Martan
Causes de l'invisibilité que l'on montre, place Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois
Journal des débats et des décrets, Paris 10 march 1800, p. 2.
1 volume available
Letter signed Martan, printed in the feuilleton, on the invisible woman shown at place Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, at the corner of rue des Prêtres (Doctor Laurent). The author rejects the explanations of the cupboard in the wall and of the speaking tube put forward by other newspapers and argues, with 'many savants', that the person, very small but not a dwarf, is hidden in the glass chest itself, made invisible by the glass panes as in the 'lunette magique' (the elbowed spyglass); he mentions an amateur who lost six hundred francs betting that the woman was hidden in the attic. An editor's note judges this explanation even less plausible than the others. Full transcription and Italian translation.
Language
French
