Papers, 1828-1830.

  1. Resources
  2. View Resource

ArchivalResource

Papers, 1828-1830.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/207152067

The collection of twenty-seven documents and letters refers to an exhibition from 1828 to 1830 which toured Albany, New Orleans, and Nashville. Included are several legal documents and inventories, wherein Maelzel sold his automaton dancers, speaking figures, and panorama of the conflagration of Moscow to three Boston men, John Lilley ( - ), Samuel Curtis ( - ), and Washington Parker Gregg (1802-1892). The correspondence, written mainly by John Passarow ( - ), manager of the New Orleans show, deals with hall rentals, descriptions of panoramas and automated figures, but also with Passarow's efforts to urge the Boston owners to purchase or at least to duplicate Maelzel's "chess-player." These letters also resolve a controversy discussed by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) in his review of the "chess-player" in the _Southern Literary Messenger_, April 1836, in which he charged that the machine was manipulated by a man located inside. Passarow's letter of 11 November 1829 discusses the problem of finding a man skilled enough in the game of chess to manipulate successfully the so-called automaton.

1 folder (27 items)

Gadsden Public Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7000523

Gadsden Public Library

Related Entities

There are 5 Entities related to this resource.

Mälzel, Johann Nepomuk, 1772-1838

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mq3017 (person)

John Nepomuk Maelzel (1772-1838), born in Germany, was a music teacher and an expert manufacturer of musical instruments, including a chronometer, and the metronome. He turned to automated instruments in 1805, inventing his own and purchasing Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen's (1734-1804) "automated chess-player" for purposes of exhibition in America beginning in 1826. From the description of Papers, 1828-1830. (American Antiquarian Society). WorldCat record id: 207152067 ...

Curtis, Samuel, of South Perrot, in Dorsetshire

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zc95kd (person)

Aviator. From the description of Reminiscences of Samuel Curtis : oral history, [197-?]. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122528458 ...

Lilley, John

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m69g88 (person)

Epithet: of the Stepney Board of Guardians British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000361.0x0003db ...

Gregg, Washington Parker, 1802-1892

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60p8vj8 (person)

Washington Parker Gregg (1802-1892) published Picolilly ... (Boston, 1823) and The Railroad Laws and Charters of the U.S. ... (Boston, 1851). From the description of Literary papers, 1823-1853. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 207140750 ...

Passarow, John.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s25z6t (person)