Robert-Houdin was the magician that Houdini named himself after, his story is hard to pin down, because even his own memoir is written to be entertaining, not accurate. Part one covers his early life, marriages, and beginnings in magic. 

Research:

• Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin". Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Jun. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Eugene-Robert-Houdin
• “How to Do the Classic Cups & Balls Trick.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVXNCMdKs-Y&t=124s
• “ROBERT-HOUDIN TRIPLE MYSTERY CLOCK.” JACQUES NÈVE HORLOGER D'ART. https://www.horloger.net/purchase-sales/mystery-clocks/74-robert-houdin-triple-mystery-clock/
• Robert-Houdin, Jean-Eugène. “Memoirs of Robert-Houdin : ambassador, author, and conjurer.” Geo. G. Evans. Philadelphia. 1859. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42916/42916-h/42916-h.htm
• Evans, Henry Ridgely (2010) "Robert-Houdin. Conjuror, Author, and Ambassador.," The Open Court: Vol. 1903 : Iss. 12 , Article 3. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/ocj/vol1903/iss12/3
• “Houdin and the Arabs.” Scientific American, vol. 80, no. 13, 1899, pp. 202–202. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26121253
• “Witchcraft as Stagecraft.” New York Times. 1999. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/millennium/m1/teller.html
• Houdini, Harry. “The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin.” NEW YORK
  THE PUBLISHERS PRINTING CO. 1908. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42723/42723-h/42723-h.htm
• ONES, GRAHAM M. “Modern Magic and the War on Miracles in French Colonial Culture.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 52, no. 1, 2010, pp. 66–99. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40603072
• Fechner, Christian. “The Magic of Robert-Houdin: An Artist's Life.” Editions N.C.F.