A Conjurers Confessions

A Conjurer's Confessions
M. Robert-Houdin
I
SELF-TRAINING
[Sleight-of-hand theories alone cannot explain the mysteries of "magic"
as practiced by that eminent Frenchman who revolutionized the entire
art, and who was finally called upon to help his government out of a
difficuity--Robert-Houdin. The success of his most famous
performances hung not only on an incredible dexterity, but also on high
ingenuity and moral courage, as the following pages from his
"Memoirs" will prove to the reader. The story begins when the young
man of twenty was laboring patiently as apprentice to a watchmaker.]
In order to aid my progress and afford me relaxation, my master
recommended me to study some treatises on mechanics in general, and
on clockmaking in particular. As this suited my taste exactly, I gladly
assented, and I was devoting myself passionately to this attractive study,
when a circumstance, apparently most simple, suddenly decided my
future life by revealing to me a vocation whose mysterious resources
must open a vast field for my inventive and fanciful ideas.
One evening I went into a bookseller's shop to buy Berthoud's "Treatise
on Clockmaking," which I knew he had. The tradesman being engaged
at the moment on matters more important, took down two volumes
from the shelves and handed them to me without ceremony. On
returning home I sat down to peruse my treatise conscientiously, but
judge of my surprise when I read on the back of one of the volumes
"SCIENTIFIC AMUSEMENTS." Astonished at finding such a title on
a professional work, I opened it impatiently, and, on running through
the table of contents, my surprise was doubled on reading these strange
phrases:

The way of performing tricks with the cards--How to guess a person's
thoughts--To cut off a pigeon's head, to restore it to life, etc., etc.
The bookseller had made a mistake. In his haste, he had given me two
volumes of the Encyclopaedia instead of Berthoud. Fascinated,
however, by the announcement of such marvels, I devoured the
mysterious pages, and the further my reading advanced, the more I saw
laid bare before me the secrets of an art for which I was unconsciously
predestined.
I fear I shall be accused of exaggeration, or at least not be understood
by many of my readers, when I say that this discovery caused me the
greatest joy I had ever experienced. At this moment a secret
presentiment warned me that success, perhaps glory, would one day
accrue to me in the apparent realization of the marvelous and
impossible, and fortunately these presentiments did not err.
The resemblance between two books, and the hurry of a bookseller,
were the commonplace causes of the most important event in my life.
It may be urged that different circumstances might have suggested this
profession to me at a later date. It is probable; but then I should have
had no time for it. Would any workman, artisan, or tradesman give up a
certainty, however slight it may be, to yield to a passion which would
be surely regarded as a mania? Hence my irresistible penchant for the
mysterious could only be followed at this precise period of my life.
How often since have I blessed this providential error, without which I
should have probably vegetated as a country watchmaker! My life
would have been spent in gentle monotony; I should have been spared
many sufferings, emotions, and shocks: but, on the other hand, what
lively sensations, what profound delight would have been sacrificed!
I was eagerly devouring every line of the magic book which described
the astounding tricks; my head was aglow, and I at times gave way to
thoughts which plunged me in ecstasy.
The author gave a very plain explanation of his tricks; still, he

committed the error of supposing his readers possessed of the necessary
skill to perform them. Now, I was entirely deficient in this skill, and
though most desirous of acquiring it, I found nothing in the book to
indicate the means. I was in the position of a man who attempts to copy
a picture without possessing the slightest notion of drawing and
painting.
In the absence of a professor to instruct me, I was compelled to create
the principles of the science I wished to study. In the first place, I
recognized the fundamental principle of sleight-of- hand, that the
organs performing the principal part are the sight and touch. I saw that,
in order to attain any degree of perfection, the professor must develop
these organs to their fullest extent--for, in his exhibitions, he must be
able to see everything that takes place around him at half a glance, and
execute his deceptions with unfailing dexterity.
I had been often struck by the ease with which pianists can read and
perform at sight the most difficult pieces. I