1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. So Tracy. 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:20,760 Speaker 1: The name Robert Rudin came up on the show recently. 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 1: It was on our classic episode that we ran about 6 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: Harry Houdini. Yep, because he's sometimes just called Udin. That's wrong, 7 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: and we'll talk about it in a minute. But because 8 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: he was the magician that Houdini named himself after and 9 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: then debunked, that's kind of part of why he showed 10 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 1: up in that episode, but also that's part of the 11 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: lore of kind of magic culture. Um. As a note 12 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 1: though here Robert Uda is his last name, both words together. 13 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: His first name was not Robert. Robert had been his 14 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: last name at birth, but then he hyphenated when he 15 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: got married. And we're going to talk about all of 16 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: that and a lot more so much more that this 17 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: became a two part uh, and that's even paring down 18 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,319 Speaker 1: an awful lot of his story, because there's a lot 19 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:10,320 Speaker 1: written about him. This is interesting because Robert UDA's story 20 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,400 Speaker 1: is actually kind of tricky to pin down. He wrote 21 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: an autobiography his Memoirs, which is probably ghost written confidence 22 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 1: dom plaz De digit in the late eighteen sixties after 23 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: he retired from his stage career. But that was definitely 24 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: a book that was written to be more of an 25 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: entertainment than an accurate history, and some parts of it 26 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: are probably entirely fabricated. We'll talk about some of those. 27 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,479 Speaker 1: Almost forty years after that, Houdini wrote a book called 28 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: The Unmasking of Robert U Dam, in which he goes 29 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: point by points through his Once Heroes book to show 30 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: what was not factual. He also is basically saying, hey, 31 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: this guy didn't invent all the stuff he claimed he invented, 32 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: and we'll talk about some of those in in specifics. However, 33 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: Houdini's work in The Unmasking doesn't really dissect the early 34 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: part of Robert U Dan's life. Houdini wrote of it 35 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: quote because of his supreme egotism, his obvious desire to 36 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: make his autobiography picturesque and interesting rather than historically correct, 37 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: and his utter indifference to dates, exact names of places, theaters, books, etcetera, 38 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 1: it is extremely hard to present logical and consistent statements 39 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: regarding his life. Other biographers, though particularly Christian Fashnaire, who 40 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: amassed the largest private collection of Robert U dance artifacts 41 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: and research materials during his lifetime. Uh he and others 42 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: have worked to verify, clarify, and correct the original account, though, 43 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: and so that is where we're going to begin, at 44 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: the beginning. He was born Jean Ujeanne Robert in blew Off, France, 45 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: which is a Loire River valley town about a hundred 46 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: and eighty kilometers south southwest of Paris, and it was, 47 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 1: as Roberto Dan noted in his writing, where King Louis 48 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: the twelfth was born. Robert Dan's mother was Marie Catherine 49 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: guille who died when Jean Nujanne was still a small child. 50 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: His father, rosbero Bert, was watchmaker. Both Roberto Dan and 51 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,080 Speaker 1: Houdini report the date of his birth as December six, 52 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: eighteen o five, but that actually seems to be incorrect 53 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: based on documentation. He was born the day after that, 54 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: December seven. Fetchner's biography of Robert Udan makes the case 55 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: in footnotes that he would have known his birthday. It's 56 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: clearly marked in all the documents, but it seems like 57 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: the family always celebrated it on December six, due to 58 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: a quote misinterpretation of the Revolutionary calendar. So for a 59 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: little bit of clarity there. In seventeen the French Republican 60 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: calendar had been introduced to replace the Gregorian calendar, and 61 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: it's stripped out religious days. That seems fine, but then 62 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: it also completely reorganized the year with different month names. 63 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: It switched over to a ten day week. There was 64 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: this whole base ten approach to defining the year. You 65 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: can see where that would be confusing, and I actually 66 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 1: want to do an episode on it because the logic 67 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: of that decision was pretty entertaining and how it played 68 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: out was pretty entertaining. Yeah. I knew, I knew there 69 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 1: had been a different calendar during that time, but I 70 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:31,679 Speaker 1: did not realize how different it was. Right, It wasn't 71 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 1: just renaming existing months. Those months didn't exist anymore. So 72 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: eighteen o five, the year Jean Ugen was born, was 73 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: the last full year that that had been used. His 74 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: father's profession was something he was interested in from an 75 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: early age. He talks about playing with his father's tools 76 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: from the time he was tiny, because, as he wrote, quote, 77 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: those implements were my toys and delight I learned how 78 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: to use them as other children learned to walk and talk. 79 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: We mentioned that jehan Ugen's mother died when he was 80 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: still young, but that death was brought about by another 81 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:13,279 Speaker 1: family tragedy, which was the death of jeann Eugene's brother, who, 82 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: like their father, was named Prosper, and that after the 83 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 1: death of two year old Prosper, Mary Catherine's health declined sharply. 84 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: She died in eighteen o nine, when Jean Jujanne was 85 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: four years old. Initially after Marie Catherine's death, the remaining children, 86 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,559 Speaker 1: Jean Jujeanne and a sister named Marie Selene, were cared 87 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:37,280 Speaker 1: for by a relative so that their father, Prosper, could 88 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: continue to manage his business. In eighteen ten, Prosper remarried 89 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,920 Speaker 1: to Marguerite Rosalie Mettive, but just as the Robert home 90 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: was stabilizing again, Jean Ugeenne became quite ill. We don't 91 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: know the specific nature of this illness he had when 92 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: he was a child, but it kept him confined at 93 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: home for several years, starting when he was just five 94 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,719 Speaker 1: years old, and it was during this confinement that a 95 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 1: neighbor who often visited started teaching him sleight of hand. 96 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 1: Prospera envisioned and educated life for his son, and so, 97 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: according to Roberto Dan's account, sent him away to school 98 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:18,280 Speaker 1: in or Lean at the age of eleven. This is 99 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:22,839 Speaker 1: another inaccuracy. He was actually thirteen at the time. The 100 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 1: time that he spent confined at home didn't seem to 101 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: have a negative effect on his ability to integrate into 102 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: a boarding school. He was a good student. He won 103 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: a number of awards and history Latin and Greek. He 104 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: also made traps for mice, and once he had caught them, 105 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: he built little machines that they would run through mouse power, 106 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 1: including a small water pump. Although he did well in school, 107 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: Roberto Dan wrote that the happiest day of his life 108 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: was the day that he left. Once again, that date's unclear, 109 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:56,919 Speaker 1: and we can't really be sure whether he received a 110 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: diploma or not. Yeah, there's no survive documentation if he did. 111 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: After his schooling was complete, Jean Jujean returned home to 112 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:08,720 Speaker 1: Blois and also spent time at his grandfather's cottage in 113 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: the countryside nearby. He described this time in which he 114 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: had no obligations as a quote earthly paradise, and it 115 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: was while idly walking around town one day in October 116 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 1: of eighty three that he happened upon a public performance. 117 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: This was a cup and ball show done by a 118 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: traveling performer, and Robert Udan described this performer as quote 119 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: a tall fellow with a quick eye, a sunburnt face, 120 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 1: long and crispy hair, and he stemmed his fist in 121 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: his side while he held his head impudently high. His costume, 122 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: though rather loud, was still cleanly and announced a man 123 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: who probably had some hay in his boots. Jean Jeanne 124 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: was so enthralled that when it finished and the performer 125 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: offered to sell him a pamphlet describing his secrets, he 126 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: gladly bought it. But this really only contained the dialogue 127 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: that the performer had used in the show and some 128 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: very purposefully vague notes about the trick that he was doing. 129 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,800 Speaker 1: There was no real explanation of how the trick was done. 130 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 1: So just in case you don't know what the cup 131 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: and ball trick is, it's an act where performer moves 132 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: three cups and three balls around the varying stacks, basically 133 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: making it up here as though the balls are passing 134 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: through the cups. So not quite if you were thinking 135 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 1: of the one where there's one ball and cups and 136 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: like there's just the one ball and you're trying to 137 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 1: keep a it's a little more complex than that. Yeah, 138 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: it's not the one that's like the precursor to three 139 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,839 Speaker 1: card Monty, right, Like it's like a thing where matter 140 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: appears to have been warped away. Yes, so this is 141 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:50,319 Speaker 1: a trick that people still do today. You can easily 142 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: find how to videos nowadays on how to do it online. Yeah, 143 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: you can learn magic online, which I love. Um. According 144 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 1: to Roberto Damn, the ver Jean he saw that day 145 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: used nutmegs and goblets, and it went like this quote. 146 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: During a long series of tricks, the nutmegs, at first invisible, 147 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: appeared at the finger ends of the conjurer. Then they 148 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: passed through the cups under the table into a spectator's pockets, 149 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: and finally emerged to the general delight from the nose 150 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: of a young looker on. But of course Robert did 151 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 1: not have the benefit of the Internet to figure this 152 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: one out, so he was really disappointed at having spent 153 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: money on this booklet to learn nothing. He tried to 154 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: hunt down the conjurer, who he calls Dr garlos Bach 155 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:40,080 Speaker 1: in his memoir, but though he tracked him to a 156 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: nearby inn, the innkeeper told him the performer had vanished, 157 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: incidentally not paying his bill. Clearly, Jean Eugene was fascinated 158 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:51,080 Speaker 1: with sleight of hand and other tricks early on, but 159 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:54,720 Speaker 1: his career path did not lead him there initially. And 160 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about all of that after a 161 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: sponsor break. From an early age, Jean Jean had wanted 162 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: to be a watchmaker like his father, and to also 163 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: make other clockwork mechanisms, but his father, prosper was not 164 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: actually supportive of this idea. He had envisioned that his 165 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: children would have greater socio economic status than he did, 166 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: so he wanted his surviving son to be a lawyer. 167 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: According to Robert Rod, his father told him, quote, consider 168 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 1: it would be unreasonable to bury the ten years schooling 169 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 1: for which I made such heavy sacrifices in my shop. 170 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: Remember too, that after thirty five years hard work, I 171 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 1: have been hardly able to save sufficient provision for my 172 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: old age. Then pray, change your resolution and give up 173 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:53,959 Speaker 1: your mania for making a parcel of filings. So for 174 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,400 Speaker 1: a while, Roberto Don worked in an unpaid apprenticeship as 175 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 1: a clerk for an otary, he copied legal papers. There 176 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:08,200 Speaker 1: By all accounts, he had just extraordinarily beautiful handwriting. So 177 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: while this work was shortly tedious, he was very very 178 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: good at it and also hated it. Yeah, there are 179 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,840 Speaker 1: examples you can find of some of these documents that 180 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: he copied in various biographies of him. And he does 181 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:27,239 Speaker 1: have handwriting so beautiful. It looks like art like it's legible, 182 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: but also very caligraphic, and it's very very pretty. But 183 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: if you don't like it doesn't matter. One day, his 184 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: father had received a snuff box which had been brought 185 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 1: into his shop for repair. This box sounds incredible, according 186 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,079 Speaker 1: to Roberto, it had a clockwork scene that was embedded 187 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 1: in the lid. And this was a hunting scene that 188 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 1: featured a rabbit running pursued by a hunter and his dog. 189 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: And when we say that it's not still, it's literally 190 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: a clockwork that's moving. The tiny clockwork hunter could show 191 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: there his rifle and fire it. The object reportedly made 192 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 1: a popping sound at this point in the scene, and 193 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: then the rabbit would run away, followed by the dog. 194 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: This all sounds really mind blowing and complex, and John 195 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:19,320 Speaker 1: jen said that he surreptitiously drew a detailed diagram of 196 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: all of this snuff box lids workings. He did not 197 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: dare work on that actual box himself, but he had 198 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 1: the idea that he could make a copy of it. 199 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 1: So he got up early every morning and worked secretly 200 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: in his father's shop before he went to work. It 201 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: took a year, but he completed his replica and when 202 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: he assembled all the pieces, it worked. And when he 203 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: showed this to his father, thinking ha ha, I will 204 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:46,600 Speaker 1: win him over, he will say, yes, of course you 205 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: can be a watchmaker. This is your passion, and Prosper 206 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 1: was impressed, but then he told him quote, you had 207 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,679 Speaker 1: better take no pride in your skill, for it may 208 00:12:55,760 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 1: injure your prospects. He moved next to a sal read 209 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 1: position in a lawyer's office, basically as an office boy 210 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: who ran errands and kept the offices tidy. This job 211 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 1: was an over a a bit north of blah and 212 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: for the first time Jean Yugen had money and free time. 213 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:19,320 Speaker 1: He also had access to the firm's library. He used 214 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: that library to expand his knowledge, particularly in the area 215 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: of the natural sciences. He was trying to reconcile himself 216 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,440 Speaker 1: to a future as a notary, but he also could 217 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: not stifle his impulses to work on creating these little machines. 218 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: Before long, he had redesigned the canary cage that his 219 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,559 Speaker 1: boss kept in the waiting room to entertain waiting clients, 220 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:48,440 Speaker 1: so that the birds activated mechanisms that let them access 221 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: food and baths and better purchase with treats. Led to 222 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:55,679 Speaker 1: a serious discussion with his boss that did not end 223 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 1: the way you might expect. The notary offered to speak 224 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: to Prospero, there on behalf of Gean Eugena, to make 225 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:05,720 Speaker 1: the case that really, the younger Robert was not going 226 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: to be happy and fulfilled in any job unless it 227 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 1: took advantage of his inventive love of the mechanical world. 228 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: This actually worked. Prospery, who had been so opposed, was 229 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: becoming a watchmaker, Finally acquiesced. At this point, prosper had 230 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: sold his business to one of Jean Eugene's older cousins, 231 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: Jean Martin Robert, who became his mentor and watchmaking. The 232 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: two men would be in business together for the next 233 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: four and a half decades, although not in watchmaking, no, 234 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: some of it was in watchmaking, but not all of it. 235 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: Because cousin Robert encouraged Jean Yugin to study watchmaking seriously. 236 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: The younger Robert ordered a copy of treat do Laxerie 237 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: the watch Trade from the local bookseller, and according to 238 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 1: Robert D's memoirs, this was a significant development for him 239 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 1: in his career. Has When he received that parcel and 240 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 1: took it home and opened it up, it was not 241 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,560 Speaker 1: what he ordered. Instead of the manual of the watchmaker's 242 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: industry that he was expecting, he got a two volume 243 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 1: set of Amusement de sience that's scientific amusements. And when 244 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 1: he opened this incorrect book he was completely absorbed and 245 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: began reading it without even meaning to. He attributed his 246 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: finding of his life's calling to this accidental switch by 247 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: the bookseller. A good point to remind listeners that his 248 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: memoirs were intended to be entertaining above all else. There 249 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: are a few different points where he says, and that 250 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: was the most important moment of my life. But this 251 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: was he basically got a book that was teaching him 252 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 1: how to make small mechanical things even more intricate than 253 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 1: he had already been working on. But again we can't 254 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 1: be entirely sure if any of Roberto Dance stories of 255 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:56,080 Speaker 1: this nature are entirely true. Regardless, starting in the late 256 00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: eighteen twenties, he became fascinated with magic. Unlike his encounter 257 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: with Dr girls Buck, which left him with no information, 258 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: these books opened up a whole world of information to him, 259 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 1: and he just devoured it. But though he had read 260 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: the whole thing in a matter of days, he was 261 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: still left without anybody to show him how tricks really 262 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,520 Speaker 1: needed to work in the real world. To make up 263 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:24,840 Speaker 1: for the lack of a mentor, he did things like 264 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 1: take juggling lessons. He practiced tricks based on the drawings 265 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,760 Speaker 1: in the book. Robertodan used the lack of a mentor 266 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: to just bolster the idea that he came up with 267 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: much of his stage act on his own out of 268 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: thin air. But among his effects found after his death 269 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: were four notebooks written by a man notated only as 270 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: Monsieur David, who was himself an amateur magician. These notebooks 271 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: were filled with notes and comments on the acts of 272 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: many magicians that Msieur David had seen performed. Yes, so 273 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 1: while he's like no, I had to like basically try 274 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: to act it out based on pictures and books, and 275 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 1: I taught myself everything. He in fact, had lots of 276 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: information about how magic was performed. But throughout all of 277 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: this discovery of magic, for jean Usen, he was still 278 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,479 Speaker 1: an apprentice to his cousin in the watch shop. He 279 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,719 Speaker 1: later wrote of learning simple tricks during his early career 280 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: in watchworks quote, although my time was fully occupied here, 281 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:30,199 Speaker 1: I managed to continue my pocket practice, and I daily 282 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: noticed with joy the progress I was making. Thanks to 283 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:37,120 Speaker 1: my constant exercises. I had learned how to make any 284 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,240 Speaker 1: object I held in my hand disappear with the greatest ease. 285 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 1: And as for the principles of card tricks, they were 286 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: only child's play to me, and I could produce some 287 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:50,360 Speaker 1: delightful illusions. I confessed to feeling a degree of pride 288 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,359 Speaker 1: in my humble power of amusing my friends, and I 289 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:57,359 Speaker 1: neglected no occasion of displaying it. In the spring of 290 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 1: eight he was declared graduate did from his apprenticeship. At 291 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:04,680 Speaker 1: that point he started a tour of France to work 292 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:07,879 Speaker 1: in the best watchmakers shops all around the country to 293 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: further refine his skills. That wasn't an unusual practice at 294 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 1: the time, and during his travels, he claimed that he 295 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: once had food poisoning so bad that it caused him delirium. 296 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: He said that he ordered a coach to take him 297 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 1: back to Blois, but then jumped out in a moment 298 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,119 Speaker 1: of frenzy from this fever that he had and he 299 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: fell to the ground unconscious. When he woke up, there 300 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: was a stranger taking care of him and that was 301 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 1: the moment that changed his life. It was another one 302 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:42,400 Speaker 1: of those, according to Roberto that was how he met 303 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: his magic mentor, a man who went by the stage 304 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: named Turini, who was really Edmund Degreezy, the son of 305 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:54,439 Speaker 1: Count Degreezy. Turini or Edmond is a very romantic figure 306 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: in Roberto Dan's writing, with a dramatic and sad backstory, 307 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: and this traveling magician nursed Jean Ujan back to health 308 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 1: and taught him conjuring tricks, and before the two men 309 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:10,120 Speaker 1: parted ways, Jean Jugen even stepped in for Tarini when 310 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,240 Speaker 1: he was injured in an accident and could not perform, 311 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: as a way of paying him back for the kindness 312 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:18,600 Speaker 1: that he had shown in caring for him. Dramatic, it's 313 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:24,480 Speaker 1: all very romantic. Um Incidentally, there isn't really any hard 314 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:28,199 Speaker 1: evidence found to indicate the degrees E or his stage 315 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 1: persona Turini were real. He very well might have been, 316 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 1: But Robert daz writing is also influential enough that Tarini 317 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,199 Speaker 1: often appears in lists of historical magicians, and much of 318 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: what we know in air quotes about him comes from 319 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:47,960 Speaker 1: these accounts. After his time abroad studying watchmaking and magic, 320 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,440 Speaker 1: Jean Eugene Robert returned to Blois, where his aging grandfather 321 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:56,000 Speaker 1: was near death. When the old man died, he left 322 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 1: his grandson a considerable amount of money, enough that he 323 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 1: could really kick around doing whatever he wanted for a while. 324 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,159 Speaker 1: But Roberto Dan's late in life account of this time 325 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 1: suggests that he was still getting a lot of pressure 326 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,199 Speaker 1: from his father to settle down, find a wife, and 327 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:17,119 Speaker 1: become a watchmaker. He related that he was often called 328 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,639 Speaker 1: to defend his bachelorhood, and one evening, when he was 329 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:24,679 Speaker 1: doing so at a social event, something surprising happened. It 330 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:29,719 Speaker 1: was the moment that changed his life again yet another 331 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 1: um he wrote, quote, Now, it happened that among the 332 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:37,720 Speaker 1: persons listening to this description of the blessings of celibacy 333 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:41,679 Speaker 1: was a young lady of seventeen, who inclined a serious 334 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:45,399 Speaker 1: ear to my arguments against marriage. It was the first 335 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 1: time I had met her, so I could not describe 336 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: any other reason for her fixed attention than her desire 337 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 1: to detect the word. A man is always delighted to 338 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 1: find an attentive listener, more especially when it is a 339 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 1: pretty young girl. Ns I thought it my bound and 340 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,159 Speaker 1: duty to make some polite remarks to her. During the 341 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 1: course of the evening, A conversation ensued and became so 342 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:11,160 Speaker 1: interesting that we had a great deal still to say 343 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,159 Speaker 1: to each other when the hour came for separation. And 344 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: I believe the regret at parting was not felt by 345 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: myself alone. The simple event was, however, the cause of 346 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:24,280 Speaker 1: my marriage with Mademoiselle Uda, and this marriage took me 347 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:28,280 Speaker 1: to Paris. That marriage, incidentally, I like how he rushes 348 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:29,920 Speaker 1: through the whole thing, and it's just like And then 349 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:31,560 Speaker 1: we were married, like it happened at the end of 350 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: the night. Um. That marriage actually took place in July 351 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:38,080 Speaker 1: of eighteen thirty uh, and things were not quite as 352 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: speedy as that account makes it seem. Robert moved to 353 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,639 Speaker 1: Paris before they were married, and he negotiated the marriage 354 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,399 Speaker 1: contract with his bride's father. Cecile actually didn't know the 355 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,959 Speaker 1: wedding was being arranged until that deal was struck incomplete. 356 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:58,880 Speaker 1: This all sounds very magical, uh maybe romantic, definitely accidental, 357 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: but there are too many ties to Jean Ujanne's life 358 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:04,959 Speaker 1: and blah for it to have really been a surprise 359 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 1: for one. The young woman who became his wife, Josepha 360 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:13,640 Speaker 1: Cecilia Glantina, was also from Blois. She was the cousin 361 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:19,439 Speaker 1: of Jean Jeanne's stepmother, Marguerite Rosalie met Vi. Historians think 362 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,199 Speaker 1: this meeting probably took place in the home of the 363 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: architect Pino me Devi, who was Marguerite Rosalie's brother. Just 364 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: so happened that Joseph Cecil's father was a watchmaker. Let's 365 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 1: believed this is why Roberto Dan chose to hyphenate his name. 366 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: He worked in his father in law's shop and joined 367 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:44,120 Speaker 1: the family business, so he made their name his name. Yeah, 368 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:46,520 Speaker 1: it does seem a little too perfect the way all 369 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 1: of this clicks together, that his family wasn't like, Hey, 370 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: Cecile should be at this party because she might be 371 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:56,800 Speaker 1: a really good match for showing you ship it seems 372 00:22:56,840 --> 00:22:59,440 Speaker 1: pretty obvious that some sort of maneuvering of that nature 373 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 1: must have had And we will talk about how roberto 374 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,199 Speaker 1: dance life changed once he had moved to Paris and 375 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 1: settled into married life. But before we do that, we'll 376 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 1: have a word from the sponsors that keep stuff you 377 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:22,800 Speaker 1: missed in history class. Going marriage was not the only 378 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:27,320 Speaker 1: thing for Jegan in Paris. There were also conjurors performing 379 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:30,240 Speaker 1: all the time. He was able to go to a 380 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,800 Speaker 1: new show every night when he wished. He also made 381 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,480 Speaker 1: the acquaintance of professional magicians in Paris, and he also 382 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:41,879 Speaker 1: had exposure to many clockwork automeda. Have you been listening 383 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: to the show for a long time, you may remember 384 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,680 Speaker 1: episode on Historical Robots that featured a lot of automoda. 385 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 1: We've also run that as a classic, and that particular 386 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 1: entertainment of automoda was very much in vogue in Paris 387 00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: at this time. There are two particular men who Roberto 388 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 1: Den came to know while traveling through the side streets 389 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: of the Paris magic scene. One of those was a 390 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: man known as Perugal. His full name was Alexandra Francois Rougel, 391 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: and while he was listed in the city directory as 392 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 1: a tin smith, he actually sold magicians props out of 393 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:26,159 Speaker 1: his shop at five Richlieu. Roberto Den had found a 394 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 1: magic shop, but Rugel's works were not like small entertainments. 395 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 1: He did offer some small scale props for sleight of 396 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 1: hand tricks, but he also built and sold much larger 397 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 1: automata for bigger spectacles. Rujol is said to have had 398 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 1: a catalog of a hundred and thirty two different tricks 399 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: for sale. The shop was also a social nexus for magicians, 400 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: and it was there that Roberto Dan met a lot 401 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:58,399 Speaker 1: of other conjurors. He also wrote a book ROCDI recreation 402 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 1: de Physique and mus The Recreations of Physical Amusements that 403 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,479 Speaker 1: document that how a lot of these large scale automata worked. 404 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,399 Speaker 1: It's an important work in the history of conjuring, and 405 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:15,119 Speaker 1: it gave later practitioners vital information about the mechanical aspects 406 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 1: of this art. The other important figure who came into 407 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 1: Roberto Dan's life in Paris was Christine Emmanuel Comte, a 408 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:27,320 Speaker 1: Swiss born magician who was also the son of a watchmaker. 409 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 1: It seems like everybody's dad made watches for a living. 410 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 1: Monsieur Compte had performed for Louis the eighteenth and the 411 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: eighteen teens, and was granted the title of the King's 412 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:40,800 Speaker 1: Conjurer for so amusing the monarch. King Louis Philippe granted 413 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,080 Speaker 1: him the honors Chevalier de Lejon. Done during his reign. 414 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 1: Compt is often credited with establishing ventriloquism as part of 415 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,600 Speaker 1: conjuring acts, although this was more about throwing his voice 416 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:55,359 Speaker 1: around a theater than what you might think of e 417 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: ventriloquis being using puppets or dolls. He also is sometimes 418 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 1: credit at it with being the first performer to pull 419 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 1: a rabbit out of a hat, though other magicians sometimes 420 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,640 Speaker 1: get that credit. Comped was someone whose work in creating 421 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 1: fantastical stage acts was something that robertod And admired, of course, 422 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: but he seemed almost more entranced by the Compt as 423 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 1: a businessman. He wrote of him quote Compt was also 424 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 1: an object of interesting study to me, both as manager 425 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:30,560 Speaker 1: and as artist. As manager, Compt could have challenged the 426 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 1: most skillful to a comparison, and he was a famous 427 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:38,160 Speaker 1: hand at bringing grist to his mill. The little schemes 428 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 1: of manager employees to attract the public and increase. His 429 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:44,640 Speaker 1: receipts are tolerably well known, but comped for a long 430 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 1: time did not require to have recourse to them, as 431 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:51,840 Speaker 1: his room was always crowded. He also wrote about the 432 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:56,720 Speaker 1: various ways that Comped bolstered income. When theater attendants waned, 433 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:01,080 Speaker 1: he offered various kinds of discounted tickets and group rates, 434 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 1: and then offered additional things for sale to make up 435 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 1: the gap. And he added a small cafe at the 436 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: side of the theater. Patrons paid for a cup of 437 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:13,480 Speaker 1: coffee or a cordial, and then the waiter would admit 438 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 1: them to the theater through a door that enabled them 439 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:19,399 Speaker 1: to pass by the line, skip to the front, be 440 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:24,880 Speaker 1: the first at the box office. It's pretty ingenious. Um, 441 00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:28,480 Speaker 1: I would do that. Dine in our cafe, get a cocktail, 442 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:33,320 Speaker 1: and then you first. That sounds great to me. Um. 443 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:36,640 Speaker 1: There were things that Robert Udas saw in Coombs shows 444 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,399 Speaker 1: that he actually thought could be plussed up, or ways 445 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 1: that they might be staged differently for added spectacle. He 446 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 1: certainly was not thinking seriously at this point of taking 447 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,360 Speaker 1: to the stage himself, and with pretty good reason. For one, 448 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,120 Speaker 1: he just didn't have the experience to try to compete 449 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,280 Speaker 1: in the Paris Magic scene, and for another no one 450 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 1: competed with the King's conjuror not at his own style 451 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,119 Speaker 1: of act. They were other amusements vying for the money 452 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:06,080 Speaker 1: of entertainment seekers, like the Phantasmagoria. But even though there 453 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:09,639 Speaker 1: were some other conjurers playing here and there, compt ruled 454 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:14,120 Speaker 1: supreme at this point. But the combination of inspiration from 455 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:18,360 Speaker 1: watching Compta's act and business, seeing the automatons and other 456 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 1: props and rusual shop, and his own ingenuity led Roberto 457 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: down to start making mechanical show pieces of his own. 458 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,119 Speaker 1: He still wasn't performing any tricks on stage, though, but 459 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: he did sell his mechanisms to other performers. He also 460 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 1: repaired other people's automata out of the watch shop, and 461 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 1: brushed up against one that we talked about in that 462 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: earlier Five Historical Robots episode. In eighteen forty four, he 463 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:52,200 Speaker 1: he repaired von Kinstone's famous pooping robot duck. We can't 464 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: get away from that duck. Uh. The early eighteen forties 465 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 1: were actually pretty rough for Roberto dem In October of 466 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: eighteen forty three, his wife Cecile died. She had been 467 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 1: through a lengthy illness. We don't know specifically what it was. 468 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 1: She had given birth to seven children over the course 469 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 1: of their thirteen year marriage, but four of those children 470 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:17,240 Speaker 1: had died. Their surviving children, Emil, Marie, Rosalie, and Prosperoujean 471 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:21,520 Speaker 1: had to be cared for. While Emil, the eldest, stayed 472 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,440 Speaker 1: with Jean Eugene, the younger two children went to Blois 473 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 1: to stay with their grandfather. But then, just five months 474 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: after Cecile died in February of eighteen forty four, Marie 475 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: Rosalie and Jean Eugene's father, prosper Robert, both died on 476 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:40,040 Speaker 1: the same day. At this point, Robert ro Dan had 477 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: his two sons to care for, and he didn't really 478 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: know how, so he remarried. The young woman was Marguerite 479 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: Francoise or Lamp Braconnier, who went by O Lamp. She 480 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,360 Speaker 1: was twenty eight, and, according to Roberto Dan's correspondence with 481 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:58,640 Speaker 1: a friend, she had not initially wanted to get married. 482 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,840 Speaker 1: She had resolved that she would say single and live 483 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,720 Speaker 1: with her mother. She was also reluctant to take on 484 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 1: jan Jan's two children, but eventually she acquiesced that two 485 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 1: of them got married on August eighteen forty four in Paris. 486 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:17,040 Speaker 1: It was not long after his second wedding that Roberto 487 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:19,440 Speaker 1: Dem met another figure. It has come up on the 488 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:24,240 Speaker 1: show many times, Phineas Taylor Barnum. Barnum was in Paris 489 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:27,200 Speaker 1: for the eighteen forty four Exposition, an event at which 490 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 1: Roberto Dam was an exhibitor. The watchmaker showed off many 491 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,320 Speaker 1: of the automata he had made, but one in particular 492 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,480 Speaker 1: was the Star. This was a piece called the Writing 493 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 1: and Drawing Automaton. You'll also see it as the Writing 494 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: and Drawing Man. Sometimes it's describe. It gets called different 495 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 1: things in different historical accounts. And it was, as the 496 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,880 Speaker 1: name indicates, a human shaped figure that could write and 497 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:54,920 Speaker 1: draw when prompted. But more than that, it answered questions 498 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: posed to it, and it would answer those questions by 499 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,920 Speaker 1: drawing or writing out the answer. And that automaton really 500 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 1: enchanted the most illustrious visitor to the expo, not Barnum, 501 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:08,880 Speaker 1: but we'll be coming back to him. The visitor in 502 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 1: question here was King Louis Philippe. For the King, the 503 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:17,080 Speaker 1: automaton answered the question of how many people lived in Paris? 504 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:22,120 Speaker 1: It wrote nine thousand nine hundred sixty four, although the 505 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,200 Speaker 1: king was hoping it would have predictively known the number 506 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,600 Speaker 1: that had just been tabulated by a new census that 507 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:33,120 Speaker 1: was not published yet. The automaton also finished poems, and 508 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,680 Speaker 1: it did so for Louis Philippe. It also wrote poetry, 509 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:40,760 Speaker 1: and it drew a crown. Robertodan won a silver medal, 510 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 1: and the King himself presented it to him with the 511 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:47,920 Speaker 1: words you enriched me I honor you etched on there. 512 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:51,640 Speaker 1: When the expo finished, Roberto Don sold the Writing and 513 00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:55,840 Speaker 1: Drawing Man two p. T. Barnum. This actually is a 514 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 1: situation that later led Houdini to believe that Roberto Dn 515 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:02,920 Speaker 1: was some sort of fraud. Houdini notes in his book 516 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: The Unmasking of Roberto Dan that Roberto Din only ever 517 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:10,240 Speaker 1: showed the writing Automaton at the Expo, and nothing quite 518 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:12,480 Speaker 1: like it ever appeared in any of the shows he 519 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: would later perform. Hudini wrote, quote, this question naturally arises. 520 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:21,160 Speaker 1: If Roberto Den built the original Writing and Drawing figure, 521 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 1: why could he not make a duplicate and include it 522 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,320 Speaker 1: in his program. Surely it was one of the most 523 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:30,960 Speaker 1: remarkable of the automata, which he claims as the creations 524 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:36,680 Speaker 1: of his brain and hands. Biographer Christian Fashnair theorized that Barnum, 525 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:40,400 Speaker 1: who purchased the device for use in his shows, most 526 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:43,560 Speaker 1: likely called for the inclusion of an exclusivity clause in 527 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: the purchase agreement, i e. If Roberto Din had made 528 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,880 Speaker 1: copies of that same figure, Barnum's would not have been 529 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,480 Speaker 1: as effective as an audience draw. There's also a really 530 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:58,000 Speaker 1: interesting account written by Barnum about the expo and Roberto 531 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 1: Den's mechanical wonder. He wrote, quote, I paid a round 532 00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:05,560 Speaker 1: price for this most ingenious little figure, which was an 533 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,000 Speaker 1: automaton writer and artist. It sat on a small table, 534 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 1: pencil in hand, and if asked, for instance, for an 535 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:15,880 Speaker 1: emblem of fidelity, it would instantly draw the picture of 536 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:20,080 Speaker 1: a handsome dog. If love was wanted, a cupid was 537 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:25,320 Speaker 1: exquisitely penciled. The automaton would also answer many questions in writing. 538 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 1: During my visit, Huda was giving evening legend of main performances, 539 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:34,320 Speaker 1: and by his pressing invitation I frequently was present. He 540 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:37,640 Speaker 1: took great pains to to introduce me to other inventors 541 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 1: and exhibitors of moving figures, which I liberally purchased, making 542 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:47,040 Speaker 1: them prominent features in the attractions of the American Museum. 543 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:51,360 Speaker 1: This account is really really interesting, specifically because it offers 544 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:55,480 Speaker 1: a glimpse at Robertud's personality that is rather counter to 545 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,480 Speaker 1: the way he was portrayed by Houdini later on. Houdini's 546 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,280 Speaker 1: books that we've mentioned, The Unmasking of Roberto Da includes 547 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:06,000 Speaker 1: this description of his one time hero quote stripped of 548 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:09,560 Speaker 1: his self woven veil of romance, Roberto Dan stood forth 549 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:14,440 Speaker 1: in the uncompromising light of cold historical facts, a mere pretender, 550 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,600 Speaker 1: a man who waxed great on the brainwork of others, 551 00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:21,080 Speaker 1: a mechanician who had boldly filtered the inventions of the 552 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 1: master craftsman among his predecessors. Hudini really makes the case 553 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 1: that Roberto Dan took credit for the works of others 554 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 1: and was really entirely self serving. But then when you 555 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:34,680 Speaker 1: look at Barnum's account, it sounds like he had certainly 556 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:38,279 Speaker 1: enough generosity of spirit to make sure other people who 557 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:40,840 Speaker 1: worked in his field, so people that were theoretically his 558 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:44,600 Speaker 1: competitors at market also had the chance to be seen 559 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:47,839 Speaker 1: by Barnum and to sell their inventions to him. This 560 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,239 Speaker 1: really jumped out of me, because it just illustrates how 561 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:53,640 Speaker 1: differently two people can perceive the same person, and how 562 00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:57,279 Speaker 1: their own biases may color that perception, and then how 563 00:34:57,320 --> 00:34:59,719 Speaker 1: that gets relaid through the ages to us who are 564 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:03,080 Speaker 1: trying to learn about these people. And that's where we 565 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:07,279 Speaker 1: will leave this one, because after that eighty four exposition, 566 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:10,759 Speaker 1: a lot changed for Robert Dan and just a very 567 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:14,799 Speaker 1: short period of time. Dun dun da. And since we're 568 00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: talking about art and fun things, I'm going to read 569 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:23,400 Speaker 1: an art themed listener mail that sounds great. This is 570 00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:25,880 Speaker 1: from our listener Tara, who writes, Hi, Holly and Tracy, 571 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:28,240 Speaker 1: I love your podcast and I listen all the time. 572 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:31,000 Speaker 1: My name is Tara bar and I'm an artist based 573 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,920 Speaker 1: in the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia. The 574 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:37,839 Speaker 1: Torpedo Factory was built in nineteen nineteen and served as 575 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:40,560 Speaker 1: a munitions plant through the end of World War Two. 576 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:44,120 Speaker 1: After it was decommissioned, it sat vacant as an issore 577 00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:46,960 Speaker 1: until the mid seventies, when a group of artists petitioned 578 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,800 Speaker 1: the city to convert it into art studios. Today, it 579 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:53,320 Speaker 1: is a three story building taking up half a city 580 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:56,600 Speaker 1: block on the Potomac River Waterfront in Old Town, Alexandria. 581 00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:00,680 Speaker 1: Over two hundred artists work and exhibit here. In addition 582 00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:04,560 Speaker 1: to art studios, there are also art classrooms, printmaking workshops, 583 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:09,279 Speaker 1: galleries and archaeology museum, and an art supply store. The 584 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 1: Torpedo Factory is open to the public seven days a week, 585 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:14,200 Speaker 1: and all our studios are open to the public, so 586 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:17,040 Speaker 1: visitors can come see us making our art any time. 587 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:20,000 Speaker 1: I'm including some pictures to entice you to visit the 588 00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:23,080 Speaker 1: next time you're in the Washington, d C. Area. Your 589 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:26,520 Speaker 1: podcast keeps me company during many long hours of painting. 590 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:29,960 Speaker 1: Many of my pieces relate to or are directly inspired 591 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,720 Speaker 1: by your episodes. I wanted to send you some art gifts, 592 00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:34,600 Speaker 1: but I know you don't have a physical mailing address 593 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:37,239 Speaker 1: right now, so I'm linking to some images below so 594 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,640 Speaker 1: you can at least look at some art. Expect some 595 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:41,759 Speaker 1: art goodies in the mail if you ever share your 596 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:45,400 Speaker 1: new mailing address in the future. Unfortunately, I don't have 597 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:47,719 Speaker 1: any cute Kinty pictures to share because my husband is 598 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:50,960 Speaker 1: allergic to cats and we cannot have one attaching a 599 00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:53,440 Speaker 1: painting of a cat instead. Thank you for all you 600 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:57,000 Speaker 1: do and keep up the good work. Uh. Tara. Here's 601 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:00,960 Speaker 1: the thing, Terra is amazing uh and I normally wouldn't. 602 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,399 Speaker 1: We don't usually give people's first and last names out 603 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:05,839 Speaker 1: of respect for their privacy, but since she uses her 604 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:09,080 Speaker 1: name public facing as an artist, I did. I will 605 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:11,480 Speaker 1: also tell you that in looking at her art, I 606 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:15,680 Speaker 1: bought a painting this morning. So Tara, thank you for 607 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:19,760 Speaker 1: alerting me to your work, because I think that's gonna 608 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:24,319 Speaker 1: be a Christmas present for my husband. UM. Also, go 609 00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,160 Speaker 1: check this out. I just did a quick Google search 610 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,279 Speaker 1: for Torpedo Factory Art Center and there are a lot 611 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:32,960 Speaker 1: of amazing artists. They are doing really amazing work. I 612 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,399 Speaker 1: did not know this place existed, and now it's top 613 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:36,880 Speaker 1: of my list should I be in d C in 614 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:41,160 Speaker 1: the future because it looks really cool and it's it's 615 00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:43,640 Speaker 1: like a magical wonderland if you're into art. It's like 616 00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:45,799 Speaker 1: a lot of great artists doing really cool art and 617 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:47,560 Speaker 1: you could learn there if you wanted, and you can 618 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:49,560 Speaker 1: watch them make our and you can buy art supplies. 619 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:55,000 Speaker 1: This is a theme park of art basic why so, UM, 620 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:57,680 Speaker 1: definitely go check that out if you're interested. It's very 621 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:00,560 Speaker 1: very cool. Um. Tara, thank you so much for sending 622 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:03,000 Speaker 1: me this and I love your work and I really 623 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:05,480 Speaker 1: like that kittie painting. That might have been what I 624 00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:07,600 Speaker 1: was looking for when I went today and ended up 625 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:11,080 Speaker 1: buying something completely different. Um. If you would like to 626 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:13,279 Speaker 1: write to us and share the art you're making or 627 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:15,799 Speaker 1: whatever it is that's on your mind, you can do 628 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:19,120 Speaker 1: so at History Podcast at i heeart radio dot com. 629 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:21,520 Speaker 1: You can also find us on social media as Missed 630 00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:24,600 Speaker 1: in History, and if you have not subscribed yet, you 631 00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:26,640 Speaker 1: can do that on the iHeart Radio app or wherever 632 00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:34,560 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite podcasts. Stuff you Missed in 633 00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:37,400 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of I Heart Radio. For 634 00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:40,160 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I heart 635 00:38:40,239 --> 00:38:43,319 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 636 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:44,040 Speaker 1: favorite shows.