Origin of the word prestidigitateur

Origin and definition of the word prestidigitator

The word "prestidigitator" (which by extension gave rise to "prestidigitation") is formed from the Latin words presto (agility) and digiti (fingers). A prestidigitator is therefore, by its very essence, an artist who, through more or less complex—but often secret—manipulations, manages to amaze the spectator with a magic trick. One might wonder about the real difference between a prestidigitator, illusionist, magician, or even the older term "escamoteur" (conjurer). While these words fundamentally refer to the same type of artist, it is generally considered that a prestidigitator performs tricks based primarily on hand manipulations, whereas the terms illusionist and magician are more vague and more readily encompass the art in its broader form. Finally, the term "escamoteur" mainly refers to the figure of the thimblerigger, particularly around the 19th century, when this term was more commonly used than it is today. We could also have mentioned the terms "physicien" (physicist/natural philosopher in the context of "amusing physics") or "joueur de gobelets" (cup and ball player). Let's simply remember that nowadays, all these terms are more or less synonyms for designating the magician as we understand it.

Engraving depicting a conjurer (from the Centre de Recherche sur la Prestidigitation collection)

A blurred origin

A debate exists regarding the origin of this term and its inventor. The word "prestidigitator" reportedly first appeared under the impetus of Jules de Rovère, a 19th-century French magician, who prominently featured this new term in his show advertisements.

The famous magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin (see a dedicated blog post about his life here), a contemporary of Jules de Rovère, himself attributes its paternity to him in his memoirs:

"[...] Jules de Rovère, who first used a word generally employed today to qualify a renowned conjurer. Jules de Rovère was the son of noble parents, as indicated by the particle preceding his name. When he took to the stage, the aristocratic natural philosopher desired a title commensurate with his birth. [...] One day, on a huge show poster, the pompous title of 'prestidigitator' appeared for the first time; the poster simultaneously gave the etymology of this word: presto digiti (agility of the fingers). [...] This word, as well as 'prestidigitation' by the same author, was promptly adopted by Jules de Rovère's colleagues, so captivated were they by such beautiful names."

Who better than Robert-Houdin to know the magical landscape of that era, especially since he himself admits to having met Jules de Rovère in person at the prop dealer Roujol's?

While Robert-Houdin states in his memoirs that the word "prestidigitator" was created by Jules de Rovère in 1815, the first known occurrence is found in an article in the Journal de Lyon dated May 21, 1819, which mentions the arrival of carriages – on the 17th of the current month – one of which bore the inscription: "Post coach, part of the equipage of Mr. Jules Rovère, PRESTIDIGITATOR."

While these numerous clues tend to indicate that Jules de Rovère did indeed invent the word, formal proof will certainly remain forever elusive. However, another term, "prestigiator" – very close to "prestidigitator" – existed well before Jules de Rovère, as it can be found as early as 1611, in A dictionarie of the french and english tongues compiled by Randle Cotgrave. Did Jules de Rovère draw inspiration from this word to use "prestidigitator" on his posters? In any case, it cannot be denied that it is to Jules de Rovère that we owe the nascent popularity of the term, a popularity that grew increasingly with the public to the point that the words "prestidigitator" and "prestidigitation" appeared in 1823 in the Dictionnaire universel de la langue française. For the definition of the term, the dictionary's author (Pierre Boiste) explains that a prestidigitator is a person "who performs subtle tricks with their fingers, a conjurer."

The debate on the origin of the term "prestidigitator"

A little later in 1819, a press article mentions the performances of artists Olivier and Châlon with a detail that raises questions:

"[...] Mr. Olivier always filled the interval between scenes with very skillfully executed tricks of dexterity and conjuring; and, although he did not take the name of Prestidigitator, he certainly deserves it, in my opinion, as much as Mr. Challon, who only has the added benefit of a patent of invention for having created a new word, in favor of conjurers who blush to simply take the name of their profession. For my part, I think he should have thought of new tricks rather than new names."

Thus, this article, although later than the Journal de Lyon where the word prestidigitator first appeared, seems to indicate that the magician Châlon Maffey was the inventor of this new term. While it is true that the artist used this new term in his advertisements contemporary to those of Jules de Rovère, the first occurrence found to date remains about the latter. While strictness would require us to mention this fact, we will therefore discard the Châlon Maffey hypothesis in favor of attributing paternity to Jules de Rovère.

Subsequently, the term "prestidigitation" was increasingly used by many artists to the point of almost completely replacing "amusing physics" and "conjuring."

Photograph of Bénita Anguinet's theater stage with a large number of magic props

Some synonyms to describe an illusionist

Here is a list of what we consider to be synonyms for the term "prestidigitator":

• Illusionist
• Magician
• Physicist (in the sense of amusing physics)
• Conjuror (Escamoteur)
• Cup and ball player
• Mentalist if the experiments presented are of the order of mental magic

Some names of famous magicians from all eras

Without any hierarchy or exhaustiveness, we provide here a list of some names who have made their mark over the years. Whatever one may say, these artists have marked an era, or even history, whether for their stage magic performances or, later, close-up magic.

Robert-Houdin; Buatier de Kolta; Bénita Anguinet (see the book published about her here); Dai Vernon; Doug Henning; Maskelyne; David Devant; P. T. Selbit (who popularized the sawing a woman in half trick)...