[2] It has been said that he was receiving so much attention from the elite of Paris with his magic shows, that word spread to Napoleon himself, who wanted Samuel to perform for him.

When Compars (also known as Carl) returned to his parents' home in Paris in 1853, he was thrilled to find out that his eight-year-old brother Alexander was already showing an interest in magic.

[5] Without his family's consent, Carl 'kidnapped' his younger brother and took him to Saint Petersburg, Russia to teach him the art of magic.

Alexander's duties consisted of being suspended in a horizontal position on top of a rod, performing as a blindfolded medium, and being lifted from an empty portfolio.

[citation needed] During their European excursion, Carl was teaching Alexander advanced sleight of hand techniques,[5] some of which he had learned from their father, others of which he had picked up on his own.

The posters of the time mentioned that Herrmann's "distinguishing feature is the entire absence of any apparatus, all effects being solely produced by extraordinary manual skill."

Western card-throwing techniques, as they are passed among performers today, are attributed to stage magicians in the late 19th century.

[6] When the American Civil War broke out, the Herrmanns left the United States for Central and South America.

[2] Alexander brought his own show to London in 1871 and began a three-year stretch at Egyptian Hall, which he called his "one thousand and one nights".

By the end of the 19th century, the Hall was also associated with magic and spiritualism, as a number of performers and lecturers had hired it for shows.

His intense eyes, imposing mustache and goatee gave him a satanic appearance; in person he looked like a magician.

(His date of birth given here contradicts records that show that he was born February 10, 1844, according to Herrmann expert James Hamilton).

[6] When friends would visit from Europe, he would pick them up in his yacht, Fra Diavolo, which he moored in Long Island Sound.

[10] To achieve most of his tricks in the first act, Herrmann would rely on what is referred to in magic as "body loads", one of the seven principles of sleight of hand.

Emperor Don Pedro II of Brazil attended nineteen performances in Rio de Janeiro.

The newly crowned Herrmann the Great gave a command performance for Czar Alexander III of Russia.

Two years later, while in New York, Alexander was shocked to hear the news of the death of his brother Carl, who died on July 8, 1887, in Karlsbad in Germany.

"Whenever I open a new theatre, " Leavitt once said, "I want to insure of large crowds, I will have Herrmann the Great play the date."

He was always a drawing card wherever he played, receiving fifty percent of the gross receipt and earning $75,000 a year (about $3 million in today's figures).

Even though he tried to prove that his original name was Keller with an e and changed years ago so not to be confused with his friend Heller, the public was still cold to him.

He claimed that much of the expense for transportation costs was for sending antique furniture and other curios back to Herrmann's home in Long Island.

When the firing mechanism was activated, the gunpowder exploded and caused the lead ball to project forward down the barrel like a miniature cannon shot.

In truth, most versions of the trick had either a fake bullet inserted into the gun, or had the ball secretly removed immediately before discharge.

Herrmann announced in May 1896 that he would attempt the bullet catch for the seventh time on the stage of the Olympia Theatre as part of a fundraiser for the Sick Babies Fund.

When the manager of the Chicago Opera House needed three thousand dollars, he met the debt by sending him a check.

Between shows, an agent pleaded with him to meet the overdue hotel bills of a theatrical company that was stranded in Rochester.

The next day, he located the train and waved goodbye to his friends who had ridden with him from his private carriage to the railroad station.

The Herrmann name still drew crowds, but because of clashes of temperament, Leon and Adelaide parted company after three seasons and continued separate acts.

Leon's show failed to draw audiences, and this decline led to Kellar taking over the mantle of the leading magician in America.

In contrast, Adelaide Herrmann continued to perform as a successful solo magician for the next 25 years, and became known as "The Queen of Magic".