Chapter XIV: The Enchanted Portfolio

Every one knows that it is an axiom of physics, that that which is contained is smaller than that which contains it, and conversely. This incontestible truth, or axiom, however, appears to receive a practical contradiction from the trick which we are about to discuss. The reader will be enabled to form his own opinion on the subject from a perusal of the brief descriptive sketch with which I propose to preface my technical explanation.

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The magician comes forward with a drawing portfolio under his arm, rests it on slight trestles placed well forward on the stage, and takes from it in succession,--

1. Sundry engravings.

2. A couple of elegant bonnets, the one of black velvet, with a white feather, the other of pink satin trimmed with flowers.

3. Four live doves.

4. Three large stewpans, one filled with haricot beans, another with water, and the third with fire.

5. A cage, with a number of canary birds flying from perch to perch.

6. A child of five or six years old.

It should be specially mentioned that the portfolio is at most not more than an inch and a quarter thick, and that the performer closes it each time, after producing one of the objects above mentioned.

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Before proceeding to give the explanations necessary for the performance of the trick, it will be as well to first describe its scenic arrangement, with the addition of the “patter” which serves to give colour to the appearance of the articles.

When the portfolio has been placed on the trestles, and the ribbons have been untied, you commence by producing an engraving representing a charming half-length portrait of a lady, life-size, but without head-dress. You close the portfolio.

“I observe,” you remark, “that the lady has come out of the portfolio bareheaded. Probably she forgot to bring out her bonnet with her. Ah, yes! here it is.”

You produce the first bonnet, and close the portfolio. “This bonnet is for winter wear; it should surely be accompanied by one for summer also.”

You open the portfolio again, and produce a satin bonnet; close the portfolio, immediately opening it again and taking out another drawing representing a bird--

“Ah, here is a bird. It is pretty certain that we shall find none but pictorial specimens here. However, here is a dove which has tried to get in; but, good Heavens, in what a sad condition!”

You here exhibit a stuffed dove crushed quite flat.

“It is dead! But I see there is another, which has resisted the pressure. This one seems lively enough.”

You exhibit it, then another, and another, and lastly a fourth. You have in this way produced four doves, which you place in succession on the edges of the portfolio, which has remained open. (At night doves are so docile that they do not flutter about, but remain just where they happen to be placed.) After having put them on one side, you close the portfolio; then, an instant later, open it again, and take out a drawing representing two cooks, fighting with stewpans.

“Aha, here is a row in the kitchen.[50] The culinary utensils cannot be very far off. In fact, here is a large stewpan filled with haricot beans.”

You take out the article in question, and place it on a side table, then, returning to the portfolio, you take out another stewpan, full of water.

“Ah, no doubt this is the water they were going to put the haricots in, it is quite boiling.”

(You dip your finger in, and withdraw it smartly, though the water is not really hot.)

“--And no wonder, for here is the fire with which it was boiled.”

You take out the third stewpan, and place it on one side with the other, and close the portfolio, almost immediately opening it again.

“Here is an article which I had forgotten to take out.”

You produce the cage full of birds, which you bring forward to the audience for inspection. On going back to the stage, you give a smart rap on the portfolio, which has remained open.

“Nothing here now, at any rate,” you remark. “Neither anything nor anybody.”

“Yes, there _is_ somebody,” says the child, lifting his little head above the edge of the portfolio; “and I should like to come out and get a little air, for it’s terribly close in here.”

You take out the child, and instantly come forward to show the spectators the inside of the portfolio, which does not differ in any respect from ordinary portfolios.

This trick requires great neatness of execution to perform it satisfactorily, particularly as to the production of the child.

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_Explanation._ Of the various articles which are produced from the portfolio, some are placed there beforehand, and the remainder are introduced during the course of the trick. The former are the drawings, the bonnets, the flattened dove, the cover or false bottom of the stewpan, containing the beans, and the cage. The latter are the stewpans, the living doves, and the child.

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_Preparation and Arrangement of the various objects prior to the execution of the trick._--The portfolio, as we have already stated, has an external thickness of an inch and a quarter. This allows about three-quarters of an inch of inside space for the concealment of the different objects. The portfolio is made of very stiff mill-board. (Latterly I substituted for the pasteboard a couple of pieces of sheet-iron covered with paper and leather, which, while affording greater strength, gained an additional sixth part of an inch of internal space.) As is frequently the case in portfolios, in order to protect the works of art within, a piece of green cloth was attached to one of the outer edges, and thence spread over the interior. This cloth flap, (whose purpose we shall presently explain,) instead of being laid _over_ the various articles, is placed under them. At one side, just within the portfolio, is a jointed elbow-piece, holding the portfolio, when occasion requires, open at an angle of 45° to 50°.

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_The Engravings._--These serve to hide the movements which the performer makes in taking from his own person the articles which are introduced into the portfolio. The better to serve this purpose, they are pasted upon thin sheets of cardboard, in order to give them some little stiffness.

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_The Ladies’ Bonnets._--These are made upon skeletons of watch spring, bent to a form corresponding with the prevailing fashion. By the aid of a slit which is made down the back of the bonnet, it may be spread out and laid flat in the portfolio, taking up scarcely any room in point of thickness. Before it is produced, and while it is yet hidden by the portfolio, it spontaneously re-assumes its proper shape, while the hinder part, which works on a hinge, also resumes its position. A hook and eye secure the whole in a substantial manner.

At the date when I first invented this trick, it was the fashion to wear very large bonnets, which gave additional effect to the illusion.

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_The Stewpans._--These, when they are taken out of the portfolio, appear to be all of the same size, but in reality they are made to fit one within another. Their handles each terminate with a bent portion, which fitting one within another, make one only, and may thus be attached simultaneously to the stewpans, as will be explained shortly. We proceed to show how, at a given moment, they are made to contain fire, water, and haricot beans.

In order to facilitate our explanation we will call the largest stewpan No. 1, the next in size No. 2, and the smallest No. 3.

No. 3 is destined to hold water. To that end, after it has been filled with that liquid, it is covered over with a piece of waterproof cloth, tied strongly round the edge with thread, after the manner of a pot of preserves. In order that there shall be no fear of the thread slipping, a slender bead of brass wire is soldered all round the edge. There is, however, a gap in this wire bead, at the point of junction with the handle, for a space of about a couple of inches. This enables the performer to get the cover off with greater ease, by taking hold of it at this point. No. 2 is provided with a false top of three-quarters of an inch deep, a sort of hollow cover which just fits into the stewpan. When this false top is filled with haricot beans and placed in the stewpan, it makes the latter appear quite full of beans. Stewpan No. 1 has no speciality. This is destined to contain fire, as will be explained in due course.

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_The Four Doves._--These are placed in a little bag of so simple a construction as scarcely to need any explanation. They are each stowed in a separate compartment which partly covers them. These compartments are placed in rows of two each, one above the other, forming a package of regular shape, and but little bulk. A hook of iron wire, three and a half inches long, is so arranged as to keep the package closed as long as it is suspended; but as soon as the doves are placed within the portfolio the whole simultaneously opens, and the doves are free.

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_The Bird Cage._--It would demand too great a space to give an exact description of this cage;[51] but I doubt not I shall be able to give the reader a sufficiently clear idea of it from the explanation which follows.

The cage has four larger and two smaller sides, the former constituting the top, bottom, and two of the sides. The four larger sides of the cage, instead of being made solid at their angles, are hinged one to another, thereby allowing the cage to be flattened out, and so present but very little thickness. The two smaller sides, or ends, are also movable, but are attached to the cage by one side only, and serve to keep the whole in position when restored to its proper shape. The bottom of the cage is of sheet-iron, and so arranged as to allow sufficient space to accommodate the canaries even in its flattened condition.

When the performer unfolds the cage, he quickly closes the two smaller sides, so that the birds shall not have time to escape. The handle of the cage is also on hinges, so as to lie flat when necessary.

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_The Child._--The child, at a particular moment, places himself in the portfolio without the spectators perceiving it; in fact, he is, so to speak, shot into it, after the manner we are about to describe.

On the side towards which the portfolio opens, and immediately beneath its outer edge, a small trap, working on hinges, is cut in the floor of the stage. Beneath this trap is placed, in a vertical position, an oblong box, in which the child stands erect. The bottom is movable, and may be elevated by a lever so as to raise the child to a level with the portfolio. We shall see later on the manner in which the operation is effected.

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_Preparation of the Portfolio before its Introduction on the Stage._--You first spread the cloth flap, over the inside of the portfolio; and then place thereon the following articles:--

1. The flattened cage with the birds inside.

2. By the side of the cage, the false top of the stewpan, filled with
haricot beans.

3. The picture of the battle between the cooks.

4. The flattened dove.

5. The “bird” picture.

6. The two bonnets, flattened out, and laid side by side.

7. The “young lady” picture.

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_Preparation of the Stewpans._--Fill stewpan No. 3 with water, cover it over, and tie on the cover as already explained. Place at the bottom of No. 1 a little bag made of very thin paper, and filled with a powder which, when burnt, produces a red flame.[52] A quick-match, communicating with the powder, projects from the bag, so as to be quickly set fire to; for which purpose a lucifer match is placed beside the bag in the stewpan. This done, you place the stewpans one within another.

The doves, as already stated, are placed in a bag, so as to form a single parcel.

When you are about to perform the trick, you hook the group of stewpans on to a wire staple which you have behind you, beneath your coat, as explained in my work entitled “_Les secrets de la prestidigitation_,” pp. 397, 405.[53] The doves are hooked on in like manner, so as to rest immediately above the stewpans.

All these arrangements being made, and yourself equipped as above, you take the portfolio and make your entrance on the stage. Then, after having placed the portfolio upon the trestles, you proceed to extract the various objects, making the most of your “patter,” as already described.

_First time of opening._--The young lady’s portrait, and the two bonnets.

_Second time of opening._--The bird picture. In the act of lifting the drawing above the portfolio, as though merely taking it out with the left hand, the performer’s body is for the moment masked by the portfolio, and he avails himself of the opportunity to rapidly unhook the bag with the doves, and place it within the portfolio.

_Third time of opening._--The representation of the “row in the kitchen” serves in like manner to mask the body while the group of stewpans is introduced into the portfolio. Once fairly introduced, they are then placed side by side. The false bottom, with the haricot beans, is slipped into No. 2. Before bringing out No. 1, you strike the match and set light to the composition, inducing the belief that the stewpan is quite full of fire.

_Fourth time of opening._--You put the cage in shape, and produce it from the portfolio, which from this point remains open, being supported by the jointed elbow-piece.

Here begins a little bit of acting, designed to facilitate the introduction of the child into the portfolio without detection by the spectators. The performer comes quickly forward to the audience in order to exhibit the cage, and passing his hand within it, makes believe to be about to distribute the birds, exclaiming:

“What lady or gentleman would like to have one of them?”

The spectators, thinking the trick concluded, and, on the other hand, each wishing to have one of the little birds, have all their attention concentrated on the cage. Meanwhile, however, this is what takes place on the stage: The conjuror’s assistant, who is close to the portfolio at the moment when the cage is taken therefrom, watching his opportunity when the whole attention of the public is directed to the cage, lets fall from the portfolio the green cloth flap, which hangs down to the ground, and thereby hides the space between the portfolio and the flooring. Taking his cue from this, a person placed at the “wing” moves the lever of which I have already spoken, and thereby “shoots” the child, so to speak, up to the level of the portfolio, into which he instantly creeps. His entrance once effected, the assistant coolly lifts up the cloth again, as though setting right a mere accident.

The whole movement was executed on my stage with such promptitude, that even to a spectator who, we will suppose, had never taken his eyes from the portfolio, there was nothing more than the bare fact of a cloth accidentally dropped, and immediately picked up again. I have often timed the introduction of the child, which did not occupy more than four seconds.[54]

I have treated this trick at considerable length, as being one of my special favourites, and because I regard it as being one of the most astonishing that can be exhibited to an audience.

FOOTNOTES:

[50] “_Une batterie de cuisine._” The pun of the original is unavoidably lost in translation.--ED.

[51] Robert-Houdin elsewhere states that this cage, which, in fact, formed the germ of the trick, was the invention of an amateur, M. Bouly, of Cambrai. The remaining effects were added by Robert-Houdin himself.--ED.

[52] The red-fire powder is composed as follows:--1. Nitrate of strontian, in powder, and carefully dried, 20 parts; 2. Gum benzoin, 4 parts; 3. Flower of sulphur, dried, 1 part.--R.-H.

[53] In the English version, “_The Secrets of Conjuring and Magic_” (Routledge), the corresponding passages will be found at pp. 358, 367.--ED.

[54] We can confirm the above statement from personal experience, having had the opportunity of seeing the trick performed in Paris by M. Robert-Houdin the younger. Some of the details, as above described, were omitted, but the introduction of the child was retained; and, though fully conversant, theoretically with the _modus operandi_, found it difficult to believe, until assured by the event, that the child had been introduced in the mere moment of time during which the piece of cloth was permitted to hang down from the edge of the portfolio.

The ingenuity of later inventors has added new incidents to the trick. One is the production of a large five-branch chandelier, with lighted candles, as shown in Fig. 33. The central rod, or stem, of the chandelier is telescopic, one part sliding within the other. The five arms, which are slightly unequal in length, work on this as a pivot, folding flat one against the other, as shown in Fig. 34, and in that condition occupy but very little space. The candles, the wicks of which are touched with paraffin or turpentine, to cause them to ignite readily, are lighted with an ordinary lucifer under cover of the portfolio, before the chandelier is expanded into the shape in which it is afterwards produced.

Another object, which is now frequently produced from the portfolio, is a square fernery with glass sides, standing about 15 inches high, and of the appearance depicted in Fig. 35. The framework of the fernery is made of tin. The feet--which are not solid at the angles, as they at first sight appear to be, but each consist of two separate pieces of tin--may be folded flat against the bottom, and the top and sides in like manner fold, down one by one, the whole occupying ultimately a space of little more than an inch deep. Of the ferns, the greater number are glued flat against the glass sides, while a few in the centre are attached to a spring flap, folding down with the sides, but rising as soon as these are lifted.--ED.