Observations addressed, at the last anniversary, to the president and fellows of the Royal Society . .

Babbage, Charles (1791-1871). Observations addressed, at the last anniversary, to the president and fel- lows of the Royal Society, after the delivery of the med- als. 10, [2]pp. London: John Murray, 1856. 213 x 127 mm. Disbound.Tiny stab-holes in left margin, small chip in last leaf but very good. Ownership stamp of Dr. A. Nardecchia on title.

First Edition. In 1853 the Swedish engineers Georg and Edvard Scheutz constructed their first successful working Difference Engine, a calculating and printing machine based on Babbage's designs and research. Babbage applauded the Scheutzes' efforts and did his best to publicize their machine, as he did in this address to the Royal Society in which he gave a brief summary of the Scheutz machine's construction, noted that it had won a gold medal at the Paris Exposition, and chided the Royal Society for failing to honor the Scheutzes in similar fashion.

"Sweden has thus secured for herself the glory of having been the first nation practically to produce a machine for Calculating Mathematical Tables by Differences, and Printing the Results. Wealthier and more powerful nations will regret that the coun- try of Berzelius should thus have anticipated them, in giving effect to an invention which requires for its perfection the tools of nations more highly advanced in mechanical science. But there is still left to them the honor of acknowledging the services of a foreigner, from which the richest and most commercial countries will derive the greatest advantage" (p. 8).

Rare on the market. Van Sinderen,"The printed papers of Charles Babbage,"73. Not in Origins of Cyberspace.