The Writer

More than 200 years ago, the Swiss watchmaker Pierre Jaquet-Dro created an amazing doll with a complex mechanism that allows him to write words. "The Writer" works to everyone to this day. The automaton doll appeared in the 1770s, for that time it was a real breakthrough.

The creator of the "robot" Pierre Jaquet-Dro was born in 1721. Even in his young years, he became interested in watch mechanics and began to make watches with complex mechanisms. Later, Pierre even began to make music boxes. Crucial in his life was a meeting with Milord Mareshal, who seeing what the watchmaker is capable of, and then invited Pierre to demonstrate his inventions abroad. Mareshal helped the watchmaker arrange a meeting with the King of Spain.

To show the king something amazing, Pierre and his assistants made a special watch that fought off time on their own. Then, Pierre Jaquet-Dro presented this watch to the King of Spain. They caused a great stir and so liked the king and his entourage, that the watchmaker was bought all the copies of the watch brought to him. As a result of such sales, Pierre has made 2,000 gold pistols. For this money, returning home, he was able to afford to start the creation of automatons.

In the 1770s, Pierre produced several automaton dolls, the most interesting of which were "The Writer," "The Artist", and "The Musician." In 1773, "The Writer" was created. This is a mechanical doll that sits at a desk and carefully, methodically displays certain phrases on paper with a pen. At the same time, the doll looks off the pen when it goes to the inkwell. The Writer also knows how to dust off the ink, remove the painted paper, and watch the pen move. Pierre presented his creation at the court of King Louis XVI. The doll immediately became very popular, so soon Pierre and his assistants began to conscious of new automatons.

Source: Andrey's Letter