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040 _aUtSlPG
041 7 _aen
_2iso639-1
050 4 _aGV
100 1 _aRobert-Houdin, Jean-Eugène,
_d1805-1871
240 1 0 _aMagie et physique amusante. English
245 1 4 _aThe secrets of stage conjuring
264 1 _aSalt Lake City, UT :
_bProject Gutenberg,
_c2026
300 _a1 online resource :
_bmultiple file formats
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
500 _aRelease date is 2026-02-12
508 _aTom Trussel, Aaron Adrignola and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)
520 _a"The secrets of stage conjuring" by Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin is a practical treatise on stage magic written in the late 19th century. It explains how celebrated illusions are conceived, built, and performed, uniting theatrical craft with mechanics, electricity, and optics to demystify feats once attributed to “white magic” or spirits. The opening of the treatise first explains that the work was compiled posthumously from the author’s materials, then recounts how he built his intimate Palais Royal theatre with help from Count de l’Escalopier—illustrated by an ingenious desk “trap” that exposed a household thief. It next details the theatre’s compact layout and the author’s modern stage reforms: elegant bare tables instead of draped “confederate boxes,” concealed servante and gibecière, piston controls for automata, targeted lighting, and the crucial roles of visible and invisible assistants. The narrative then introduces early feats with clear principles: a handkerchief that flies up the sleeve on a hidden pull; the electro‑magnetic “light and heavy” chest with a deceptive overhead pulley; rows of candles lit at once by induced sparks; and the “ghost illusion” (Pepper’s Ghost), complete with angles, lighting, and a striking dramatic application, plus a daylight variant for dissolving images. It closes this portion by describing the Indian Basket trick in stage and street forms and begins a chapter on spiritualistic manifestations with a staged levitation and a self‑moving table and bouquet. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
534 _pOriginally published:
_cLondon: G. Routledge and Sons, Limited, 1900
653 _aMagic tricks -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
653 _aMagic shows -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
700 1 _aHoffmann, Professor,
_d1839-1919
856 4 _uhttps://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b2837225
856 4 0 _uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77917
999 _c118637
_d118637