Autograph letter signed to Latimer Clark

Bidder, George Parker (1806-78). A.L.s. to Latimer Clark. Dartmouth [Great Britain], December 22, 1862. 1- pp. 165 x 103 mm. Small hole punched in upper margin. Provenance: Latimer Clark.

A brief social letter from a celebrated nineteenth-century "lightning calculator." Bidder possessed an extraordinary ability to perform complex mathematical calculations accurately in his head, achieving considerable fame during his youth for his skill. His father removed him from school in order to exhibit him for profit as the "calculating phenomenon"; however, his talents came to the attention of several eminent scientists who saw to it that he was educated properly. He became a successful engineer and was one of the founders of the Electric Telegraph Company, for which Clark worked for many years. For the rest of his life Bidder could work out in his head at great speed, and with minute accuracy, calculations that would take most people considerable time working on paper. In 1856 Bidder published a paper on his system of lightning calculation, believing that some aspects of it at least could be taught. In this way he was similar to Zerah Colburn and Jacques Inaudi, other lightning calculators who also systematized their methods. Origins of Cyberspace 120.