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 eight, The Unmasking of Robert Houdin. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Caveat The Unmasking of Robert Houdin by Harry Houdini,
(00:21):
Chapter seven, Second Sight. Evidently, second sight was the foundation
stone of Robert Houddin's success. Reading between the lines of
his autobiography, one finds that this was the trick which
carried him into the salons of fashion and royalty. Before
he introduced second sight into his repertoire, his tricks were
(00:42):
so commonplace that they did not arouse the interests of
the court circle, whose approval furnished the seal of success.
This trick of second sight, he claims body and soul
as the favorite child of his brain, even goes so
far as to relate a story to prove that the
trick came to him in the form of an inspiration.
I quote directly from the American edition of his memoirs,
(01:03):
page two hundred and fifty five. My two children were
playing one day in the drawing room at again that
they had invented for their own amusement. The younger had
bandaged his elder brother's eyes and made him guess the
objects that he touched, and when the latter happened to
get right, they changed places. This simple game suggested to
me the most complicated idea that a crossed my mind.
(01:26):
Pursued by the notion, I ran and shut myself in
my workshop, and was fortunately in that happy state when
the mind follows easily the combinations traced by fancy. I
rested my head in my hands, in my excitement, lay
down the first principles of second sight. Then, picking up
the long idle quill of Baron Munchausen, he proceeded to
(01:46):
explain the methods by which he perfected the trick and
trained his son. To the layman. These methods read most
entertainingly to the experienced conjurer or his humblest assistant. They
appeal as absurd and impossible, a ship waste of time,
of which a man who reproduced the tricks of his
predecessors as rapidly as Robert ho Dan did would not
be guilty. He claims to have trained the eye and
(02:10):
memory of his son by leading the latter past shop
windows and after allowing him one glance, demanding the names
of the article seen at this single glance. When the
boy could mention forty things after passing the window, his
education was pronounced good. Robert Hoddan also tells in his
memoirs of spending hours with his son pouring over enormous
(02:30):
collections of coins and medals, et cetera, which severe lesson
helped them both in future performances. To the conjurer, this
tale is farcical, but only was there no need of
forcing the boy to become a coin expert. But the
task was one which could not be accomplished in the
brief time which Robert Hoddin allowed himself more perfecting the trick.
The only knowledge required about coins is to recognize a
(02:53):
coin when you see it. Some one may hand a
coin of a peculiar stamp, and he operate a signal
to his medium the mass, and always knows about it.
Of course, if both know the various coins, then they
can understand each other with less signaling than if the
coins were unfamiliar to either. In Audi, the French calculator
can look at a blackboard filled with numbers for a
(03:13):
few seconds, then turn his back upon them and add
the entire amount that he is just seen and memorized,
but let the reader understand that Inaudi is peculiarly gifted
by nature whiles second sight is a trick in which
a person on the stage known as the medium, is
assisted by words, signs, pre arranged movements, or articles or
figures in rotation which to the layman have the appearance
(03:35):
of being unprepared at a familiar cue. However, the operator
touches articles that have been memorized a ring, a watch,
a scarf, pin, a lady's fan, an opera glass, all
in rotation. At the snap of the fingers, the medium
will know that the articles are to be named consecutive order,
and only after the snap of the fingers or another
queue agreed upon. Robert Houdain presented the trick for the
(03:59):
first time at his own theatre February the twelfth, eighteen
forty six. Unquestionably, at this time he employed the speaking code,
wherein the answer is contained in the question asked of
the medium by the performer. As he described scene after
scene in which he and his son participated. It is
almost possible for a conjurer or any one interested in
magic to follow his code Apparently the amusement loving public
(04:23):
became familiar with his speaking code. For three years later,
according to the illustrated appendix of the French edition of
his memoirs, he adopted a code of signals, which he
stated was especially arranged to confuse those whom he terms
his fearless discoverers. A mysterious bell was used in this connection,
but he admits that it mattered not whether the bell's
struck or was silent. His son could name the object
(04:45):
under consideration or answer the question. While Robert who Down
asserts that he did not employ electricity for working his
silent code, investigations make it almost certain that this was
the method used. It is known throughout the world of
conjuring that in a eighteen fifty fifty one Robert Heller
William Henry Palmer reproduced Robert Houdin's entire repertoire of tricks,
(05:07):
with the exception of the suspension, and all worked precisely
by Robert Houdin's methods. In the second sight trick, which
he presented with the young man as the medium, then
later with Miss Hadi Heller, the medium was seated on
a sofa fully equipped with wires and electric batteries. Heller's
second sight was worked with both speaking and silent codes.
His confederate was concealed behind the scenes, watching Heller through
(05:30):
a peephole while possibly he used another seated in the audience,
had the wires strung under his chair, arranged the signal
button so could be easily reached on the arm or
the front part of the seat. The receiving instrument was
attached to the sofa on which the medium was seated.
The latter would be silently informed as to what was
being shown and would answer all the questions as proof
(05:51):
that these statements are not mere hearsay. The Heller sofa
could now be seen in the possession of mister Francis J.
Martiniqua of New York and doctor REDE. Gold And Mortimer,
who once presented Mortimer's Mysteries, a show on the style
of Heller's performance. First is the information. When Hella died
in Philadelphia November twenty eighth, eighteen seventy eight, he engaged
(06:12):
the dead magician's chief assistant and expert electrician named E. J. Dale,
who had acted as secret confederate, assisting the medium. After
traveling with Mortimer some time, Dale eventually returned to England
and retired from the profession. He opened a large shop
in London under the name of H and E. J. Dale,
manufacturing electricians for Little Britain E c. In October eighteen
(06:35):
eighty two. It was the easiest thing imaginable for a
bear Houdan to have his theater arranged with secret confederates
and wires at the back of the scenes, where a
man with powerful opera glasses could stand. The place. Being small,
he could look all over the room and see the
minutest article when not making use of the talking code.
The simplest method employed by second site artists is that
(06:57):
a confederate in the audience with even an electrical push
button or a pneumatic bulb, who gives the medium the signal.
This is received by a miniature piston, which acquires only
a small hole in the stage, while the medium has
a matching hole in the sole of his shoe. This
allows the piston to touch the sole of the foot
whenever the confederate presses the bulb or pushes the button.
(07:18):
From this array of facts, it will be seen that
second sight is and has been a matter of well
drilled phrases or signals, pre arranged rotation of articles, well
built apparatus, or well trained confederates, but never a feat
of actual thought transference. Some of Robert Houdin's ardent supporters
insisted in claiming the invention of discovery of second sight,
(07:38):
the French conjurer was merely an unconscious plagiarist, having stumbled upon,
quite by accident, a trick which he did not know
that others had offered before him. Such a statement is
illogical and absurd. Books of magic to which Robert Houddin
had access on which he admits having read, described the
trick in more or less crude form. Pinetti, whose tricks
(07:59):
were fully discribed to Robert Houdin by his old friend Tarini,
used the second site mystification with excellent effect. Robert Houdin
could not have been ignorant of his existence as a
trick in making the claim to its discovery in his memoirs.
He simply trusted to the ignorance of the reading public.
In the history of magic, According to the programmes and
(08:19):
newspaper clippings in my collection, Philip Breslaw was the first
conjurer to feature second sight in his performance. Breslaw was
a clever German who so established himself to the hearts
of amusement loving Englishmen that had remained in England for
forty years, dying in Liverpool in eighteen o three. In
seventeen eighty one, while playing at Greenwood's Rooms, Haymarket, London,
(08:40):
he announced, as part one of his entertainment, mister Breslaw
will exhibit his new magical deceptions, letters, medals, dice, pocket pieces, rings,
et cetera, and particularly communicate the thoughts of any person
to another without the assistance of speech or writing. Pinetti
comes next as the eminent presenter of second sight. Between
(09:01):
these two well known conjurers, there may have been various unimportant,
unchronicled performers who made use of Breslau's trick, but they
have no place in the history of magic. The trick
appeared on a Pinetti program at the Royal hay Market, London, England,
December the first, seventeen eighty four, almost sixty two years
before Rovert Houdain presented it as his original invention. The
(09:25):
London Morning Post and Daily Advertiser of December the first,
seventeen eighty four contains the above advertisement, reproduced from my
collection The talking code employed by Pinetti was not original
to him, as it dates back to the automaton worked
by a concealed confederate who controlled the piston for the
mechanical figure, or pulled the strings to manipulate the dancing coins,
all moving aired. It was novel only in its application
(09:48):
to the supposed thoughts transference by a human being instead
of an automaton. This code is described by various reliable authors.
On page three hundred eighty eight, volume three of Hooper's
Recreations Editions seventeen eighty two. Just stated that the confederate
worked the apparatus from another room by certain words previously
agreed on. Make it known to the confederate is the
(10:11):
advice given to Woodbury conjurers. Beckmann, in his History of Inventions,
relates that he knew an exhibitor of a talking figure
whose concealed confederate was cued to answer certain questions, the
answers being given in a manner of putting the question
also by different signs. These instructions will be found on
page three hundred eleven of volume two edition of eighteen seventeen.
(10:36):
The cramp undertook to expose Parnetti's methods of working the
second see trick in his famous book. But in this
attempt he scored one of the few failures which marked
the bit of fight he waged against Pinnetti. In his
book La Magie blanche d'u voilleis Why Magic Exposed, First Editions,
seventeen eighty four, he offers on page forty the de
(10:56):
cate de vaunet lessieu bondi, the divination of cards with
the eyes blindfolded. In this feat, the Cramp explains that
Pennetti would allow cards to be drawn, then a lady,
Senora Pinetti, would appear on the stage, would be blindfolded,
and would name all the cards that were drawn. The
Cramp explained the pre arranged pack of cards for this trick,
also outlining the manner giving the medium the queue for
(11:18):
certain phrases. For instance, while explaining the ordinance, he would
not speak at all. In the very sentences addressed to
these spectators, he informs a medium which cards have been selected.
Petti's code must have been clever, as the Cramp was
unable to explain the entire second side act. He has
omitted the principal part of the mystification, that is naming
the articles held up for the performer to see that
(11:41):
the card trick was only one test of his second
site performance. That Pennetti's medium did not retire after naming
the cards are facts shown by the following clipping from
one of his announcements. Senora Pinetti will have the special
honor and satisfaction of exhibiting various experiments of new discovery,
no less curious than seeming incredible, particularly that of her
(12:03):
being seated in one of the front boxes with a
handkerchief over her eyes and gassed at everything imagined and
proposed to her by any person in the company. Third
on the list of second site performance, according to the
data in my collection, was Louis Gordon McKean, who created
a sensation at the Egyptian Hall Bazaar, Piccadilly, London in
(12:23):
eighteen thirty one, or fifteen years before Robert Houddin, according
to his claims discovered second sight. Young McKean was featured
as possessing double not second sight, and one of his
bills is reproduced on page two hundred and twelve. Another
program in my collection, dated that Theatre Scarborough, Friday evening,
(12:44):
August fourth, eighteen thirty seven, announces for a limited engagement
of three nights, the three Talented Highlanders and most extraordinary
second sighted young Highlanders. These lads, I believe were three brothers,
one original McKean or the latter working in conjunction with
two of the boys trained to the tricks in order
(13:05):
to secure more impressive results. The trio appeared eight years
before Robert Houdin became a professional entertainer. Holland also contributed
a successful performer of second sighted tricks, the medium in
this case being a Dutch woman who created a profound
sensation while touring Germany in the early part of the
eighteenth century. The billing used at the Early Affairs is
(13:26):
an enormous poster which would be unintelligible if produced to
as size suitable for reproduction. It is now part of
my collection and reads as follows the Holland Maid, twenty
years of age, from Amsterdam, whose powers, both in her
residence there and in all other places to which she
has gone, have excited great astonishment and much applause. And
(13:48):
she will also in this place endeavor to obtain the
same tribute of public applause. She will, after the exhibition,
place herself before the eyes of all the spectators on
the outside, and gravely stand thereon, and at all times
give an answer of assurance any one present to whom
a judgment in all question gives the most accurate response.
She contrives also by her acuteness, to discover and reply
(14:10):
to the least thought not until then explored. She guesses
the age of every one, whether they be married or not,
how many children they have, of what sex, and whether
they be living or dead at the present time, et cetera.
She does the like for any one having a chance
in the lottery, as to what is the number and
what will be its share of gains. She also guesses
(14:31):
at every one of the most difficult sorts of coin,
and even at the year with which they were stamped.
She guesses at every number which any one shall secretly
set down, even though it amounts to upward a million.
She moreover tells exactly whether any one be in the
army under how many monarchs he has served in, how
many battles he has been engaged, and whether he has
(14:53):
ever been wounded, and how many wounds he has received.
By throwing the dice, she will every time exactly tell
the very number of spots which may have been determined
on this wordy announcement is signed by W. Sam of
Holland my collection. There is also an interesting handbill advertising
the tour of the mysterious lady who offered second site
(15:13):
tricks in the eastern part of the United States in
eighteen forty two forty three. Her name was never stated
on the programs, but the latter, together with the clipping
dated Boston, February the twentieth, eighteen forty three, will suffice
to prove my claim that she was offering second sight
before Robert Hoddan did, and therefore could not be copying
his trick. She also appeared in England fully a year
(15:36):
before Robert Houddin discovered second Sight. Arie Robin and his
wife featured second Sight in Italy just when Robert Houdin
first offered it in Paris. It is barely possible that
they antedated Robert Houddin in the production of this trick,
for I have in my collection of brochure entitled albut
desserte de monsieur and Madame Robert, which contains an engraving
(16:01):
of the couple offering second Sight, A short poem in
honor of Madame Robert's remarkable gifts as a second Site
artist and a poem generally eulogistic of Monsieur Robert's talents,
dated distinctly February seventh, eighteen forty six. Robert Houddin presented
second Site for the first time, according to his memoirs,
on February the twelfth, eighteen forty six. To prove the
(16:24):
utter folly of Robert Houdin's claims to have trained his
son's eye and memory by patient effort so as to
have a mutual transference of thought, I will next show
that animals have been trained for years to do tricks
by secret signals before the alleged discovery of second Sight.
Two rare old bills in my collection advertised the marvelous
mind reedy performances of the goose and a blindfolded dog, respectively.
(16:47):
The first, dated seventeen eighty nine, announced that mister Beckett,
a trunk maker number thirty one, Hay Market, is exhibiting
a learned goose, just lightly arrived from abroad. It performs
the following tricks, performing upon cards, money and watchers, telling
the time of the month, year and date, also the
value of any piece either English or foreign distinguishing all
(17:09):
sorts of colours, and most prodigiously and certainly unbelieving to
those who know the intellects of a goose. She tells
a number of ladies and gentlemen in the company or
any person's thoughts. Any lady or gentleman drawing a card
out of pack, though ever so secret the goose, blindfolded
at the same time, will find out the card they drew.
Emittance to shillings each person. The second bill features Don Carlo,
(17:33):
the double sighted dog, which gave an exhibition of his
mysterious skill at the Pavilion by special command, before King
William and the Royal family on December seventeenth, eighteen thirty one.
This dog was blindfolded and could present almost in duplicate
the second sight tests offered by the Highland lad who
had five days later gave a similar exhibition before the
(17:53):
Royal family at the same place. The proof regarding the
use of animals as medium is offered not to belittle
the human mediums, but to prove that from start to finish,
from the day that Breslaw offered the trick to the
present moment, when a number of skillful so called mind
readers still mystify the public, some sort of speaking or
(18:14):
signal code has been used. Robert Houdan used both the
speaking and the signal code, but so did Breslau, and
all evidence points to the fact that Robert Houddan may
be improved upon the trick employed by Breslau, Pinetti and
others among his predecessors in magic by utilizing the newly
found assistant to the magician, electricity. In his tiny theater,
(18:36):
it would have been entirely feasible to have had electric
wires run from all points of the auditorium to the stage,
thus doing away with both the speaking and ordinary signal
codes in the pneumatic tube. For this improvement, and this alone,
should Robert Houddin be given credit. Nearly all magicians improve
or redress tricks or apperators handed down to them by
(18:56):
their predecessors, but Robert Houddin was not willing to admit
that he owed anything to his predecessors. End of Section
eight
Section eight, The Unmasking of Robert Houdin. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Caveat The Unmasking of Robert Houdin by Harry Houdini,
(00:21):
Chapter seven, Second Sight. Evidently, second sight was the foundation
stone of Robert Houddin's success. Reading between the lines of
his autobiography, one finds that this was the trick which
carried him into the salons of fashion and royalty. Before
he introduced second sight into his repertoire, his tricks were
(00:42):
so commonplace that they did not arouse the interests of
the court circle, whose approval furnished the seal of success.
This trick of second sight, he claims body and soul
as the favorite child of his brain, even goes so
far as to relate a story to prove that the
trick came to him in the form of an inspiration.
I quote directly from the American edition of his memoirs,
(01:03):
page two hundred and fifty five. My two children were
playing one day in the drawing room at again that
they had invented for their own amusement. The younger had
bandaged his elder brother's eyes and made him guess the
objects that he touched, and when the latter happened to
get right, they changed places. This simple game suggested to
me the most complicated idea that a crossed my mind.
(01:26):
Pursued by the notion, I ran and shut myself in
my workshop, and was fortunately in that happy state when
the mind follows easily the combinations traced by fancy. I
rested my head in my hands, in my excitement, lay
down the first principles of second sight. Then, picking up
the long idle quill of Baron Munchausen, he proceeded to
(01:46):
explain the methods by which he perfected the trick and
trained his son. To the layman. These methods read most
entertainingly to the experienced conjurer or his humblest assistant. They
appeal as absurd and impossible, a ship waste of time,
of which a man who reproduced the tricks of his
predecessors as rapidly as Robert ho Dan did would not
be guilty. He claims to have trained the eye and
(02:10):
memory of his son by leading the latter past shop
windows and after allowing him one glance, demanding the names
of the article seen at this single glance. When the
boy could mention forty things after passing the window, his
education was pronounced good. Robert Hoddan also tells in his
memoirs of spending hours with his son pouring over enormous
(02:30):
collections of coins and medals, et cetera, which severe lesson
helped them both in future performances. To the conjurer, this
tale is farcical, but only was there no need of
forcing the boy to become a coin expert. But the
task was one which could not be accomplished in the
brief time which Robert Hoddin allowed himself more perfecting the trick.
The only knowledge required about coins is to recognize a
(02:53):
coin when you see it. Some one may hand a
coin of a peculiar stamp, and he operate a signal
to his medium the mass, and always knows about it.
Of course, if both know the various coins, then they
can understand each other with less signaling than if the
coins were unfamiliar to either. In Audi, the French calculator
can look at a blackboard filled with numbers for a
(03:13):
few seconds, then turn his back upon them and add
the entire amount that he is just seen and memorized,
but let the reader understand that Inaudi is peculiarly gifted
by nature whiles second sight is a trick in which
a person on the stage known as the medium, is
assisted by words, signs, pre arranged movements, or articles or
figures in rotation which to the layman have the appearance
(03:35):
of being unprepared at a familiar cue. However, the operator
touches articles that have been memorized a ring, a watch,
a scarf, pin, a lady's fan, an opera glass, all
in rotation. At the snap of the fingers, the medium
will know that the articles are to be named consecutive order,
and only after the snap of the fingers or another
queue agreed upon. Robert Houdain presented the trick for the
(03:59):
first time at his own theatre February the twelfth, eighteen
forty six. Unquestionably, at this time he employed the speaking code,
wherein the answer is contained in the question asked of
the medium by the performer. As he described scene after
scene in which he and his son participated. It is
almost possible for a conjurer or any one interested in
magic to follow his code Apparently the amusement loving public
(04:23):
became familiar with his speaking code. For three years later,
according to the illustrated appendix of the French edition of
his memoirs, he adopted a code of signals, which he
stated was especially arranged to confuse those whom he terms
his fearless discoverers. A mysterious bell was used in this connection,
but he admits that it mattered not whether the bell's
struck or was silent. His son could name the object
(04:45):
under consideration or answer the question. While Robert who Down
asserts that he did not employ electricity for working his
silent code, investigations make it almost certain that this was
the method used. It is known throughout the world of
conjuring that in a eighteen fifty fifty one Robert Heller
William Henry Palmer reproduced Robert Houdin's entire repertoire of tricks,
(05:07):
with the exception of the suspension, and all worked precisely
by Robert Houdin's methods. In the second sight trick, which
he presented with the young man as the medium, then
later with Miss Hadi Heller, the medium was seated on
a sofa fully equipped with wires and electric batteries. Heller's
second sight was worked with both speaking and silent codes.
His confederate was concealed behind the scenes, watching Heller through
(05:30):
a peephole while possibly he used another seated in the audience,
had the wires strung under his chair, arranged the signal
button so could be easily reached on the arm or
the front part of the seat. The receiving instrument was
attached to the sofa on which the medium was seated.
The latter would be silently informed as to what was
being shown and would answer all the questions as proof
(05:51):
that these statements are not mere hearsay. The Heller sofa
could now be seen in the possession of mister Francis J.
Martiniqua of New York and doctor REDE. Gold And Mortimer,
who once presented Mortimer's Mysteries, a show on the style
of Heller's performance. First is the information. When Hella died
in Philadelphia November twenty eighth, eighteen seventy eight, he engaged
(06:12):
the dead magician's chief assistant and expert electrician named E. J. Dale,
who had acted as secret confederate, assisting the medium. After
traveling with Mortimer some time, Dale eventually returned to England
and retired from the profession. He opened a large shop
in London under the name of H and E. J. Dale,
manufacturing electricians for Little Britain E c. In October eighteen
(06:35):
eighty two. It was the easiest thing imaginable for a
bear Houdan to have his theater arranged with secret confederates
and wires at the back of the scenes, where a
man with powerful opera glasses could stand. The place. Being small,
he could look all over the room and see the
minutest article when not making use of the talking code.
The simplest method employed by second site artists is that
(06:57):
a confederate in the audience with even an electrical push
button or a pneumatic bulb, who gives the medium the signal.
This is received by a miniature piston, which acquires only
a small hole in the stage, while the medium has
a matching hole in the sole of his shoe. This
allows the piston to touch the sole of the foot
whenever the confederate presses the bulb or pushes the button.
(07:18):
From this array of facts, it will be seen that
second sight is and has been a matter of well
drilled phrases or signals, pre arranged rotation of articles, well
built apparatus, or well trained confederates, but never a feat
of actual thought transference. Some of Robert Houdin's ardent supporters
insisted in claiming the invention of discovery of second sight,
(07:38):
the French conjurer was merely an unconscious plagiarist, having stumbled upon,
quite by accident, a trick which he did not know
that others had offered before him. Such a statement is
illogical and absurd. Books of magic to which Robert Houddin
had access on which he admits having read, described the
trick in more or less crude form. Pinetti, whose tricks
(07:59):
were fully discribed to Robert Houdin by his old friend Tarini,
used the second site mystification with excellent effect. Robert Houdin
could not have been ignorant of his existence as a
trick in making the claim to its discovery in his memoirs.
He simply trusted to the ignorance of the reading public.
In the history of magic, According to the programmes and
(08:19):
newspaper clippings in my collection, Philip Breslaw was the first
conjurer to feature second sight in his performance. Breslaw was
a clever German who so established himself to the hearts
of amusement loving Englishmen that had remained in England for
forty years, dying in Liverpool in eighteen o three. In
seventeen eighty one, while playing at Greenwood's Rooms, Haymarket, London,
(08:40):
he announced, as part one of his entertainment, mister Breslaw
will exhibit his new magical deceptions, letters, medals, dice, pocket pieces, rings,
et cetera, and particularly communicate the thoughts of any person
to another without the assistance of speech or writing. Pinetti
comes next as the eminent presenter of second sight. Between
(09:01):
these two well known conjurers, there may have been various unimportant,
unchronicled performers who made use of Breslau's trick, but they
have no place in the history of magic. The trick
appeared on a Pinetti program at the Royal hay Market, London, England,
December the first, seventeen eighty four, almost sixty two years
before Rovert Houdain presented it as his original invention. The
(09:25):
London Morning Post and Daily Advertiser of December the first,
seventeen eighty four contains the above advertisement, reproduced from my
collection The talking code employed by Pinetti was not original
to him, as it dates back to the automaton worked
by a concealed confederate who controlled the piston for the
mechanical figure, or pulled the strings to manipulate the dancing coins,
all moving aired. It was novel only in its application
(09:48):
to the supposed thoughts transference by a human being instead
of an automaton. This code is described by various reliable authors.
On page three hundred eighty eight, volume three of Hooper's
Recreations Editions seventeen eighty two. Just stated that the confederate
worked the apparatus from another room by certain words previously
agreed on. Make it known to the confederate is the
(10:11):
advice given to Woodbury conjurers. Beckmann, in his History of Inventions,
relates that he knew an exhibitor of a talking figure
whose concealed confederate was cued to answer certain questions, the
answers being given in a manner of putting the question
also by different signs. These instructions will be found on
page three hundred eleven of volume two edition of eighteen seventeen.
(10:36):
The cramp undertook to expose Parnetti's methods of working the
second see trick in his famous book. But in this
attempt he scored one of the few failures which marked
the bit of fight he waged against Pinnetti. In his
book La Magie blanche d'u voilleis Why Magic Exposed, First Editions,
seventeen eighty four, he offers on page forty the de
(10:56):
cate de vaunet lessieu bondi, the divination of cards with
the eyes blindfolded. In this feat, the Cramp explains that
Pennetti would allow cards to be drawn, then a lady,
Senora Pinetti, would appear on the stage, would be blindfolded,
and would name all the cards that were drawn. The
Cramp explained the pre arranged pack of cards for this trick,
also outlining the manner giving the medium the queue for
(11:18):
certain phrases. For instance, while explaining the ordinance, he would
not speak at all. In the very sentences addressed to
these spectators, he informs a medium which cards have been selected.
Petti's code must have been clever, as the Cramp was
unable to explain the entire second side act. He has
omitted the principal part of the mystification, that is naming
the articles held up for the performer to see that
(11:41):
the card trick was only one test of his second
site performance. That Pennetti's medium did not retire after naming
the cards are facts shown by the following clipping from
one of his announcements. Senora Pinetti will have the special
honor and satisfaction of exhibiting various experiments of new discovery,
no less curious than seeming incredible, particularly that of her
(12:03):
being seated in one of the front boxes with a
handkerchief over her eyes and gassed at everything imagined and
proposed to her by any person in the company. Third
on the list of second site performance, according to the
data in my collection, was Louis Gordon McKean, who created
a sensation at the Egyptian Hall Bazaar, Piccadilly, London in
(12:23):
eighteen thirty one, or fifteen years before Robert Houddin, according
to his claims discovered second sight. Young McKean was featured
as possessing double not second sight, and one of his
bills is reproduced on page two hundred and twelve. Another
program in my collection, dated that Theatre Scarborough, Friday evening,
(12:44):
August fourth, eighteen thirty seven, announces for a limited engagement
of three nights, the three Talented Highlanders and most extraordinary
second sighted young Highlanders. These lads, I believe were three brothers,
one original McKean or the latter working in conjunction with
two of the boys trained to the tricks in order
(13:05):
to secure more impressive results. The trio appeared eight years
before Robert Houdin became a professional entertainer. Holland also contributed
a successful performer of second sighted tricks, the medium in
this case being a Dutch woman who created a profound
sensation while touring Germany in the early part of the
eighteenth century. The billing used at the Early Affairs is
(13:26):
an enormous poster which would be unintelligible if produced to
as size suitable for reproduction. It is now part of
my collection and reads as follows the Holland Maid, twenty
years of age, from Amsterdam, whose powers, both in her
residence there and in all other places to which she
has gone, have excited great astonishment and much applause. And
(13:48):
she will also in this place endeavor to obtain the
same tribute of public applause. She will, after the exhibition,
place herself before the eyes of all the spectators on
the outside, and gravely stand thereon, and at all times
give an answer of assurance any one present to whom
a judgment in all question gives the most accurate response.
She contrives also by her acuteness, to discover and reply
(14:10):
to the least thought not until then explored. She guesses
the age of every one, whether they be married or not,
how many children they have, of what sex, and whether
they be living or dead at the present time, et cetera.
She does the like for any one having a chance
in the lottery, as to what is the number and
what will be its share of gains. She also guesses
(14:31):
at every one of the most difficult sorts of coin,
and even at the year with which they were stamped.
She guesses at every number which any one shall secretly
set down, even though it amounts to upward a million.
She moreover tells exactly whether any one be in the
army under how many monarchs he has served in, how
many battles he has been engaged, and whether he has
(14:53):
ever been wounded, and how many wounds he has received.
By throwing the dice, she will every time exactly tell
the very number of spots which may have been determined
on this wordy announcement is signed by W. Sam of
Holland my collection. There is also an interesting handbill advertising
the tour of the mysterious lady who offered second site
(15:13):
tricks in the eastern part of the United States in
eighteen forty two forty three. Her name was never stated
on the programs, but the latter, together with the clipping
dated Boston, February the twentieth, eighteen forty three, will suffice
to prove my claim that she was offering second sight
before Robert Hoddan did, and therefore could not be copying
his trick. She also appeared in England fully a year
(15:36):
before Robert Houddin discovered second Sight. Arie Robin and his
wife featured second Sight in Italy just when Robert Houdin
first offered it in Paris. It is barely possible that
they antedated Robert Houddin in the production of this trick,
for I have in my collection of brochure entitled albut
desserte de monsieur and Madame Robert, which contains an engraving
(16:01):
of the couple offering second Sight, A short poem in
honor of Madame Robert's remarkable gifts as a second Site
artist and a poem generally eulogistic of Monsieur Robert's talents,
dated distinctly February seventh, eighteen forty six. Robert Houddin presented
second Site for the first time, according to his memoirs,
on February the twelfth, eighteen forty six. To prove the
(16:24):
utter folly of Robert Houdin's claims to have trained his
son's eye and memory by patient effort so as to
have a mutual transference of thought, I will next show
that animals have been trained for years to do tricks
by secret signals before the alleged discovery of second Sight.
Two rare old bills in my collection advertised the marvelous
mind reedy performances of the goose and a blindfolded dog, respectively.
(16:47):
The first, dated seventeen eighty nine, announced that mister Beckett,
a trunk maker number thirty one, Hay Market, is exhibiting
a learned goose, just lightly arrived from abroad. It performs
the following tricks, performing upon cards, money and watchers, telling
the time of the month, year and date, also the
value of any piece either English or foreign distinguishing all
(17:09):
sorts of colours, and most prodigiously and certainly unbelieving to
those who know the intellects of a goose. She tells
a number of ladies and gentlemen in the company or
any person's thoughts. Any lady or gentleman drawing a card
out of pack, though ever so secret the goose, blindfolded
at the same time, will find out the card they drew.
Emittance to shillings each person. The second bill features Don Carlo,
(17:33):
the double sighted dog, which gave an exhibition of his
mysterious skill at the Pavilion by special command, before King
William and the Royal family on December seventeenth, eighteen thirty one.
This dog was blindfolded and could present almost in duplicate
the second sight tests offered by the Highland lad who
had five days later gave a similar exhibition before the
(17:53):
Royal family at the same place. The proof regarding the
use of animals as medium is offered not to belittle
the human mediums, but to prove that from start to finish,
from the day that Breslaw offered the trick to the
present moment, when a number of skillful so called mind
readers still mystify the public, some sort of speaking or
(18:14):
signal code has been used. Robert Houdan used both the
speaking and the signal code, but so did Breslau, and
all evidence points to the fact that Robert Houddan may
be improved upon the trick employed by Breslau, Pinetti and
others among his predecessors in magic by utilizing the newly
found assistant to the magician, electricity. In his tiny theater,
(18:36):
it would have been entirely feasible to have had electric
wires run from all points of the auditorium to the stage,
thus doing away with both the speaking and ordinary signal
codes in the pneumatic tube. For this improvement, and this alone,
should Robert Houddin be given credit. Nearly all magicians improve
or redress tricks or apperators handed down to them by
(18:56):
their predecessors, but Robert Houddin was not willing to admit
that he owed anything to his predecessors. End of Section
eight
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