Who was Bartolomeo Bosco?

Bartolomeo Bosco (1793–1863) was an Italian conjuror from Turin. As a young man he fought in Napoleon’s Russian campaign, was wounded at Borodino and held as a prisoner in Siberia, where he entertained with magic. After his release he toured Europe for decades, performing at royal courts, and became famous for the cups and balls. He died near Dresden in 1863, and Harry Houdini later worked to preserve his grave.

Bosco’s life reads like an adventure story, and some of it has probably grown in the telling. This post sticks to what at least two of our sources agree on, and flags the parts that sound like legend.

Where did Bartolomeo Bosco come from?

Bosco was born in Turin, in northern Italy, into a noble family. Wikipedia and a German biographical dictionary give his birth as 3 January 1793. An older article from 1918 gives 1790, but notes that his own tombstone says 1793.

What happened to him in Napoleon’s army?

Turin was under French rule when Bosco was a young man, and he served in Napoleon’s army. In 1812 he took part in the invasion of Russia and fought at the Battle of Borodino.

The famous story goes like this. Bosco was wounded by a Cossack’s lance and lay on the field pretending to be dead. When a Cossack began to rob him, Bosco quietly picked the robber’s pocket in return. Two of our sources tell it; a third calls the tales about his war years legends. It is a great story, so treat it as one.

How did he learn magic as a prisoner?

Bosco was taken prisoner and sent to Siberia. There, our sources agree, he entertained his fellow prisoners and his guards with sleight of hand, and sharpened his skills in the process.

He was released in 1814 and went home to Italy. He briefly studied medicine before turning to magic as his profession.

Where did Bosco perform?

Almost everywhere. For decades he toured across Europe and beyond, performing before royalty and heads of state. The Saxon biography lists stops in Germany, Russia, Poland, France, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Egypt and Constantinople, including a performance before the Austrian emperor.

He also had a close link with Dresden in Germany, where he spent his last years.

Why is Bosco linked to the cups and balls?

The cups and balls were his signature. Wikipedia describes him as known for “his adroitness with the famous cups and balls”, the Saxon biography credits him with a routine known as the “Bosco cups”, and the 1918 article calls the cups and balls his most famous trick.

The trick was already very old in Bosco’s day. The anonymous English book Hocus Pocus Junior taught “the play of the balls” in 1634, more than 150 years before he was born. Bosco didn’t create the cups and balls, but he became one of its most celebrated performers.

What did Robert-Houdin think of him?

Not much. The French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin admired Bosco’s skill with the cups, but he was disgusted by Bosco’s tricks with live birds. Robert-Houdin wrote about Bosco in a chapter of his Memoirs.

Years later, Harry Houdini defended Bosco in The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin (1908), arguing that Robert-Houdin had set out to belittle him. Both books are free in our store, so you can read both sides.

How did Bosco’s life end?

Bosco died near Dresden in March 1863. His son, Eugenio, also became a magician.

He was buried in Dresden. Decades later Harry Houdini took up the cause of his grave and worked to keep it from being lost, and our German source says it is still a place that magicians visit.

Why does Bosco matter today?

Bosco carried one of the oldest tricks in magic to royal courts across Europe and made it the centre of a star’s act. If you learn the cups and balls today, you are working in the same tradition he helped make famous.

What helps you take it further?

• Artistic Combo Cups and Balls (Brass) by TCC is a set of three brass cups (one a chop cup) with four crochet balls and a flannelette bag. It doesn’t include a tutorial, so pair it with a book.
• Memoirs of Robert-Houdin is a free 382-page PDF that includes his chapter on Bosco and the cups.
• The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin is Houdini’s free 373-page reply, full of history about the conjurors who came before.

Browse our cups and balls collection, read the history of the cups and balls, and learn more about Robert-Houdin and Harry Houdini.

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