Su gli automi de’ signori padre e figlio Droz, elveti e su due recentissimi effalmatori che ora viaggiar fannosi per Italia a pubblico-prezzolata mostra di se: Dissertazione archeologica con note critiche et spiegative ...

The automata were created between 1768 and 1774 by Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-1790), his son Henri-Louis and Jean-Frédéric Leschot, and at the time of the publication owned and exhibited by the French showman Auguste Bullot. The book contains a detailed description of the three life-like automaton dolls and the automaton grotto. 1. The musician, a female organ player. The music is not recorded or played by a musical box. The doll plays a genuine, custom-built instrument by pressing the keys with her fingers. Movements of her chest show her "breathing", and she follows her fingers with her head and eyes. The automaton also makes some of the movements that a real player would do, such as balancing the torso. 2. The draughtsman, a young boy. He is capable of drawing four different images: a portrait of Louis XV, a royal couple (believed to be Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI), a dog with "Mon toutou" ("my doggy") written beside it, and a scene with a cupid driving a chariot pulled by a butterfly. The draughtsman works by using a system of cams that code the movements of the hand in two dimensions, plus one to lift the pencil. The automaton also moves on his chair, and he periodically blows on the pencil to remove dust. 3. The writer, a young boy. It is the most complex of the three automata. Using a system similar to the one used for the draughtsman for each letter, he is able to write any custom text up to 40 letters long. The text is coded on a wheel where characters are selected one by one. He uses a goose feather to write, which he inks from time to time, including a shake of the wrist to prevent ink from spilling. His eyes follow the text being written, and his head moves when he takes some ink. 4. A representation of the contrast of art and nature, an elaborate grotto, with an assemblage of rocks, parterres, cottages, and pieces of architecture with moving elements. The three automaton dolls are nowadays housed in the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, the automaton grotto got lost. Without the list of printed books by the publisher Sormani from Voghera on numbered pages 87-96 found a in few copies. A fine copy in its publishing state with a manuscript note on front paste down mentioning an exhibition of the automata in Bologna in november 1828. A rare volume on the Droz automata.