Editing Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (section)

==Legacy==
[[Image:Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin museum (statue and display).jpg|thumb|right|300 px|This is the public "dragons" display at Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin's house in Blois, which has been turned into a museum. The "dragons" move in and out of the windows in a theatrical display. A statue of Robert-Houdin is at lower right.]]

His home in Blois is open to the public as the publicly owned [[La Maison de la Magie Robert-Houdin]]. It is a museum and theatre first opened by his grandson Paul Robert-Houdin in April 1966.<ref name="ref2"/> As a [[List of museums in France|museum of France]] and bearing the official label of "Musée de France", it is the only public museum in Europe that incorporates in one place collections of magic and a site for permanent performing arts.<ref name="ten">{{cite web |url=http://www.emd-net.com/actu/2008/06/11/Blois-la-Maison-de-la-Magie-fete-ses-dix-ans |title=Blois, The House of Magic Celebrates Ten Years |date=11 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102112626/http://www.emd-net.com/actu/2008/06/11/Blois-la-Maison-de-la-Magie-fete-ses-dix-ans |archive-date=2 January 2013 }}</ref><ref name="Central">{{cite web |url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.musees.regioncentre.fr/Les-musees.php%3FnavID%3D%26lang%3DFRA%26preprod%3D%26idcat%3DC%26idmusee%3DAAEC&ei=SeulTfzFH8bL0QGq_o3rCA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFIQ7gEwBjgK&prev=/search%3Fq%3DLa%2BMaison%2Bde%2Bla%2BMagie%2BRobert-Houdin%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1B3GGGL_en___US231%26prmd%3Divns |title=House of Magic Robert-Houdin |work=Museums in Central Region |publisher=Association of Personal scientific museums in the central region (APSMRC) |access-date=13 April 2011}}</ref> The creation of such a site is directly linked to the personality of Robert-Houdin.<ref name="Central"/><ref name="Saatchi">{{cite web |url=http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/museums/museum-profile/Maison+De+La+Magie+%28the+House+Of+Magic%29/423.html |title=House of Magic |work=Art Museums around the world |publisher=[[Saatchi Gallery]] |access-date=12 April 2011 |archive-date=16 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516152515/http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/museums/museum-profile/Maison+De+La+Magie+(the+House+Of+Magic)/423.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Several of Robert-Houdin's apparatuses, including automata and mystery clocks, reside in [[David Copperfield (illusionist)|David Copperfield]]'s private museum.<ref name="copperfield-2021">{{Cite book |last1=Copperfield |first1=David |author-link=David Copperfield (illusionist)|last2=Wiseman |first2=Richard |author-link2=Richard Wiseman |last3=Britland |first3=David |date=2021 |title=David Copperfield's History of Magic |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-9821-1291-2 |oclc=1236259508}}</ref>

In December 1852, the Theatre Robert-Houdin moved from its original location to the Boulevard des Italiens in Paris. Ownership passed from Hamilton to Cleverman (François Lahire), then to Robert-Houdin's son Émile. Emile was too busy to perform at the theatre, so he arranged for Pierre Edouard Brunnet to present the show.

After his death, Émile's widow sold the theatre to [[Georges Méliès]] in 1888. Méliès, himself a magician but best known to history as one of the greatest early innovators of film making, later presented his first movies there. He accidentally discovered [[stop-action]] special effects and presented his creation at the Theatre Robert-Houdin. One of his classics is ''[[A Trip to the Moon]]''. In 1924, the building was demolished.<ref name="ref2"/><ref name="Saatchi"/><ref name="Blois">{{cite web |url=http://www.chateauxtourisme.com/isla/chateaux/www/Fiches/Magie/index.htm |title=House of Magic – Blois (French) |access-date=12 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912065150/http://www.chateauxtourisme.com/isla/chateaux/www/Fiches/Magie/index.htm |archive-date=12 September 2011 }}</ref><ref name="chambord">{{cite web |url=http://www.bloispaysdechambord.com/en/fiches-element/visit-and-discovery/heritage/museums/maison-de-la-magie.html |title=Blois, Le Pays de Chambord, Maison de la Magie |access-date=13 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910205139/http://www.bloispaysdechambord.com/en/fiches-element/visit-and-discovery/heritage/museums/maison-de-la-magie.html |archive-date=10 September 2011 }}</ref>

Robert-Houdin's autobiography is ''The Memoirs of Robert-Houdin''. His life and works are also cited in [[Robertson Davies]]'s "[[The Deptford Trilogy|Deptford Trilogy]]", notably in the trilogy's third novel, ''[[World of Wonders (novel)|World of Wonders]]'', which takes place on the set of a movie about Robert-Houdin.

In his book ''Hiding the Elephant'', [[Jim Steinmeyer]] said that every magician of the 20th century was "haunted" by Robert-Houdin, "... who cast an enormous shadow over their generation".<ref name="ref6"/> Hungarian-American magician and escape artist [[Harry Houdini]] (born Ehrich Weiss) was so impressed by Robert-Houdin that, after reading his autobiography in 1890, Weiss adopted the stage name of "Houdini" in honour of Robert-Houdin. He incorrectly believed that an ''i'' on the end of a name meant "like" in French; but Houdini, his own career and reputation established by that time, later lost his youthful respect for Robert-Houdin, believing that he took undue credit for other magicians' innovations, and wrote ''[[The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin]]'' in 1908.<ref name="Unmasking">{{cite book |author=Houdini, Harry |url=https://archive.org/details/unmaskingrobert00houdgoog |title=The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin |year=1908 |place=New York |publisher=The Publisher's Printing Company |access-date=26 March 2011 |author-link=Harry Houdini |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

Robert-Houdin is often credited as being "the father of modern magic". Before him, magicians performed in marketplaces and fairs, for the lower classes, but Robert-Houdin performed magic in theatres and private parties for wealthier patrons.<ref name="copperfield-2021"/> He also chose to wear formal clothes, like those of his more upscale audiences, which has become a tradition for many modern magicians who wear [[tail-coat]]s.

Many cities have streets that bear his name: [[Blois]], [[Bourges]], [[Caen]], Paris (11th), [[Saint-Étienne]], and [[Saint-Gervais-la-Forêt]] in France; [[Monticiano]] in [[Siena]], Italy; and others.

<gallery widths="160px" heights="200px">
Image:Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin statue (Blois).jpg|Statue in front of Robert-Houdin's home in Blois
Image:Plaque Robert-Houdin, 11 rue de Valois, Paris 1.jpg|Commemorative plaque, 11 [[rue de Valois]] in Paris, where one could experience the ''Soirées fantastiques'' of Robert-Houdin
</gallery>