“The time may come, though it may seem premature to expect it, when a man’s words will be made to write themselves down automatically as fast as they come from his lips… Some who smile at this will live to see the thing done”

–The Eclectic Magazine of Literature and Science, 1870

automatic writing

Doing some research on a tangentially-related topic of physiology and narrative, I came across some Victorian material on “automatic writing,” which was a manifestation of mesmeric or psychic influence by which a person unconsciously produced writing – channelled from another person – without consciousness of the act. But among these results popped up this one very different reference in the January 1870 issue of The Eclectic Magazine of Literature and Science to a machine for automatic writing: a futuristic technology that would have the ability to transfer a person’s spoken words into print. It makes for some fun reading:

Source: The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature and Science 11. January 1830. 123.

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