Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
750
Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
688
It
was
not
until
the
visit
of
the
Grand
Duke
Paul
of
Russia,
and
his
consort,
to
the
Court
of
Vienna,
that
the
chess
player
was
again
brought
to
light,
and
exhibited
by
the
wish
of
the
Empress.
The
royal
visitors
were
so
delighted
with
its
marvellous
performance
that
they
urged
Kempelen
to
permit
its
public
exhibition.
He
complied,
and
it
was
shown
in
various
parts
of
Germany
and
France,
and
in
1785
it
was
brought
to
England.
When
Kempelen
died,
about
1803,
the
figure
was
sold
by
his
son
to
Mons.
Marlzel,
and
in
1819
that
gentleman
brought
it
again
to
the
metropolis.
That
figure,
exhibited
some
time
ago
in
the
Crystal
Palace,
was
an
improvement
upon
Kempelen’s
Chess
Player.
The
following
is
a
description
of
the
original
Chess
Player:
The
room
in
which
it
was
exhibited
had
an
inner
apartment,
within
which
appeared
the
figure
of
a
Turk
of
the
natural
size,
sitting
behind
a
chest
3½
ft.
2
in.
breadth
and
2½
ft.
in
height.
To
this
was
attached
the
wooden
shelf
on
which
the
figure
sat.
The
chest
was
movable
on
casters,
and
could
be
moved
to
any
part
of
the
room.
On
its
top,
in
the
centre
of
the
chest,
was
an
immovable
chessboard,
upon
which
the
eyes
of
the
figure
were
always
fixed.
Its
right
hand
and
arm
were
extended
on
the
chest,
while
the
left,
slightly
raised,
held
a
long
pipe.
Two
doors
in
front
and
two
doors
in
the
back
of
the
chest
were
opened,
and
a
drawer
in
the
bottom
of
it,
containing
the
chess-men
and
a
cushion
whereon
to
place
the
arm
of
the
automaton,
was
pulled
out.
Two
smaller
doors
were
also
opened
in
the
body
of
the
figure,
and
a
lighted
candle
was
held
within
the
openings
thus
displayed.
This
was
repeated
at
the
conclusion
of
the
game,
if
the
spectators
so
wished.
The
chest
appeared
divided
by
a
partition
into
two
unequal
chambers,
that
on
the
right
being
the
narrowest,
and
occupying
one
third
of
the
whole.
It
was
full
of
small
wheels,
and
cylinders
and
levers.
That
to
the
left
contained
wheels,
barrels
with
springs,
and
two
quadrants
placed
horizontally.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
