The Old and the New Magic

by Henry Ridgely Evans

ROBERT-HOUDIN—CONJURER, AUTHOR AND AMBASSADOR.

“Robert-Houdin was a man of remarkable ingenuity and insight. His autobiography is throughout interesting and psy­cho­log­i­cally valuable, and his conjuring precepts abound in points of importance to the psychologist.”—JOSEPH JASTROW: “Fact and Fable in Psychology.”

“To Robert-Houdin I feel I owe a double debt; first, for the great satisfaction I have had in such slight skill as I have acquired in his art, and, secondly, for such an insight into its underlying principles as to keep me clear of all danger from evanescent delusions which follow one another in fashion.”—BRANDER MATTHEWS: “Books that have helped me.”