(7th December 1805 - 13th June 1871)
Born in Blois, France. Born Jean-Eugene Robert. Soon after his marriage to Cecile Houdin in 1830, he adopted 'Robert-Houdin' as his stage name and had it legalized on 10th September 1856.
Apprenticed as a watchmaker in Blois, he learned magic c1827 from accidental purchase of the 2-volume 1792 edition of the Dictionnarie Encyclopedie des Amusements des Sciences, Mathematiques et Physiques, which included tricks copied from Ozanam, Guyot, Decremps, Pinetti, etc.
Claimed he had received advanced lessons in 1829 from Torrini. Pro illusionist and sleight-of-hand artist. Founder-owner-director Theatre Robert-Houdin in Paris 1845-1852 when he passed it to his brother-in-law, Hamilton, although continuing to perform there until retired in 1854. Called 'The Father of Modern Magic' since as early as 1909 (by Hilliard).
Had played Belgium (1846, 1849, 1853), London (1848 and 1853), Germany (1853, twice), and Algeria (1856), the last bringing him out of retirement at the request of the French government.
A prolific inventor, including The Orange Tree (1845), Light and Heavy Chest (1845), Shower of Plumes (1845), Le carton fantastique (1848), Aerial Suspension (1849), Diavolo Antonio (1849), and possibly both silent code (1849) and Stop Trick.
Coauthors: William John Hilliar, Professor Hoffmann
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Card SharpersJean Eugene Robert-Houdin & William John Hilliar![]() Translated from the French of Robert-Houdin by William J. Hilliar. Robert-Houdin wrote this book primarily as an expose to reduce the number of people being cheated. He writes in his preface: "Enlighten the dupes and there will be no more cheats." 1st edition 1903; original 201 pages; PDF 145 Table of Contents
| 2011 / 8 / 26 | $7.00 to wish list | ||
Memoirs of Robert-HoudinJean Eugene Robert-Houdin![]() The original French title of this work is Confidences d'un Prestidigiteur. The translation was done by Dr. R. Shelton Mackenzie. 1st UK edition, 1859, Chapman & Hall, London; 1st edition US edition, 1859, Geo. G. Evans, Philadelphia; reprint, circa 1880, Porter... | 2005 / 9 / 9 | $8.00 to wish list | ||
The Secrets of Conjuring and MagicJean Eugene Robert-Houdin & Professor Hoffmann![]()
| 2006 / 2 / 3 | $9.00 to wish list | ||
The Secrets of Stage ConjuringJean Eugene Robert-Houdin & Professor Hoffmann![]()
| 2018 / 2 / 17 | $5.00 to wish list | ||
The Sharper Detected and ExposedJean Eugene Robert-Houdin![]()
| 2018 / 8 / 23 | $7.00 to wish list |
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