Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Specimen of writing by an automaton : manuscript signed "The Automaton."

BIB_ID
443414
Accession number
MA 14364
Display Date
England?, undated
Credit line
Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987.
Description
1 item (1 page) ; 13 x 15.3 cm
Notes
Writing specimen consisting of four lines of verse written in ink by an automaton, most likely the "Draughtsman-Writer" exhibited by the Swiss mechanician Henri Maillardet (1745-1830) and currently in the collection of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA; or possibly the "Androides" automaton exhibited in Ireland, England, and the United States by the Irish organ-builder and impresario Marsden Haddock (1759?-1829).
Formerly housed in a folder of letters addressed to Edward Evans and members of the Evans family firm of printsellers.
Provenance
Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987.
Summary
Four lines of verse within a decorative oval flourish signed "The Automaton scrt.": Unerring is my hand tho' small / May I not add with truth / I do my best to please you all, / Encourage then my Youth.