The Salon de Magie Part IV

Lot #428:

MÉLIÈS, Georges (1861 – 1938). Autograph Letter Signed by G...

MÉLIÈS, Georges (1861 – 1938). Autograph Letter Signed by Georges Méliès. Dated October 20, 1915 and written entirely in the filmmaker's hand on Theatre Robert-Houdin letterhead, the message (translated from the French) reads, in part, “It is hardly possible for me to give you the information you desire … [about] all that has transpired in the gold old theatre “Robert-Houdin" since its foundation. The fact remains that I do not have the time. We are showing here at Montreuil in a theatre which I own, at a benefit for the Red Cross …. Our cast comprises artists from the Odeon and the Colonial Musicians. … I had inserted in my older programmes a printed resume which give about all the details which you need… ." One 8vo sheet listing Méliès as the director of the theatre. SIGNED on the verso, “Receive, my dear sir, my very sincere salutation, G. Méliès." A SCARCE autograph of this important figure in the history of magic and motion pictures.

Remembered for his pioneering work as a filmmaker, Méliès began his career as a conjuror and director of the Theatre Robert-Houdin in Paris, where he presented many of Robert-Houdin's greatest feats and automatons, in addition to routines and magical plays of his own devising. It was Méliès' background as a magician that led him to develop many of the scenes and scenarios in his most famous films, and inspired him to invent many early special effects in motion pictures.