Jean Eugne Robert-

Houdin

Jean-Eugne Robert-Houdin (December 7,

1805 June 13, 1871) was a French
magician. He is widely considered the
father of the modern style of conjuring.[1]
 Jean-Eugne Robert-Houdin

Born Jean-Eugne Robert

December 7, 1805
Blois, France

Died June 13, 1871 (aged65)

Saint-Gervais-la-Fort, France

Occupation Magician, illusionist, inventor, and

clockmaker

Early life and entrance into

conjuring
conjuring
Master of magic Robert-Houdin was born
Jean-Eugne Robert in Blois, France, on 7
December 1805a day after his
autobiography said he was.[2][3] His father,
Prosper Robert, was one of the best
watchmakers in Blois. A skillful artisan
and hard worker, Prosper Robert's main
ambition was to provide for his family, but
he also wanted his children to climb the
social ladder. Jean-Eugene's mother, the
former Marie-Catherine Guillon, died when
he was just a young child.[3] At the age of
eleven, Prosper sent his son Jean to
school thirty-ve miles up the Loire to the
University of Orlans.[2] At 18, he
graduated and returned to Blois. His father
wanted him to be a lawyer,[3] but Robert-
Houdin wanted to follow into his father's
footsteps as a watchmaker.

His penmanship was excellent, and it

landed him a job as a clerk for an
attorney's ofce. Instead of studying law,
he tinkered with mechanical gadgets. His
employer sent him back to his father. He
was told that he was better suited as a
watchmaker than a lawyer, but by then,
Jean's father had already retired, so he
became an apprentice to his cousin who
had a watch-shop. For a short time, Jean
worked as a watchmaker.[3]

In the mid-1820s, he saved up to buy a

copy of a two-volume set of books on
clockmaking called Trait de l'horlogerie, or
Treatise on Clockmaking, written by
Ferdinand Berthoud.[3][3]

When he got home and opened the

wrapping, instead of the Berthoud books,
what appeared before his eyes was a two-
volume set on magic called Scientic
Amusements. Instead of returning the
books, his curiosity got the best of him.
From those crude volumes, he learned the
rudiments of magic. He practiced at all
hours of the day.[3]

From that point when he accidentally

received those books on conjuring, he
became very interested in the art. He was
upset that the books he got only revealed
how the secrets were done but did not
show how to do them.[2] He found that
learning from the books available in those
days was very difcult due to the lack of
detailed explanations provided,[3] but the
books piqued his interest in the art. So
Jean began taking lessons from a local
amateur magician.[3] He paid ten francs
for a series of lessons from a man named
Maous from Blois who was a podiatrist
but also entertained at fairs and parties
doing magic. He was procient in sleight
of hand, and he taught Jean how to juggle
to coordinate his eye and hand.[2][3] He
also taught him rudiments of the cups and
balls. He told young Jean that digital
dexterity came with repetition, and as a
direct result, Jean practiced incessantly.[2]

Magic was his pastime, but meanwhile,

his studies in horology continued. When
he felt he was ready, he moved to Tours
and set up a watchmaking business,
doing conjuring on the side.[3]
Much of what we know about Robert-
Houdin comes from his memoirsand his
writings were meant more to entertain
than to chronicle, rendering it difcult to
separate fact from ction. Robert-Houdin
would have readers believe that a major
turning point in his life came when he
became apprenticed to the magician
Edmund De Grisi, Count's son and better
known as Torrini.

What is known is that his early performing

came from joining an amateur acting
troupe.[3] Later, he performed at social
parties as a professional magician in
Europe and The United States.[3] It was
during this period while at a party that he
met the daughter of a Parisian
watchmaker, Monsieur Jacques Franois
Houdin, who had also come from Jean
Robert's native Blois.[2][3] The daughter's
name was Josphe Cecile Houdin, and
Jean fell in love with Cecile at their rst
meeting.[3] On July 8, 1830, they were
married. He hyphenated his own name to
hers and became Robert-Houdin.[2][3]

He moved to Paris and worked in his

father-in-law's wholesale shop. Jacques
Franois was among the last of the
watchmakers to use the old methods of
handcrafting each piece and embraced
his new son-in-law's ambitions for
mechanism.[3] While M. Houdin worked in
the main shop, Jean was to tinker with
mechanical toys and automatic gures.[3]
He and Josphe had eight children, of
whom three survived; this was fairly
typical for that time period.[2]

With his work in the shop, Jean was still

practicing magic. Quite by accident,
Robert-Houdin walked into a shop on the
Rue Richelieu and discovered it sold
magic. He visited the store, which was
owned by a Pre (Papa) Roujol.[2] There,
he met fellow magicians, both amateur
and professional, where he engaged in
talk about conjuring, and he met an
aristocrat by the name of Jules de Rovre,
who coined the term "prestidigitation" to
describe a major misdirection technique
magicians used.[2][3]

At Papa Roujol's, Robert-Houdin learned

the details to many of the mechanical
tricks of the time as well as how to
improve them. From there, he built his
own mechanical gures, like a singing
bird, a dancer on a tightrope, and an
automaton doing the cups and balls. His
most acclaimed automaton was his
writing and drawing gure. He displayed
this gure before King Louis Philippe and
eventually sold it to P. T. Barnum.[3]

On October 19, 1843, Monsieur Robert-

Houdin's beloved wife died,[2][3] having
been ill for months; she died at the age of
thirty-two.[2] At her death, she left him with
three young children to take care of; to
take up the burden, he remarried in August
of that year to Franois Marguerite
Olympe Braconnier, a woman ten years
younger than himself.[2][3] The new
Madame Robert-Houdin soon took over
the household.
Robert-Houdin loved to watch the big
magic shows that came to Paris.[2] He
dreamed about some day opening his own
theatre. In the meantime, he was hired by
a friend of his by the name of Count de
l'Escalopier[2] to perform at private
parties.[3]

Now that he had free time, he began

constructing equipment for his own use
instead of selling it to others.[2] The
income from the shop and his new
inventions gave him enough money to
experiment on new tricks using glass
apparatus that would be (or at least
appear) free of trickery. He envisioned a
stage that would be as elegant as the
drawing rooms in which he was hired to
perform. He also thought that a magician
should be dressed as such by wearing
traditional evening clothes.[3]

He obtained nancial backing from Count

de l'Escalopier, who fronted him[3] the
15,000 francs[2] to make his vision into
reality. He rented out a suite of rooms
above the archways around the gardens
of the Palais Royal, which was once
owned by Cardinal Richelieu.[A]

He hired workmen to redesign the old

assembly room into a theatre. They
painted it white with gold trim. Tasteful
drapes were hung, chic candelabras were
placed throughout, and the stage furniture
was set in the style of Louis XV.[2]

On July 3, 1845, Robert-Houdin premiered

his 200-seat theatre in what he called
"Soires Fantastiques". No critics covered
Robert-Houdins debut, and in his
memoirs, Robert-Houdin said that the
show had been a disaster. He suffered
from stage fright that caused him to talk
too fast and in a monotone. He said that
he did not know what he was saying or
doing, and everything was a blur. He
believed that a magician should not
present a trick until it was mechanically
perfected to be certain of avoiding failure,
and this caused him to over-rehearse.[2]

After the rst show, he was about to have

a nervous breakdown. He closed the
theatre and had every intention to close it
for good, until a friend agreed that the
venture was a silly idea. Instead of
admitting defeat, Robert-Houdin, irked at
the friend's affrontery, used this insult to
regain his courage, and persevered in
giving the show a long run at his little
theatre.[2][3] Although the forty-year-old
magician was unpolished at rst, he soon
gained the condence required for the
stage.[3]

With each performance, Robert-Houdin

got better, and he began to receive critical
acclaim. Le Charivari and L'Illustration both
said that his mechanical marvels and
artistic magic was comparable to those of
his predecessors like Philippe and
Bartolomeo Bosco. Even with all of this,
still relatively few people would come to
the little theatre during the summer
months, and he struggled to keep it
opened. To meet expenses, he sold the
three houses that he had inherited from
his mother.
The following year, he added a new trick to
his program that became especially
popular. Seats at the Palais Royal were at
a premium. This new marvel was called
Second Sight. Second Sight drew the
audiences into the little theatre. Once
there, they saw the other creations Robert-
Houdin had to offer.[2]

Major achievements
Statue in front of Robert-Houdin's home in Blois

He used another famous trick to prove

that French magic was stronger than local
shamanism techniques: he presented an
empty box with an iron bottom that
anyone could lift. By turning on an
electromagnet hidden under the floor, he
made it immovable, "proving" that through
will power, he could make it impossible to
lift for the strongest Algerian warriors. He
found the trick was more impressive not
when he claimed that he could make the
trunk heavy, but when he claimed he could
make the strong man too weak to lift a
trunk that even a small child could lift.[4]

Robert-Houdin is often credited as being

"the father of modern magic". Before him,
magicians performed in marketplaces and
fairs, but Robert-Houdin performed magic
in theatres and private parties. He also
chose to wear formal clothes, like those of
his audiences. Many magicians today
mimic this by wearing tail-coats.

Famous illusions
Famous illusions
Robert-Houdin felt that every magic
program should be arranged so one trick
builds upon each other. One surprise
should lead to an even bigger surprise.
Some of the tricks and illusions Robert-
Houdin presented became classics. Here
are a few of them.

Second Sight

When Robert-Houdin rst opened his

theatre, it was sparsely attended and he
realized that he needed something more
extraordinary that would bring the public
to his theatre. So he came upon the idea
of doing a two-person mind-reading act,
concocting a silly story about how his son
Emile had created a game of hot and cold
that resulted in Robert-Houdin using it for
the stage.[3]

He named the trick "Second Sight", a title

that was already used by magicians such
as John Henry Anderson, but the effect
was entirely different. Anderson had a box
into which items were inserted. The
medium would then describe the contents
inside. In Robert-Houdin's version, he
walked into the audience and touched
items that the audience held up, and his
blindfolded assistant, played by his son,
described each one in detail. It caused a
sensation and brought the throng to see
his shows.

Eventually, Robert-Houdin changed the

method, so instead of asking his son what
was in his hands, he simply rang a bell.
This stunned those that suspected a
spoken code. He would even set the bell
off to the side and remain silent, and his
son still described every object handed to
his father.

Robert-Houdin even made the test

difcult. He placed a glass of water into
his son's hands, and Emile proceeded to
drink from it. He was able to perceive the
taste of the liquids that spectators from
the audience merely thought of.[5] Even
then, the audiences were not entirely
convinced, they tried to trip up Emile by
bringing in books written in Greek, or odd
tools such as a thread counter.[2]

The Ethereal Suspension

During Robert-Houdin's time, all of Paris

was enthusiastically talking about the
mysterious uses of "ether".[3] He took
advantage of this by presenting an illusion
that appeared to use the pungent liquid.
He told the audience that he discovered a
marvelous new property of ether. "If one
has a living person inhale this liquid when
it is at its highest degree of concentration,
the body of the patient for a few moments
becomes as light as a balloon," Robert-
Houdin claimed.

He proceeded to "prove" just that. He

placed three stools on a wooden bench.
His youngest son Eugne stood on the
middle one. With the instructions from his
father, he extended his arms. Robert-
Houdin placed two canes on top of the
stools and positioned them under his
son's arms.
He took a vial of ether and opened it. The
audience smelled it wafting through the
theatre. He placed the vial under his son's
nose, and he went limp. In reality, the vial
was empty, with the odour being produced
by his son Emile pouring real ether on a
hot iron shovel.

Robert-Houdin took the stool away from

his son's feet, and he just hung limp as a
rag. He took away one of the canes, so he
was dangling by one arm, and carefully
placed his head against his upraised
hand. This was startling enough. What he
did next was stunning. He lifted his boy
upright in a horizontal position by his little
nger and then let go until he was
suspended in mid air.[5] Robert-Houdin
stepped away to leave his son in that
suspended state, balanced only by his
right elbow and no other support.[3]

When it was apparent that the drug was

wearing off, Robert-Houdin returned his
son to his upright position. When he woke
up, he seemed no worse for wear.[3][5]
Robert-Houdin built up the surprise of
spectators until, " by gradually
heightening it up to the moment when, so
to speak, it exploded."[5] This brought
letters of protest against Robert-Houdin,
thinking he was putting his son's health in
jeopardy, although the ether had nothing
to do with the trick.[3]

Robert-Houdin was not the rst to perform

the Levitation Illusion. The rst in Europe
was Ching Lau Lauro in 1832 or 1833.[6]

The Marvelous Orange Tree

On one of Robert-Houdin's side tables, he

had an egg, a lemon, and an orange. He
went into the audience and borrowed a
lady's handkerchief that was in style then.
He rolled it into a ball. He rubbed the ball
in between his hands, and the
handkerchief got smaller and smaller until
it disappeared, passing through to the egg
on the table.

Carefully, he picked up the egg. The

audience expected him to crack it open
and produce the spectator's handkerchief.
Instead, he made that disappear too. He
told the audience that the egg went to the
lemon. This was repeated with the lemon
and the orange. When he made the orange
disappear, all that was left was a ne
powder. This was placed into a silver vial.
He soaked this vial with alcohol and set it
on re.
A small orange tree planted in a wooden
box was brought forth by one of his
assistants. The audience noticed that the
tree was barren of any blossoms or fruit.
The blue flame from the vial was placed
underneath it. The vapors from it caused
the leaves to spread and sprout orange
blossoms from it. Robert-Houdin then
picked up his magic wand and waved it.
The flowers disappeared and oranges
bloomed forth.

He plucked the oranges from the tree and

tossed them to the audience to prove they
were real. He did this until he only had one
left. He waved his wand again, and the
orange split open into four sections,
revealing a white material of sorts inside
of it. Two clockwork butterflies appeared
from behind the tree. The butterflies
grabbed the end of the corner of the white
cloth and spread it open, revealing the
spectator's handkerchief.[5][7]

The Marvelous Orange Tree trick was used

by the eponymous conjurer in Steven
Millhauser's short story, "Eisenheim The
Illusionist", subsequently lmed as The
Illusionist (2006), where a more complex
variant is shown. It is also alluded to in
Donald Barthelme's short story
"Sentence."
Robert-Houdin's Portfolio

Robert-Houdin brought in a large portfolio

used for holding documents or art work
under his arm. The portfolio was only
about one and three quarters of an inch
thick, too small or too thin to hold
anything but pictures.[2]

He set it on two thin trestles to hold the

case with the spine facing the audience.[2]
He removed the expected drawings from
it.[5] One of those pictures showed a
bareheaded woman. Then, he produced
two lady's bonnets decorated with
flowers; one for winter, the other for
summer. He lowered the flap for each
production. Then, he showed a picture of
birds, followed by a stuffed bird flat as a
pancake.[2] With that, he proceeded to
produce from the portfolio four live turtle
doves.[5]

He showed a picture of a cartoon of two

cooks ghting with pots.[2] This was
followed by three enormous copper pots.
One was lled with beans, another with
flames bursting forth, and the third pot
was lled with boiling water.[5] As an
afterthought, he lifted the top flap of the
portfolio[2] and pulled out a large cage
lled with birds.[5]
He walked forward towards the audience
with the square cage, and they applauded
thinking the trick was over. "Nothing here
now - neither anything, nor anybody," he
said as he knocked on the upright flap.[2]
For a nale, he closed the portfolio one
last time and produced his young son
from it.[5][7]

The Light and Heavy Chest

The amount of tricks he invented for his

theatre was extensive, but his most
remarkable one was the Light and Heavy
Chest. He took advantage of the infancy of
the usage of electricity, especially the
then-novelty of Hans Christian Oersted's
discovery of electromagnetism, to his
advantage. Robert-Houdin brought on a
small wooden box about a foot wide. He
said that he had found a way to protect it
from thieves. He asked a spectator to lift
it, usually a small child. The child lifted it
with ease. Then, he brought an adult male
up from the audience and asked him to lift
the same box. The adult male was unable
to lift the box.

Inventions pirated
Robert-Houdin's inventions were pirated
by his trusted mechanic Le Grand, who
was arrested for making and selling
duplicate illusions.[3] Many of those
illusions fell into the hands of his
competitors, such as John Henry
Anderson, Robin, Robert Heller, and
Compars Herrmann. It is not known
whether Herrmann or the others bought
the illusions directly from LeGrand or from
another source, but they willingly
performed the illusions after knowing that
they were invented by Robert-Houdin.

Robert-Houdin on tour
Robert-Houdin's little theatre became a
mecca for magic enthusiasts.[3] Herrmann
was a constant visitor to the Palais Royal.
The public complained, because Robert-
Houdin could not magically make his
theatre bigger. It became the place for the
Paris elite to go. Even King Louis Philippe
rented out the room for a private
performance. After the triumph he gave at
the Royal Palace, in 1847, the king decided
to take his entourage to see Robert-
Houdin at the Palais Royal.

The following February, a revolution ended

the reign of Louis-Philippe. With it, show
business also ended.[3] The Revolution
closed all Parisian theatres.[2] Robert-
Houdin shut down his theatre and went on
the road.[3] He toured the Continent
briefly,[7] and then he headed off to Great
Britain.

With a company of French dramatists,

Robert-Houdin made his English debut at
the St. James Theatre in London. He
presented his program three times a
week.[3] Much to his dismay, he found out
that Compars Herrmann beat him to the
territory. Not only was he billing himself as
"the Premier Prestidigitateur of France",[3]
but he was also using pirated versions of
his illusions.[2] Despite this, Robert-Houdin
still accomplished a success there. So
much so, in 1848, he did a command
performance for Queen Victoria. After a
three-month tour of England, he went back
home after about a year and a half away.
He reopened the theatre and became a
permanent xture in Paris.[3] In 1850, he
handed the Palais Royal to his brother-in-
law Hamilton (Pierre Etienne Chocat). This
left him free to tour France. He did so for
two years. Then he went to Germany and
on a return engagement to England, where
he ended up performing a second time for
Queen Victoria.

He did a brief tour of France and then, at

the age of 48, retired from public
performances. He gave the theatre back
to Hamilton, who continued to ll the little
theatre.[2]

The magical mission

After Robert-Houdin retired, he devoted
himself to his inventions with electricity
and his writings. His home, le Prieur (the
Priory), was a marvel in advancement.[3]
His home was run entirely by electricity.

In 1856, he was asked by Louis-Napoleon

to pacify the tribes in French Algeria.
During this period, the French Army
commanders maintained order in the
newly pacied region. They supervised
local Muslim administrations and the
bureaux arabes. These areas were closed
off to colonization by the Europeans.

Napoleon III was worried about a religious

tribe called the Marabouts. The
Marabouts were able to control their tribe
with their faux magical abilities.[7] They
advised their leaders to break ranks with
the French.[2] Napoleon wanted Robert-
Houdin to show that French magic was
stronger.[7]

The magical mission began with an

informal show at the Bab Azoun Theatre
in Algeria, where he would give
performances twice weekly.[2] He also
gave many special galas before the
country's tribal chiefs. He used The Light
and Heavy Chest during these
performances, but instead of playing it for
comedy as he had in Paris, here he played
it straight. Robert-Houdin once invited the
strongest tribesman on stage and asked
the Arabian to pick up the wooden chest
placed on stage. The Arabian picked it up
with no problem. Then Robert-Houdin
announced that he was going to sap his
strength. He waved his wand and
declared, "Contemplez! Maintenant vous
tes plus faible qu'une femme; essayez de
soulever la bote." ("Behold! Now you are
weaker than a woman; try to lift the box.")
The Arabian pulled on the handle of the
chest, but it would not budge. He tried and
tried until he tried to rip it apart. Instead,
he screamed in pain, as Robert-Houdin
had rigged the box to give the Arabian an
electrical shock if he tried to rip the
handles off. The Arabian let go of the
handle, ran off into the aisle, and ran
screaming out of the theatre.[3]

After his performances were done, he

gave a special presentation for several
chief men of their tribe. He was invited to
the home of the head of the tribe of the
desert interior, Bou-Allem. In dawn of the
Arab desert, Robert-Houdin was
challenged to do a special trick. He
obliged by inviting one of the rebels to
shoot at him with a marked bullet, which
he caught between his teeth. He was
given a certicate from Bou-Allem,[5] who
wore a red robe symbolizing his loyalty to
France. With this scroll praising his
mysterious manifestations, Robert-Houdin
went back to France with the mission
accomplished.[2]

"The blow was struck," Robert-Houdin

said, "...henceforth the interpreters and all
those who had dealings with the Arabs
received orders to make them understand
that my pretended miracles were only the
result of skill, inspired and guided by an
art called prestidigitation, in no way
connected with sorcery." He went on to
say, "The Arabs doubtless yielded to these
arguments, for henceforth I was on the
most friendly terms with them."[5] He was
rewarded for his services of the French
government by suppressing any possible
rebellion.[7]

Retirement and death

After his mission in Algeria was
completed, Robert-Houdin gave his last
public performance at the Grand Thtre
in Marseille, then returned to his home in
Saint-Gervais, near his native Blois, where
he wrote his memoirs, Condences d'un
Prestidigitateur. He also wrote several
books on the art of magic. He lived
happily in retirement for about fteen
years, until the advent of the Franco
Prussian War. His son Eugene was a
captain in a Zouave regiment. On August
6, 1870, Robert-Houdin heard news of his
son being mortally wounded at the Battle
of Worth. Meanwhile, Hessian Soldiers
captured Paris, and Robert-Houdin hid his
family in a cave near his property. The
Hessian soldiers were very rude,
according to Robert-Houdin, but he found
the Polish soldiers to be a lot kinder.[3]
Four days later, Robert-Houdin was to nd
out that his son had died of his wounds.
With the stress from that and the war, his
health deteriorated, and he contracted
pneumonia. On June 13, 1871, he died of
his illness, at the age of sixty-ve.

Legacy

This is the public "dragons" display at Jean Eugne

Robert-Houdin's house in Blois, which has been turned
into a museum. The "dragons" move in and out of the
windows in a theatrical display. A statue of Robert-
Houdin is at lower right.

His home in Blois is open to the public as

the publicly owned La Maison de la Magie
Robert-Houdin. It is a museum and theatre
rst opened by his grandson Paul Robert-
Houdin in April 1966.[2] As a museum of
France and bearing the ofcial label of
"Muse de France", it is the only public
museum in Europe that incorporates in
one place collections of magic and a site
for permanent performing arts.[8][9] The
creation of such a site is directly linked to
the personality of Robert-Houdin.[9][10]
Commemorative plaque, 11 rue de Valois in Paris,
where one could experience the Soires fantastiques of
Robert-Houdin

In December 1852, the Theatre Robert-

Houdin moved from its original location to
the Boulevard des Italiens in Paris.
Ownership passed from Hamilton to
Cleverman (Franois Lahire), then to
Robert-Houdin's son Emile. Emile was too
busy to perform at the theatre, so he
arranged for Pierre Edouard Brunnet to
present the show.

After his death, Emile's widow sold the

theatre to Georges Mlis in 1888. Mlis,
himself a magician but best known to
history as one of the greatest early
innovators of lm making, later presented
his rst movies there. He accidentally
discovered stop-action special effects and
presented his creation at the Theatre
Robert-Houdin. One of his classics is A
Trip to the Moon. In 1924, the building was
demolished.[2][10][11][12]
Robert-Houdin's autobiography is The
Memoirs of Robert-Houdin . His life and
works are also cited in Robertson Davies's
"Deptford Trilogy", notably in the trilogy's
third novel, World of Wonders, which takes
place on the set of a movie about Robert-
Houdin.

Jim Steinmeyer said in his book, Hiding the

Elephant, that every magician of the 20th
century was haunted by Robert-Houdin, "
who cast an enormous shadow over their
generation."[7] American magician and
escape artist Harry Houdini (born Ehrich
Weiss) was so impressed by Robert-
Houdin that, after reading his
autobiography in 1890, Ehrich adopted the
stage name of "Houdini" in honour of
Robert-Houdin. He incorrectly believed
that an i on the end of a name meant "like"
in French; but Houdini, his own career and
reputation established by that time, later
lost his youthful respect for Robert-
Houdin, believing that he took undue
credit for other magicians' innovations,
and wrote The Unmasking of Robert-
Houdin in 1908.[13]

Several cities have streets that bear his

name: Blois, Bourges, Caen, Paris (11th),
Saint-tienne, and Saint-Gervais-la-Fort.

Name
Name
It is incorrect to refer to Jean-Eugne
Robert-Houdin as "Houdin". His last name
was Robert-Houdin. His birth name was
Jean-Eugne Robert. He married Josphe
Cecile Houdin and, under special
dispensation from the French government,
was allowed to use the hyphenated last
name.

Publications
Condences d'un prestidigitateur, une
vie d'artiste, 2 vol., 1858 Texte en ligne sur
Internet Archive: vol. 1 et vol. 2
 Les Tricheries des Grecs dvoiles; l'art
de gagner tous les jeux, 1861
Le Prieur, organisations mystrieuses
pour le confort et l'agrment d'une demeure,
1867 Texte en ligne su Gallica
Note sur de nouveaux instruments
propres l'observation des divers organes
de l'il ainsi qu' la manifestation des
images entoptiques, 1867
Condences et rvlations, 1868.
Rdition: Slatkine, Genve, 1980 Texte en
ligne sur Gallica
Comment on devient sorcier: les secrets
de la prestidigitation et de la magie, 1871
Magie et physique amusante, 1877
Films and Television

Escamotage d'une dame au thtre Robert Houdin

1896 - Escamotage d'une dame chez

Robert-Houdin (Retraction of a lady at the
house of Robert-Houdin), lm of Georges
Mlis, rst lm with special effects
1995 - Robert-Houdin une vie de
magicien, lm of Jean-Luc Muller,
documentary
 2006 - The Illusionist (2006 lm),
clearly inspired by the works of Robert-
Houdin
2011 - Hugo, features an automaton,
reenactments of Houdin's illusions, and
information about how he inspired
Georges Mlis.
2013 - Mysteries at the Museum, Travel
Channel television program, featured the
story of Robert-Houdin's Algerian mission
and the role of the wooden chest now on
display at the Salon de Magie. Portrayed
by American actor Paul Meltzer.

See also
List of magic museums
Notes
A. Who was portrayed in Alexandre Dumas,
pre's The Three Musketeers.

References
1. "Jean-Eugne Robert-Houdin". Britannica.
2007.
2. Illustrated History of Magic by Milbourne
Christopher 1973
3. Fechner, Christian. The Magic of Robert-
Houdin: An Artist's Life . 1 and 2 . Retrieved
April 29, 2016 via Internet Archive.
4. Pogue, David (1998). Magic for Dummies .
Hungry Minds. pp.311312. ISBN0-7645-
5101-9.
5. Robert-Houdin, Jean; Wraxall, Lascelles,
Sir (1828-1865) (1860). Memoirs of Robert-
Houdin (2nd ed.). London: Chapman & Hall.
Retrieved April 29, 2016 via Internet
archive.
6. Houdini, Harry, Unmasking of Robert-
Houdin (New York, Publishers Printing Co.,
1908) (Kindle edition: ASIN B003P9X4BA)
Retrieved 14 December 2013.
7. Steinmeyer, Jim (September 15, 2004).
Hiding the elephant: how magicians invented
the impossible and learned to disappear.
New York: Da Capo Press, Carroll & Graf
Publishers. ISBN0786714018. ISBN 978-
0786714018.
8. "Blois, The House of Magic Celebrates Ten
Years" . June 11, 2008.
9. "House of Magic Robert-Houdin" .
Museums in Central Region. Association of
Personal scientic museums in the central
region (APSMRC). Retrieved April 13, 2011.
10. "House of Magic" . Art Museums around
the world. Saatchi Gallery. Retrieved April 12,
2011.
11. "House of Magic -- Blois (French)" .
Retrieved April 12, 2011.
12. "Blois, Le Pays de Chambord, Maison de
la Magie" . Retrieved April 13, 2011.
13. Houdini, Harry (1908). The Unmasking of
Robert-Houdin . New York: The Publishers
Printing Company. Retrieved March 26,
2011. at Internet Archive

Robert-Houdin, Jean Eugne. Secrets

of Conjuring and Magic .
Randi, James. Conjuring.

Further reading
Houdini, Harry (2015). The Unmasking
of Robert-Houdin (edited reprint) . London:
The Golden Age of Magic. Retrieved
July 23, 2016.
(Vol.1), translated from the French by
Stacey Dagron; edited by Todd Karr.
(2002). The magic of Robert-Houdin: "an
artist's life": biographical essay. Boulogne:
Editions F.C.F. ISBN978-2-907584-05-0.
The fourth volume contains facsimiles of
fantastic memories of evenings in which
the reproduction of two models of fans, a
DVD and a flip book were created for the
occasion on the basis of a series of
photographs taken by Disdri studio. This
flip book was nalized based on an idea
outlined by Jean-Guy Fechner, Fechner's
younger brother and former Christian
group The Chariot. The works were staged
by Roger Faluci.

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related

to Robert-Houdin.
 Works by Jean Eugne Robert-
Houdin at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Jean Eugne
Robert-Houdin at Internet Archive
Works by Jean Eugne Robert-
Houdin at LibriVox (public domain
audiobooks)
A Conjurer's Confessions by M. Robert-
Houdin
The Lock and Key Library, the most
interesting stories of all nations: Real life at
Project Gutenberg
Memoirs of Robert-Houdin by M.
Robert-Houdin
 The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin by
Harry Houdini
The Old and the new magic by Henry
Ridgely Evans
Robert-Houdin and the Spiritualists
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, November
1877
Robert-Houdin, A Magician's Life" - TV
documentary (French) produced in 1995
and released on DVD (French and English
version) in 2005, with extra footage and
documentary material.
Memoirs of Robert-Houdin From the
Harry Houdini Collection at the Library of
Congress
 MagicPedia - Robert Houdin
Discussion of a Poster advertising
Robert-Houdin's Ethereal Suspension,
1848

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