V.Trewey is the inventor of many clever card sleights and passes; for example, a color change executed by taking cards from the back of the pack with the fork of the thumb and forefinger and placing them on the front. The origin of this clever sleight is not generally known. I have seen him throw cards from the stage of the Alhambra Theatre, London, to the topmost gallery. This is a tremendous feat, as the Alhambra is one of the largest theatres in the world. He possesses the peculiar talent of writing in reverse, necessitating the use of a mirror in order to read it. The artistic sentiment was born in him. It seems to be a family characteristic. Rosa Bordas, the celebrated Frenchchanteuse patriotique, is his cousin-german. A writer inL’Echo des Jeunesthus apostrophises him in verse:“Dans le monde artistique ou son étoile brille,Trewey ne peut que resortir,Vraiment, cela tient de famille,Vu que bon sang ne peut mentir.”The most exclusive and aristocratic salons of Paris and Vienna have engaged his services for private séances. In Spain, Belgium, Austria, Russia and England he was the sensation of the day. At the present time he is living in retirement at Asnières, near Paris, where he has purchased a charming home known as the Villa Traversièreau clair de la lune. During the Exposition of 1900 he was the manager of the Theatre Phono-Cinéma. Trewey was a great friend of the French inventor, Lumière, and was the first to introduce the cinematographe to the public of London and Paris. At his villa he spends his time inventing and improving devices to be used in moving-picture apparatus, corresponding with his friends, meditating upon the works of his favorite authors, Confucius and{346}Epictetus, and writing songs, farces and dramatic articles. In the year 1903 he was made anOfficier d’Académieby the French Government. He married Miss Ixa, of Trocadero fame. Among his pupils may be mentioned the lady conjurer, Mlle. Patrice.FROM“THEENTR’ACTE,”LONDON,MAY7, 1887.Trewey relates many interesting anecdotes of contemporary French magicians whom he has met on his travels. He is literally a man without envy. His admiration for Buatier de Kolta was unbounded. They were close friends.He once toured the Continent with the Hungarian conjurer, Velle, who was the first to give exhibitions within a marked circle, where the audience could gather on all sides. Velle impersonated Mephisto to perfection. Trewey and August Lassaigne were once partners. Lassaigne was born in Toulouse, in 1819. Besides being a magician he was an æronaut, having made 347 ascensions. He died in Montpellier in the year 1887.When Trewey first toured the United States, under the management of Alexander Herrmann, he was very much annoyed by impostors, who advertised themselves asDrewey, but their performances were only weak imitations of the original—the merest shadows of a shade. In the wake of the whale follow little fishes—“pikers”—who grab at the crumbs dropped by the monarch of the sea, being too lazy or indifferent to find hunting seas of their own.“Many amateurs are more skillful than professionals,” said Trewey to me. “I have in mind my friend Alexandre Asso, who was born in Paris in the year 1828. While a student, he once happened to be present at a soirée where M. Comte was giving an exhibition. He was so fascinated that he afterwards took lessons in legerdemain from the professor. When he finished his schooling, he entered the service of the Count de Nigra, then Ambassador to Italy, and remained with him for forty years, visiting London, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and other great capitals. Asso often entertained the Count and his friends with conjuring séances. In this way he amused society at nearly all the Courts of Europe, besides giving many entertainments for the benefit of the poor. In spite of his advanced age, he still keeps in practice as a conjurer at his villa at Asnières. He{347}retired from an active life in 1903. We see a great deal of each other.ALEAFFROMTREWEY’SNOTEBOOK.“Then we have M. Pitau, a wine merchant, who studied legerdemain to amuse his friends and increase his custom. He was a capital guest at the hotel table. People loved to be seated near him, for he was not only skilful at hanky panky with glasses, plates, napkins, knives, corks, coins, etc., but he was a brilliant raconteur and a mimic. His most amusing trick was the following: He would place his hat over his plate, which held perhaps a chop and potatoes. Passing his hand under the hat he would bring forth several five-franc pieces. Then he would pass it a second time beneath the chapeau and bring out five or six gold one-hundred-franc pieces. Now he would exclaim: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I will give what is left on the plate for ten centimes.’ Lifting the hat, a child’s sock or an old shoe{348}would be seen, the chop and potatoes having vanished. This feat was always greeted with shouts of laughter. Pitau often gave entire performances for charitable purposes.”Behind the scenes in an Egyptian temple would doubtless have revealed many curious secrets of natural magic to the uninitiated. Like all so-called sorcerers, the priests evidently compiled works on the subject of their art for the benefit of their successors. But not one of these has come down to us. Hermes Trismegistus is said to have written two myriads of books on the occult sciences. He was the Alexander Dumas of the Egyptian pantheon.Trewey, an apt descendant of the ancient magi of the land of Mizraim, has compiled a ponderous folio of illusions and feats of juggling and legerdemain; a great manuscript volume of mysteries, the text of which is illustrated by pen-and-ink sketches by himself. Over two thousand magical experiments are described and explained in this tome of thaumaturgy, gathered from all sources, many of them being his own inventions, perhaps the majority of them. I know that this volume exists, for I have seen it and glanced over it. I have urged Trewey to publish the work. Perhaps he will some day, now that he has the leisure for literary labors. He is at present at work on his invention, theTreweyorama, which will be exhibited soon in Paris.
Trewey is the inventor of many clever card sleights and passes; for example, a color change executed by taking cards from the back of the pack with the fork of the thumb and forefinger and placing them on the front. The origin of this clever sleight is not generally known. I have seen him throw cards from the stage of the Alhambra Theatre, London, to the topmost gallery. This is a tremendous feat, as the Alhambra is one of the largest theatres in the world. He possesses the peculiar talent of writing in reverse, necessitating the use of a mirror in order to read it. The artistic sentiment was born in him. It seems to be a family characteristic. Rosa Bordas, the celebrated Frenchchanteuse patriotique, is his cousin-german. A writer inL’Echo des Jeunesthus apostrophises him in verse:
“Dans le monde artistique ou son étoile brille,Trewey ne peut que resortir,Vraiment, cela tient de famille,Vu que bon sang ne peut mentir.”
“Dans le monde artistique ou son étoile brille,Trewey ne peut que resortir,Vraiment, cela tient de famille,Vu que bon sang ne peut mentir.”
“Dans le monde artistique ou son étoile brille,
Trewey ne peut que resortir,
Vraiment, cela tient de famille,
Vu que bon sang ne peut mentir.”
The most exclusive and aristocratic salons of Paris and Vienna have engaged his services for private séances. In Spain, Belgium, Austria, Russia and England he was the sensation of the day. At the present time he is living in retirement at Asnières, near Paris, where he has purchased a charming home known as the Villa Traversièreau clair de la lune. During the Exposition of 1900 he was the manager of the Theatre Phono-Cinéma. Trewey was a great friend of the French inventor, Lumière, and was the first to introduce the cinematographe to the public of London and Paris. At his villa he spends his time inventing and improving devices to be used in moving-picture apparatus, corresponding with his friends, meditating upon the works of his favorite authors, Confucius and{346}Epictetus, and writing songs, farces and dramatic articles. In the year 1903 he was made anOfficier d’Académieby the French Government. He married Miss Ixa, of Trocadero fame. Among his pupils may be mentioned the lady conjurer, Mlle. Patrice.
FROM“THEENTR’ACTE,”LONDON,MAY7, 1887.
FROM“THEENTR’ACTE,”LONDON,MAY7, 1887.
Trewey relates many interesting anecdotes of contemporary French magicians whom he has met on his travels. He is literally a man without envy. His admiration for Buatier de Kolta was unbounded. They were close friends.
He once toured the Continent with the Hungarian conjurer, Velle, who was the first to give exhibitions within a marked circle, where the audience could gather on all sides. Velle impersonated Mephisto to perfection. Trewey and August Lassaigne were once partners. Lassaigne was born in Toulouse, in 1819. Besides being a magician he was an æronaut, having made 347 ascensions. He died in Montpellier in the year 1887.
When Trewey first toured the United States, under the management of Alexander Herrmann, he was very much annoyed by impostors, who advertised themselves asDrewey, but their performances were only weak imitations of the original—the merest shadows of a shade. In the wake of the whale follow little fishes—“pikers”—who grab at the crumbs dropped by the monarch of the sea, being too lazy or indifferent to find hunting seas of their own.
“Many amateurs are more skillful than professionals,” said Trewey to me. “I have in mind my friend Alexandre Asso, who was born in Paris in the year 1828. While a student, he once happened to be present at a soirée where M. Comte was giving an exhibition. He was so fascinated that he afterwards took lessons in legerdemain from the professor. When he finished his schooling, he entered the service of the Count de Nigra, then Ambassador to Italy, and remained with him for forty years, visiting London, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and other great capitals. Asso often entertained the Count and his friends with conjuring séances. In this way he amused society at nearly all the Courts of Europe, besides giving many entertainments for the benefit of the poor. In spite of his advanced age, he still keeps in practice as a conjurer at his villa at Asnières. He{347}retired from an active life in 1903. We see a great deal of each other.
ALEAFFROMTREWEY’SNOTEBOOK.
ALEAFFROMTREWEY’SNOTEBOOK.
“Then we have M. Pitau, a wine merchant, who studied legerdemain to amuse his friends and increase his custom. He was a capital guest at the hotel table. People loved to be seated near him, for he was not only skilful at hanky panky with glasses, plates, napkins, knives, corks, coins, etc., but he was a brilliant raconteur and a mimic. His most amusing trick was the following: He would place his hat over his plate, which held perhaps a chop and potatoes. Passing his hand under the hat he would bring forth several five-franc pieces. Then he would pass it a second time beneath the chapeau and bring out five or six gold one-hundred-franc pieces. Now he would exclaim: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I will give what is left on the plate for ten centimes.’ Lifting the hat, a child’s sock or an old shoe{348}would be seen, the chop and potatoes having vanished. This feat was always greeted with shouts of laughter. Pitau often gave entire performances for charitable purposes.”
Behind the scenes in an Egyptian temple would doubtless have revealed many curious secrets of natural magic to the uninitiated. Like all so-called sorcerers, the priests evidently compiled works on the subject of their art for the benefit of their successors. But not one of these has come down to us. Hermes Trismegistus is said to have written two myriads of books on the occult sciences. He was the Alexander Dumas of the Egyptian pantheon.
Trewey, an apt descendant of the ancient magi of the land of Mizraim, has compiled a ponderous folio of illusions and feats of juggling and legerdemain; a great manuscript volume of mysteries, the text of which is illustrated by pen-and-ink sketches by himself. Over two thousand magical experiments are described and explained in this tome of thaumaturgy, gathered from all sources, many of them being his own inventions, perhaps the majority of them. I know that this volume exists, for I have seen it and glanced over it. I have urged Trewey to publish the work. Perhaps he will some day, now that he has the leisure for literary labors. He is at present at work on his invention, theTreweyorama, which will be exhibited soon in Paris.