Automata Hardcover – May 23, 2017

When I first opened this book and the cover page was a delicate tissue type paper, I knew that I was embarking on something special. This book is both beautiful and interesting. I found it hard to put down on my first read through. It features a rich history of mechanical marvels, as well as many beautiful illustrations.

Ordered this book because I'm studying automata through the ages. The promise was there of a detailed study, but when it arrived I'm afraid it didn't satisfy on those grounds. There is an authoritative and well presented history, but it's mainly stuff you can find elsewhere for a much keener price. Where it leads to is Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine, a modern (2017) stunning beautiful jewelry automata. Worth googling for if you are unaware of it - it's stunning, and like this book, very, very expensive.That's not to say that the production of the book isn't worth it. In my day job as a graphic designer I can say authoritatively that I have rarely seen books with the production values that this had. As an example of the printer's craft it is outstanding. Some of the pictures are a bit dark, but I assume that they are supposed to be that way; many of the colour plates are protected by semitransparent paper - something not often seen now. Overall this is a superb productTrouble is, in the end you feel the book is really a brochure about this one object; and in that case I couldn't justify the nearly £60 purchase price, so I returned it. But I shall look out for a second hand one!

I bought the last available copy of this book on Amazon but hopefully it will be reprinted and available again soon. It is beautifully printed with immaculately detailed illustrations protected by glassine inserts. I had visited an automaton museum in Souillac, France and was looking forward to reading this book. The research is thorough and the writing lively. Where the book falls short is in the illustrations. They are not given adequate explanations of what they depict or what is important about reproducing a particular image. For example, I had to go online to watch a video of the mechanical clock in Strasbourg to understand the sequence of events performed by the clock. The illustration was very detailed but I couldn't understand it and there was no explanation in the caption. The publishers have endeavored to make this book appear more contemporary by using colour photographs at the beginning and end to sandwich the historical material within a contemporary context. I would have preferred a more conventional structure following the development of the two devices that many automata were based on: the clepsydra or water-clock in the Near East and the mechanical clock in Europe. The author seems to relish the anecdotes of outrageous displays of complex automata rather than the inventiveness of the mechanisms that gave them simulated life.

Splendida edizione rispondente alle attese