine. The bottle will be broken, and
the handkerchiefs will appear. Programs in my collection show that
Anderson presented the trick serving various sorts of liquors when
(11:37):
he played London in eighteen forty, but little attention was
drawn to the wonderful bottle. In eighteen forty two, Ludwig Dobbler,
Germany's best loved magician, came to London and featured what
he termed the traveling Bottle. Ludwig Leopold Dobbler was born
in Vienna in eighteen o one. He was the best
beloved magician who ever trod the stage. He started life
(11:58):
as an engraver of metals, but his fancy turned to necromancy.
He gave his best performances in his native city. In
eighteen forty one, he was touring Holland, and in a
letter now in my position, which he wrote to a
director and editor in Vienna and the date of March fifteenth,
eighteen forty two, he informs his friend that he has
sent all his baggage to London from Amsterdam and is
(12:19):
on a visit to Paris. He regrets that he has
not all of his apparatus with him, but has given
several performances, and mentions the fact that to morrow I
am engaged to give a performance in the private parlor
of Rothschild and then by the Count of Manlius, set
minister of the King's Mansions. He also informs his friend
that he expects to visit Paris the next season and
build his own theater. He states a fact most interesting
(12:42):
to all magicians, namely that he has rented the Saint
James's Theater in London for two thousand francs four hundred
dollars a night, or more than two thousand, four hundred
dollars rent for one week. Darbler drew such big audiences
and had made so much money, he refused to give
private performances, only breaking this rule when presenting his show
before Her Majesty Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort. He
(13:06):
played the Provinces, then went over to Dublin, where, although
unable to speak English, he was a veritable sensation. In
eighteen forty four, Doubler played a return date at the
Saint James's Theatre, London, and this time he had Anderson's
arrival at the Theatre Royal Adelphia. Dobbla master of fortune
very rapidly. In fact, he retired in eighteen forty seven
and never again appeared on the stage. You always explained
(13:29):
to his early retirement by saying, the public loves me.
I know what to always love me. I may return
and be a failure, so it is best to know where,
just when to stop. He died in a little village
near Tullnets on April seventeenth, eighteen sixty four, when one
of God's noblemen was laid to rest. The draving bottle
alluded to by Dobbler in his programs was nothing more
(13:50):
or less than the inexhaustible bottle. The following excerpt from
the London Chronicle during Doubler's engagement at the Saint James's
Theatre April eighteen forty two is a loominating Dobbler Saint
James's Theater. Among the illusions that more particularly struck our
fancy was one entitled the Traveling Bottle, where how Dobbler,
filling a common bottle with water, transformed this water into
(14:13):
a collection of wines of all countries amicably assembled together
in one receptacle, and he fills out first a glass
of sherry, the one of port, then one of champagne,
and so on. The critic then describes how the bottle
was broken and the borrowed handkerchief was found inside the bottle.
Probably because of the prominence which head Dobbler gave to
this trick, detracted more attention when Anderson presented it during
(14:35):
his London run of eighteen forty three, he announced it
as water versus wine, or changing water into different liquids sherry, port, champagne, chin, milk,
rum and water. The London Sun of April eighteenth, eighteen
forty three, says mister Anderson. Besides the feats by which
his reputation was established in his former exhibitions in the
(14:55):
Metropolis performed with perfect ease and success, some of the
great difficulty than those by which had Dauber astonished the world,
such as serving several kinds of wines from the same bottle.
The Morning Advertiser, London of the same date said, with
the utmost easy to produce from an empty bottle wine, water, port,
sherry and champagne. And immediately afterwards, under a blaze of
(15:17):
waxen gas, he broke the same bottle and produced half
a dozen Cambric handkerchiefs which had previously been deposited under
lock and key at considerable distance. McAllister, the Scottish brickmason,
who became the pupil and assistant of Felipe, as described
in the chapter on the Pastry Cook of the Palais Royal,
also claimed the bottle trick as his invention. I've been
(15:40):
unable to obtain any of the early programmes used by McAllister,
but I am reproducing the one he utilized during his
engagement at the Bowery Theater, New York City in eighteen
fifty two. This was not his first appearance in New York, however.
In December eighteen forty eight and January of eighteen forty
nine he played at the same theater and announced that
he had just concluded successful engagement at the Grand Theater
(16:02):
Tacon Havana, Cuba. Although McAllister claims to have invented the
inexhaustable bottle trick, it is more likely that, having been
connected so long with Felipe, he knew the secret several
years before Robert Houdin appeared in public. But as McAllister
also claimed to have invented the peacock and the harlequin automata,
both which are recognized an inventions of his predecessors, his
(16:24):
claim cannot be given serious consideration. He advertised to produce
twenty two kinds of liquors from one bottle, and therefore
he must have utilized the essence glasses in connection with
the bottle. What must have been Rebert Houdin's feeling when,
on arriving in London in eighteen forty eight he found
another magician, Compere's Hermann, heavily advertised at the Theater Royal,
(16:47):
and already offering each and every trick included by the
Frenchman in his repertoire, even the much vaunted bottle was
in Hermann's list of tricks. No one seems able to
tell where Compez Hermann obtained the tricks he used, but
we must be given credit for never advertising them as
his own inventions. His record in this respect was cleaned
throughout his life as a mysterious entertainer. The programme presented
(17:10):
by Hermann at the Theater Royal during Robert Udan's opening
WEEKNS Saint James's Theater is herewith reproduced. Herman remained some
time in London, playing at the Adelphia, then at the
Royal Princess, and finally at the Surrey Theater. A bill
used by Hermann at the Princess is reproduced on page
two hundred thirty two. It evidently proved satisfactory to the public,
(17:31):
and it was used without change for many years. Probably
the most notable warfare raged over the honor of having
invented this trick, arose between Robert Houdin and Henri Robert,
who were contemporaries. Robert, whose name was Duncle, was of
Holland birth and died in Paris in eighteen seventy four.
(17:51):
He was at his prime about eighteen thirty nine to
forty when he toured the continent. He was a popular
in London, Paris, and both the English and French provinces.
A polished man famous for the eloquence of his speech
and manners, he conducted his performance and all his business
in a quiet conservative fashion. In both Paris and London,
he had playhouses named temporarily in his honour Salai de Robaint,
(18:14):
and at one time in London he appeared at the
Egyptian Hall. He published his own magazine, l Almanac de Cagliastro,
an illustrated periodical which was quite pretentious. Robin presented all
tricks an automator that Robert Houddin claimed as his original inventions,
and in the famous controversy, Robert Houddin came out second best.
(18:34):
A Brabin proved that he had used the bottle trick
before Robert Houdin did by showing back numbers of his magazine,
whose illustrations pictured Brebin performing the trick at his theatre
in Milan, Italy, July sixth, eighteen forty four, or three
years before Robert Houddin presented it in Paris. Robert, however,
never wrote an autobiography nor any exhaustive work dealing with
(18:57):
the history of magic, while Robert Houdin did. The latter
set forth his claims over other magicians so skillfully that
more than half a century the intelligent and thoughtful reading
public has been deceived and has accepted his statements as authoritative.
According to an article published in the Illusionist Scientists to
this Day and explaining the laws of physics as operated
(19:18):
by use of airholes in the Inexhaustible Bottle, referred to
it as the Robert Hud'in bottle, when in reality the
honor of its invention belongs to some obscure mechanic or
magician whose name must remain forever unsung by writers on magic.
End of Section seven
Section seven of the Unmasque of Robert Houdain. This is
a LibriVox recording. All libervox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Read by Caveat The Unmasking of Robert Houdin by Hallie Houdini,
Chapter six. The Inexhaustible Bottle. While Robert Houdin claims to
(00:26):
have invented the Inexhaustible Bottle for a special program designed
to create a sensation at the opening of his season
of eighteen forty eight, in the illustrated appendix of the
original French edition of his memoirs, he states that it
had its premiere presentation December the first, eighteen forty seven.
These discrepancies occur with such frequency that it is difficult
(00:46):
to refute his claims in chronological order. Perhaps he adopted
this method intentionally to confuse future historians of magic, particularly
concerning his own achievements. In order to emphasize the brilliancy
of this trick, Robert Houdan turned boastful in describing it.
On page three hundred and forty eight of the American
edition of his memoirs, he states that the trick had
(01:08):
created such a sensation and was so much exploited in
the London newspapers that the fame of his inexhaustible bottle
spread to the provinces, and on his appearance in Manchester
with a bottle in his hand, the workmen who made
up the audience nearly mobbed him. In fact, the description
of this scene is the most dramatic pen picture in
his memoirs. The truth, sad state, is that the bottle
(01:29):
trick did not create the sensation he claims for it
in London, nor did the press eulogize it. It was
classed with other ordinary tricks, and twenty London newspapers bear
mute testimony to this fact. In a complete collection of
press clippings regarding his first London appearance, only four of
the London papers mentioned the trick. The Times, the great
conservative englishpaper, in reviewing Robert Houdin's performance in its issue
(01:52):
of May third, eighteen forty seven, ignored the trick entirely.
The four London newspapers which made mention of the bottle trick,
and then only in a passing comment with The Chronicle,
The Globe, the Ladies Newspaper, and the Court Journal. Anyone
acquainted with the last two named periodicals will know that
they rarely reach the hands of the humble artisans in Manchester. Punch,
(02:13):
London's great comic paper, gave the trick some space. However,
the trick of pouring several sorts of liquors from the
same bottle has been presented in various forms and under
different names. To prove the futility of Robert Houdin's claims,
I will explain the mystery of this trick, which is
of an interesting nature to all intents and purposes. The
(02:34):
bottle used looks like glass, but it is invariably made
of tin heavily japanned. Ranged around the central space, which
is free from deception, are five compartments, each tapering to
a narrow mouthed tube which terminates about an inch or
an inch and a half from within the neck of
the bottle. A small pinhole is drilled through the outer
surface of the bottle in each compartment, the holes being
(02:56):
so placed that, when the bottle is grasped with a
hand in the ordinary way, the former covers all but
one of the pin holes with his fingers and thumb.
The center section is left empty. But the other compartments
are filled with a funnel, which is a tapering nozzle
made specially for this purpose. The trick is generally started
by proving to the audience that the bottle is empty.
It is then filled with water, which is immediately poured
(03:17):
out gain all this time the five pin holes being
covered tightly with a hand or fingers, which are holding
the bottle. When a liquor is called for, the performer
raises the finger over the airhole above that particular liquor,
and the liquor will flow out. When a large number
of liquors may be called for, the performer has one
compartment filled with a perfectly colorless liquor, which he pours
(03:39):
into glasses previously flavored with strong essences. Certain gins and
cordials can be simulated in this fashion. Various improvements have
been made in this bottle trick. For instance, after the
bottle has yielded its various sorts of liquors, it is broken,
and from the bottle the performer produces some borrowed article
which has been vanished in a previous trick and then
(04:00):
apparently forgotten. This may be a ring, glove, or handkerchief,
which will be discovered tied around the neck of a
small guinea pig or dove taken from the broken bottle.
This is accomplished by having the bottle especially constructed. His
compartments end a few inches above the bottom of the bottle,
and the portion below, having a wavy or cracked appearance,
is made to slip on and off. The conjury grows
(04:22):
through the motions of actually breaking the bottle by tapping
it near the bottom with a small hammer or wand,
and the appearance of the guinea pig or lost article
causes surprise, so that the pretended breaking of the bottle
passes unnoticed. Again, this bottle can be genuine with no
loose bottom at all, and a small article can be inserted,
but this makes a great deal of trouble, and the
(04:42):
effect is not greatly increased in doing the trick. Thus
I was always compelled to have the optician cut the
bottom from the bottle, and then at times even he
would break it. To explain further, how the article is
loaded into the bottle. To perform a borrow's several articles,
for example, a ring and two watches, he will place
the ring watches into the funnel at the end of
a large horse pistol, and then shoot them at the target.
(05:05):
The two watches appear on the target or in a frame,
or at any place that he may choose. In obtaining
the articles, may have wrapped them up in a handkerchief
which he had hidden in the front of his vest.
Alexander Hermann was exceptionally clever in making this exchange, his
iron nerve and perpetual smile being great aids in the trick.
The performer now places the duplicate handkerchief on the table
(05:25):
in full view of the audience, and walks to another
table for a gun. While reaching for his gun, he
places the original articles, which he borrowed behind his table
on a servant, so that his hidden assistant may reach
for them. Place the two watches on the turnabout target,
tie the ring on the neck of the guinea pig,
shove him into the bottle, and insert the false bottom.
(05:46):
The trick is then ready in its entirety. The magician
calls for something to use as a target, and the
assistant responds with a revolving target or frame. When the
conjurer shoots, the two watches appear on the target or
in the frame. This part of the trick is acomplished
by having the center of the target revolve, or, if
the frame is used, by having a black velvet curtain
pulled up by rapid springs or strong rubbers. While all
(06:09):
this is going on, someone has brought on the stage
the loaded bottle, and as no attention is called to this,
by the time the watch has has been restored to
the owners, the conjurer introduces the bottle trick, pours out
the various liquors, and eventually breaks the bottle and reproduces
the borrowed article tied about the neck of the guinea
pig or dove. Many names have been given to this trick.
(06:30):
The old time magicians, who remained for months in one
theater had to change their programmes frequently, so for one
night they would present the bottle without breaking it under
the next they would break the bottle so as to
vary the trick. The bottle trick originated in the inexhaustible barrel.
The first trace I can find of this wonderful barrel
is in Hocus Pocus Junior, The Anatomy of lejer Domain,
(06:52):
written by Henry Dean in sixteen thirty five, second edition.
On page twenty one, is described a barrel with the
singles which can be drawn three different kinds of liquors.
This was worked precisely the same principle as was the
inexhaustible bottle tricks centuries later, by shutting up the airholes
of compartments from which liquors were not flowing. Its first
(07:14):
public appearance, according to the data in my collection tipped
from London papers of seventeen o seven and seventeen twelve,
was when the famous water works of the late ingenious
mister Henry Winstanley were exhibited by his servants for the
benefit of his widow, and the exhibition included a view
of the barrel that plays so many liquors and is
broken in pieces before the spectators. In seventeen eighty doctor
(07:36):
Segaliers presented in London a performance entitled A Course of
Experimental Philosophy, wherein the principles of mechanics, hydrostatics, pneumatics and
optics are approved and demonstrated by more than three hundred experiments.
In the course of these lectures, he produced a sort
of barrel worked by holding the fingers over the airholes.
He also exposed the real source of strength of the
(07:59):
notorious strong man of his day, John Carl von Ekeberg,
who allowed horses to pull against him, permitted heavy stones
to be broken on his bare chest, and who broke
heavy ropes simply by stretching or straightening his knees. These
lectures and expose as made doctor de Saint Claires so
famous that he was given considerable space and ducked. And
(08:19):
Sir David Brewster's Letters on Natural Magic, published in London
in eighteen fifty one, in which book the various deceptions
used by strong men are fully described. In fact, the
book is one that should be in every conjurer's library.
The old Dutch books explained the barrel trick, and in
eighteen o three Charles Hutton, the professor of Woolwich Royal Academy,
(08:40):
translated four books from Osman and Montecula, exposing quite a
number of old conjuring tricks. The barrel trick will be
found on page ninety four of volume two. The first
use of the inexhaustible bottle by modern conjurers I found
in an announcement of Herr Schmidt, a German performer who
for a time controlled the original writing and drawing figure,
(09:00):
as will be found by reference to chapter three, which
is devoted to the history of that automaton. The program
published in that chapter is dated eighteen twenty seven and
does not include the famous bottle because it was no
longer a novelty in Herr Schmidt's repertoire. But the advertisement
reproduced herewith dated eighteen twenty one, schedules the bottle trick,
thus the bottle of sobriety and inebriety, proving the inutility
(09:25):
of a set of decanters when various liquors can be
produced by one. Thus Schmidt anti dated Houdah's offering the
trick by more than a quarter of a century. Next,
the bottle turned up in eighteen thirty five in London,
when it was presented by a German who styled himself
Falk of Koenigsberg, pupil of the celebrated Chevalier Pinetti, and
(09:47):
who introduced the program with which Dobbler made such a
sensation of eighteen forty two. Mister Falk opened at the
Queen's Bazaar, Oxford Street, London, November eighth, eighteen thirty five.
Before opening, however, he gave a private performance with the
press and received quite a number of notices. A half
column clipping in my collection dated November fourth, eighteen thirty five,
(10:09):
which I think is cut from the Chronicle or the Globe,
mentions the trick, among other effects like Flora's gift, the
card in the pocket, et cetera, and adds that the
exchange of wine was so that if once in mister
Falk's company, we should not wish to exchange it. For
he poured three shots of wine, poured cherry and champagne
out of one bottle. Then he put them together, and
from such a mixture produced sherry in one glass and
(10:31):
poort in another. From this notice it will be seen
that folk had the inexhaustible bottle, and add some method
of returning all the liquors not drunk back into the
bottle and then pouring out two kinds of liquor. Perhaps
he resorted to chemicals, but one thing is evident. The
bottle was used for six different kinds of liquors at
one and the same time. Felippe from eighteen thirty six
(10:54):
to eighteen thirty eight featured an infernal bottle trick, also
the inexhaustible bottle trick. The trick also was seen on
the programme used by John Henry Anderson, the Wizard of
the North in the same years. According to these programs,
Philippe and Anderson showed the bottle empty, filled with water,
and then served five different liquors. On April thirtieth, eighteen
(11:15):
thirty eight, Anderson thus announced the trick on a programme
used as the Victoria Room's Hull. Handkerchiefs will be borrowed
from three gentlemen. The magician will load his mystic gun,
in which he will place the handkerchiefs. He will fire
a bottle containing wine. The bottle will be broken, and
the handkerchiefs will appear. Programs in my collection show that
Anderson presented the trick serving various sorts of liquors when
(11:37):
he played London in eighteen forty, but little attention was
drawn to the wonderful bottle. In eighteen forty two, Ludwig Dobbler,
Germany's best loved magician, came to London and featured what
he termed the traveling Bottle. Ludwig Leopold Dobbler was born
in Vienna in eighteen o one. He was the best
beloved magician who ever trod the stage. He started life
(11:58):
as an engraver of metals, but his fancy turned to necromancy.
He gave his best performances in his native city. In
eighteen forty one, he was touring Holland, and in a
letter now in my position, which he wrote to a
director and editor in Vienna and the date of March fifteenth,
eighteen forty two, he informs his friend that he has
sent all his baggage to London from Amsterdam and is
(12:19):
on a visit to Paris. He regrets that he has
not all of his apparatus with him, but has given
several performances, and mentions the fact that to morrow I
am engaged to give a performance in the private parlor
of Rothschild and then by the Count of Manlius, set
minister of the King's Mansions. He also informs his friend
that he expects to visit Paris the next season and
build his own theater. He states a fact most interesting
(12:42):
to all magicians, namely that he has rented the Saint
James's Theater in London for two thousand francs four hundred
dollars a night, or more than two thousand, four hundred
dollars rent for one week. Darbler drew such big audiences
and had made so much money, he refused to give
private performances, only breaking this rule when presenting his show
before Her Majesty Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort. He
(13:06):
played the Provinces, then went over to Dublin, where, although
unable to speak English, he was a veritable sensation. In
eighteen forty four, Doubler played a return date at the
Saint James's Theatre, London, and this time he had Anderson's
arrival at the Theatre Royal Adelphia. Dobbla master of fortune
very rapidly. In fact, he retired in eighteen forty seven
and never again appeared on the stage. You always explained
(13:29):
to his early retirement by saying, the public loves me.
I know what to always love me. I may return
and be a failure, so it is best to know where,
just when to stop. He died in a little village
near Tullnets on April seventeenth, eighteen sixty four, when one
of God's noblemen was laid to rest. The draving bottle
alluded to by Dobbler in his programs was nothing more
(13:50):
or less than the inexhaustible bottle. The following excerpt from
the London Chronicle during Doubler's engagement at the Saint James's
Theatre April eighteen forty two is a loominating Dobbler Saint
James's Theater. Among the illusions that more particularly struck our
fancy was one entitled the Traveling Bottle, where how Dobbler,
filling a common bottle with water, transformed this water into
(14:13):
a collection of wines of all countries amicably assembled together
in one receptacle, and he fills out first a glass
of sherry, the one of port, then one of champagne,
and so on. The critic then describes how the bottle
was broken and the borrowed handkerchief was found inside the bottle.
Probably because of the prominence which head Dobbler gave to
this trick, detracted more attention when Anderson presented it during
(14:35):
his London run of eighteen forty three, he announced it
as water versus wine, or changing water into different liquids sherry, port, champagne, chin, milk,
rum and water. The London Sun of April eighteenth, eighteen
forty three, says mister Anderson. Besides the feats by which
his reputation was established in his former exhibitions in the
(14:55):
Metropolis performed with perfect ease and success, some of the
great difficulty than those by which had Dauber astonished the world,
such as serving several kinds of wines from the same bottle.
The Morning Advertiser, London of the same date said, with
the utmost easy to produce from an empty bottle wine, water, port,
sherry and champagne. And immediately afterwards, under a blaze of
(15:17):
waxen gas, he broke the same bottle and produced half
a dozen Cambric handkerchiefs which had previously been deposited under
lock and key at considerable distance. McAllister, the Scottish brickmason,
who became the pupil and assistant of Felipe, as described
in the chapter on the Pastry Cook of the Palais Royal,
also claimed the bottle trick as his invention. I've been
(15:40):
unable to obtain any of the early programmes used by McAllister,
but I am reproducing the one he utilized during his
engagement at the Bowery Theater, New York City in eighteen
fifty two. This was not his first appearance in New York, however.
In December eighteen forty eight and January of eighteen forty
nine he played at the same theater and announced that
he had just concluded successful engagement at the Grand Theater
(16:02):
Tacon Havana, Cuba. Although McAllister claims to have invented the
inexhaustable bottle trick, it is more likely that, having been
connected so long with Felipe, he knew the secret several
years before Robert Houdin appeared in public. But as McAllister
also claimed to have invented the peacock and the harlequin automata,
both which are recognized an inventions of his predecessors, his
(16:24):
claim cannot be given serious consideration. He advertised to produce
twenty two kinds of liquors from one bottle, and therefore
he must have utilized the essence glasses in connection with
the bottle. What must have been Rebert Houdin's feeling when,
on arriving in London in eighteen forty eight he found
another magician, Compere's Hermann, heavily advertised at the Theater Royal,
(16:47):
and already offering each and every trick included by the
Frenchman in his repertoire, even the much vaunted bottle was
in Hermann's list of tricks. No one seems able to
tell where Compez Hermann obtained the tricks he used, but
we must be given credit for never advertising them as
his own inventions. His record in this respect was cleaned
throughout his life as a mysterious entertainer. The programme presented
(17:10):
by Hermann at the Theater Royal during Robert Udan's opening
WEEKNS Saint James's Theater is herewith reproduced. Herman remained some
time in London, playing at the Adelphia, then at the
Royal Princess, and finally at the Surrey Theater. A bill
used by Hermann at the Princess is reproduced on page
two hundred thirty two. It evidently proved satisfactory to the public,
(17:31):
and it was used without change for many years. Probably
the most notable warfare raged over the honor of having
invented this trick, arose between Robert Houdin and Henri Robert,
who were contemporaries. Robert, whose name was Duncle, was of
Holland birth and died in Paris in eighteen seventy four.
(17:51):
He was at his prime about eighteen thirty nine to
forty when he toured the continent. He was a popular
in London, Paris, and both the English and French provinces.
A polished man famous for the eloquence of his speech
and manners, he conducted his performance and all his business
in a quiet conservative fashion. In both Paris and London,
he had playhouses named temporarily in his honour Salai de Robaint,
(18:14):
and at one time in London he appeared at the
Egyptian Hall. He published his own magazine, l Almanac de Cagliastro,
an illustrated periodical which was quite pretentious. Robin presented all
tricks an automator that Robert Houddin claimed as his original inventions,
and in the famous controversy, Robert Houddin came out second best.
(18:34):
A Brabin proved that he had used the bottle trick
before Robert Houdin did by showing back numbers of his magazine,
whose illustrations pictured Brebin performing the trick at his theatre
in Milan, Italy, July sixth, eighteen forty four, or three
years before Robert Houddin presented it in Paris. Robert, however,
never wrote an autobiography nor any exhaustive work dealing with
(18:57):
the history of magic, while Robert Houdin did. The latter
set forth his claims over other magicians so skillfully that
more than half a century the intelligent and thoughtful reading
public has been deceived and has accepted his statements as authoritative.
According to an article published in the Illusionist Scientists to
this Day and explaining the laws of physics as operated
(19:18):
by use of airholes in the Inexhaustible Bottle, referred to
it as the Robert Hud'in bottle, when in reality the
honor of its invention belongs to some obscure mechanic or
magician whose name must remain forever unsung by writers on magic.
End of Section seven
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