Friedrichs von Knauss ... Selbstschreibende Wundermaschinen, auch mehr andere Kunst- und Meisterstücke
An 1780 German treatise by F. von Knauss, printed in Germany for a readership of engineers and curious mechanics, describing self-writing automata and other artful machines of the eighteenth century. Its copperplate pictures show elaborate ornamental pedestals, fountains and rococo frames, with a designer able to draw on their scrolling acanthus borders, classical columns and decorative cartouches.














