In his retirement, to which he has returned, Houdin wrote his _Confidences_, and is now devoting himself to scientific researches connected with electricity. Before the appearance of his own work, M. Hatin had published, in 1857, _Robert-Houdin, sa vie, ses oeuvres, son théâtre_.
The French and English critics have generally and warmly eulogized M. Houdin's _Confidences_, and I am persuaded that, on this side of the Atlantic, it will be considered an instructive as well as an amusing volume.
One error which M. Houdin makes must not be passed over. His account of M. de Kempelen's celebrated automaton chess-player (afterwards Maëlzel's) is entirely wrong. This remarkable piece of mechanism was constructed in 1769, and not in 1796; it was the Empress Maria-Theresa of Austria who played with it, and not Catherine II. of Russia; it was in 1783 that it first visited Paris, where it played at the Café de la Régence; it was not taken to London until 1784; and again in 1819; it was brought to America in 1825, by M. Maëlzel, and visited our principal cities, its chief resting-place being Philadelphia; M. Maëlzel's death was in 1838, on the voyage from Cuba to the United States, and not, as M. Houdin says, on his return to France; and the automaton, so far from being taken back to France, was sold by auction here, finally purchased by the late Dr. J. K. Mitchell, of Philadelphia, reconstructed by him, and finally deposited in the Chinese Museum, (formerly Peale's,) where it was consumed in the great fire which destroyed the National Theatre, (now the site of the Continental Hotel, corner of Ninth and Chestnut streets,) and extending to the Chinese Museum, burnt it down on July 5th, 1854. An interesting account of the Automaton Chess-Player, written by Professor George Allen, of this city, will be found in "The Book of the First American Chess Congress," recently published in New York.
M. Houdin is engaged now in writing a volume explaining the manner in which sleight-of-hand and other conjuring tricks and deceptions are performed.
I have added an Index to this volume, which I trust will be accepted as useful.
My Birth and Parentage--My Home--The Lessons of Colonel Bernard--Paternal Ambition--My first Mechanical Attempts--Had I but a Rat!--A Prisoner's Industry--The Abbé Larivière--My Word of Honor--Farewell to my darling Tools......17