Herrmann the Magician His Life; His Secrets ---in BY H. J. BURLINGAME ~ ILLUSTRATED A thorough understanding ofthe human mimi is the necessary key to all successful eonjuring. -Roamvr Hounm. _Q f CHICAGO LAIRD & LEE, Publishers - » ,..' _4. _ wi f§é>?¥Q"' Emered according to act of Congress. In the year eighteen hundred and ninety-seven BY WILLIAM H. LEE, ln the oftice ofthe Llbrarlan of Congress, at Washington. ' as KM" ?i~_ ' ' _ V __ ,___ '- Ti `» ` tf i` ~ 9 _ T 5`i;§", Q. ` .53 li, _ _-` `> _ -V W " Q M w ' _ ` , ,t ' "Y 3 " ` ` "_ __ _,, 4 < . __ _ _, ,, f _ 'L _ _ ;f?*:;j;"_,`,{;é£g_,_ ,wi H és' ap _ »__:1f-3; A( 'H 12 *_ I ~» :QI` /' 3 k 4 I ;~,_ f'?;`»lf° if _ ~ _ = _ _Kim - A ixf ' 'i __ W _ ff 4 =' . _ '~» _ _ _ . _J 5 ' » , _=___ ' *U gg,~._f I Z"' -;_ T %; _z~ `_ Q) _ % ° » _A ~ __._ *_ §A » ~ , , _ _ gf, gi __ _ ima- _§§ Qix -»' ' _ - f _--' '¥»". :EF * _ ~»=._ é 2 " x 'W°`"" , » Eg; _ __ f »'_ -2 __ .__` 1 =' _ fIf"f";> I __ _ _ _V Qi v4», '_ K ~ _~__,__ :_ ` _~»~» -~ _ __ wif ` _ #V <'.»Len? ."` ` _ 'til ~~ » ' _ ,,,,__ it _ ~ » ~~ ' .- ' `:~. f . A _ ___;» ~_ b r _ i;> I; §;f I/ '"' ' * ff _____ 1' F _-__ ' -A A. _ '~ ' f _Q __ ;5»__ 3; ,_ 5 _ _ } ,Ms - _ _ », _` V .a if A .,< `< v »-WI %»f »_ _:im _ *V* ' =" ;;?°'" ___, Q " *_ TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Preface, _ . .... _ _ 5 Introduction: Psychology of the Art of Conjuring, _ 7 "The Conjuring Husband"-a poem. (Illustrated.) . _ 42 ' "The Magician's Art "-a poem,.... _ 46 °""" Chapter I. Herrmann the Magician; His Birthplace; His Family; His Early Years; The Career of His Famous Brother, Carl Herrmann. (Illustrated.) ..... 47 II. The Life and Career of Alexander Herrmann, . 76 III. Herrmann's Secrets, ..... _ 118 1. Herrmann 's Best Handkerchief Trick, _ _ . 119 2. Handkerchief Produced From Bare Hands and Caused to Vanish, ........ 123 3. The Vanishing Handkerchief. (Illustrated.) _ _ 126 4. The Color-Changing Handkerchief. (Illustrated.) _ 129 5. Another Method of Making Silk Handkerchiefs Change Color, ......... 131 6. Changing a Handkerchief Into a Billiard Ball, _ _ 133 7. Making a Solid Billiard Ball Vanish Through a Glass of Water. (Illustrated.) . , _ 135 8. The Multiplying Billiard Ball,_.... 138 9. The Chameleon Billiard Ball, . _ . 189 10. Samuels' Improved Chameleon Billiard Ball, _ _ 141 Cards. 11. Rising (Illustrated.) ,.... 143 12. The Bouquet and the Rising Cards. (Illustrated.) _ 146 13. The Magic Card Bottle, ..... 149 14. Card Printed on a Handkerchief by a Pistol Shot, _ 150 15. Any Card Thought of Disappears to Reappear Elsewhere, 151 16. The Bottle and the Flags, .... _ 152 17. Herrmann's 'Ring and Bottle Trick, . 154 18. The Famous Rabbit Trick, _ , 157 19. The Multiplying Coins. (Illustrated.) . 161 f' Page Herrmann 's Flower Production, _ . 163 on an 166 Flower Production Empty Plate,... The Great Trick,... _ . 167 Shooting _ Herrmann's Rice, Cone and Orange Trick. (Illustrated.) 176 Herrmann 's Kling Klang Trick. (Illustrated.) . _ 181 ' I-Ierrmann's Fish Bowl Production, _ _ _ _ 184 Cazeneuve's Card in an Orange, ..... 189 _ . , 189 The Flying Cage. (Illustrated.) , Chronological Catastrophe and Candle of Mephisto, _ 194 Mind Reading by Impression; ...., 197 _ _ . 200 Mind Reading-Cards and Questions, , 202 Spirit Calculator,....... Heavy Weight From a Hat. (Illustrated.) _ _ _ 204 How to Lift a Bowl Full of Water with a Hand in the Bowl, _ _ . , _ _ _ _ 207 The Magi 's Wand. (Il1ustrated,) .... 208 The Floating Hat, Wand and Table. (Illustrated.) _ 210 ' The Artist's Dream, . _ _ _ _ _ 215 The Vanishing Lady. (Illustrated.) _ _ 218 The Spiritualistic Sack, , _ _ 221 Decapitation, by Vaneck, .. 224 Decapitation, by Herrmann, . 227 The Indian Mail. (Illustrated.) _ . 230 Modern Black Art. (Illustrated.) .... 234 The Escape From Sing Sing, .... _ 243 The Enchanted Organ; or the Unexpected Supper. .... _ _ _ 245 (Illustrated. ) , The Mystery of "She," .... _ 249 Modern Metempsychosis. (Illustrated.) _ _ 250 The Great Flight of Objects, _ . _ _ 256 The Cocoon. (Illustrated.) . _ 261 Silent Thought Transmission, _ _ 264 A Comedy of Errors, . _ _ 292 The Last Program of Herrmann the Great in Chicago, january 15, 1896. PREFACE Having devoted a number ff years to the in- venting,'manufacturing and sale ¢y" many fy' the most popular magicalapparatus made in this country, Inow present to the reader, biographies gf the two great conjurers known to the world under the names ry' Carl and Alexander Herrmann, both egualb/famous in their specialties. The main portion Q' the book is devoted to clear, compact and illustrated descrzp~ tions rf the best tricks performed by the two Herr~ manns, whom I unite under the appellation ofHerr- mann the Magiaan, and by other celebrated per farmers, such as Cazeneuve, Kellar, Vanek, Heller, Samuels, Robert-Houdz`n, etc. s I call the attention q' the reader to the fact that several ¢y' the tricks herein described are easily exe- cuted in a private parlor, without cumbersome appa- ratus, thus ajbrding a pleasant pastimefor the home circle. The book contains, also, a number q' most curious revelations concerning famous stage tricks that have been puzzling the whole world. THE A UTIfOR. Dignized by HERRMANN THE MAGICIAN INTRODUCTION Psychology of the Art of Conjuring [By Dr. Max Dessoir, with special reference to the feats of mediums, by H. J. Burling'ame.] I still remember how I felt when I saw the first mag- ical performance. As soon as the doors were opened I took my seat and waited a full hour for the moment when the cunain would rise in front of this world of wonders. And when the performance began, when eggs changed to dollars, dollars to pocket-handkerchiefs, when bird cages disappeared in the air, and empty boxes held numerous presents, I felt as if I was living in a land of dreams, far away from the earth. Now books without number, from the cheap "sell" of a ten cent pamphlet to a finely bound and fully illustrated edition, offer to initiate you into the mysteries 1 8 ` PSYCHOLDGY OF CONJURING. of the black art. But all these books and directions, with but few exceptions, say only in what the trick consists, not how it is done, without regard to the fact that the most interesting tricks are kept secret by the adepts or only revealed in consideration of an extra high price. Apparatus and explanations do not reveal the "kernel" of modern magic. If you know how a con- jurer causes a dollar to disappear, you know nothing, and you will be deceived hundreds of times by this same trick; and if you practice it exactly according to direc- tions, the chances are that you will have only mediocre success in performing it. What makes prestidigitation the art of deception, is not the technical outward appear- ance, but the psychological kernel. The ingenious use off certain soul faculties weighs incomparably heavier than all dexterity and machinery. To prove this fact and to analyze it theoretically is the task of this article. We must first however introduce the reader to the society with whose doings we wish to make him acquainted. The history of jugglery forms an important part in the long history of human deception. The first period in which the production of seemingly impossible occur- renoes makes a claim to higher powers, reaches from the beginning of the Egyptian priesthood to the beginning of PSYCHOLOGY OF CONJURING. 9 the middle ages. Followers of this seriously deceiving tendency are to be found in our days in the spiritualistic mediums. To a mcond period belong the jugglers of the middle ages and modern times, for they admit that every- thing is done in a natural way. The third period dates from the beginning of our century. For the first time, the conjurers appear on the stage, they are received in society, they exclude all jugglerism from their pro- grammes, and work with cards, coins, handkerchiefs and other ordinary objects. Of course the jugglers did not disappear altogether, but they retired to the villages, and had nothing to do with the better class of their pro- fessional brothers. Only occasionally was such a nomad heard from. One of them was Signor Castelli, who travelled through Europe in the '20s, going by wagon and using a portable stage. He attracted great attention by announcing his intention of devouring a living per- son at each performance. The solution of the riddle was that the rough fellow would invite a volun-teer from the audience and having secured one, would begin by biting his neck which caused the subject to retire pre- cipitately, making the execution of the trick impossible. The conjurers of the better class were mostly French or Italian, and called themselves physicians or escamo- 19 PSYCHOLOGY OF CONJURING. teurs. The name of prestidigitateur comes from Jules de Rovere. He belonged to the masters of that old school, to which belonged also Olivier, Prejean, Brazy, Comus, Chalons, Adrien pere, Courtois and Comte, not to mention' Lichtenberg's famous Pinetti. The most im- portant was undoubtedly Comte. A Frenchman from head to foot, he did most extraordinary things with rare taste and great amiability.