[Kempelen, Wolfgang von] | Automaton and speech device

[Kempelen, Wolfgang von]

[C. F. Hindenburg]. Ueber den Schachspieler des Herrn von Kempelen. Nebst einer Abbildung und Beschreibung seiner Sprachmaschine. Leipzig: In der Johann Gottfried Müllerschen Buchhandlung, 1784

8vo (191 x 114 mm). Woodcut emblem on title-page, engraved folding plate of the talking machine at the end, printed in fraktur type; a little foxing on plate. Modern tan cloth-backed marbled boards.

First edition regarding Kempelen's chess playing automaton and machine for synthesizing speech. 

REFERENCE:

KB 4024; Schachlitteratur 1121; VDL Geschichte II, p.339

PROVENANCE:

Robert Blass (library stamp on flyleaf; his sale, Christie's South Kensington. Early Chess Literature from the Celebrated Library of the late Dr. Robert Blass of Zurich. 8 May 1992. III. The Modern Game. From Philidor to Nimzowitsch, lot 107)