The Origins of Cyberspace collection described as lots 1-255 will first be offered as a single lot, subject to a reserve price. If this price is not reached, the collection will be immediately offered as individual lots as described in the catalogue as lots 1-255.
[ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATA]. -- BREWSTER, David (1781-1868). Letters on natural magic addressed to Sir Walter Scott, Bart. London: John Murray, 1832. 19th-century half morocco, marbled boards. This account of amazing inventions and bizarre phenomena includes an account of Babbage's Difference Engine no. 1 on pages 291-96. Brewster viewed the small working portion of the Difference Engine that Babbage had assembled in 1832, and he watched it perform some limited calculations. He also noted that the complete plans for the engine covered four hundred square feet. Also included in this work are well-written accounts of the genuine eighteenth-century automata built by Jacques de Vaucanson and Wolfgang von Kempelen (pp. 199-211). Among these are Vaucanson's flute player and duck, and von Kempelen's speech synthesizer. There is also an usually detailed analysis of von Kempelen's chess-playing "automaton," which was in reality a fake operated by a concealed dwarf (pp. 269-90). OOC 47.
Details
[ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATA]. -- BREWSTER, David (1781-1868). Letters on natural magic addressed to Sir Walter Scott, Bart. London: John Murray, 1832. 19th-century half morocco, marbled boards. This account of amazing inventions and bizarre phenomena includes an account of Babbage's Difference Engine no. 1 on pages 291-96. Brewster viewed the small working portion of the Difference Engine that Babbage had assembled in 1832, and he watched it perform some limited calculations. He also noted that the complete plans for the engine covered four hundred square feet. Also included in this work are well-written accounts of the genuine eighteenth-century automata built by Jacques de Vaucanson and Wolfgang von Kempelen (pp. 199-211). Among these are Vaucanson's flute player and duck, and von Kempelen's speech synthesizer. There is also an usually detailed analysis of von Kempelen's chess-playing "automaton," which was in reality a fake operated by a concealed dwarf (pp. 269-90). OOC 47.
[With:] COHEN, John. Human robots in myth and science. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1966. Original violet cloth, pictorial dust-jacket. OOC 537. -- REICHARDT. Robots: Fact, fiction and prediction. [London] Thames and Hudson, 1978. [Harmondsworth, Middlesex, U.K.:] Penguin Books, 1978. Original pictorial soft covers. OOC 857. -- REICHARDT. Robots: Fact, fiction and prediction. [Harmondsworth, Middlesex, U.K.:] Penguin Books, 1978. Original pictorial soft covers. OOC 858. -- CLEATOR, Philip E. The robot era. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, [1955]. Original black cloth, pictorial dust-jacket. OOC 535. -- COOKE, Conrad William. Automata old and new. London: Chiswick Press, 1893. Later blue cloth. No. 147 of 225 copies. OOC 279. -- CHAPUIS, Alfred and Droz, Edmond. Automata: A historical and technological study. Translated by Alec Reid. Neuchatel: Editions du Griffon; New York: Central Book Company, 1958. Original red cloth. OOC 529.
[With:] COHEN, John. Human robots in myth and science. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1966. Original violet cloth, pictorial dust-jacket. OOC 537. -- REICHARDT. Robots: Fact, fiction and prediction. [London] Thames and Hudson, 1978. [Harmondsworth, Middlesex, U.K.:] Penguin Books, 1978. Original pictorial soft covers. OOC 857. -- REICHARDT. Robots: Fact, fiction and prediction. [Harmondsworth, Middlesex, U.K.:] Penguin Books, 1978. Original pictorial soft covers. OOC 858. -- CLEATOR, Philip E. The robot era. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, [1955]. Original black cloth, pictorial dust-jacket. OOC 535. -- COOKE, Conrad William. Automata old and new. London: Chiswick Press, 1893. Later blue cloth. No. 147 of 225 copies. OOC 279. -- CHAPUIS, Alfred and Droz, Edmond. Automata: A historical and technological study. Translated by Alec Reid. Neuchatel: Editions du Griffon; New York: Central Book Company, 1958. Original red cloth. OOC 529.
Further details
For further information about The Origins of Cyberspace Library and to view the reference catalogue, please visit https://www.historyofscience.com.