The writing hand

This article is about the automaton. For dominant hands typically used by individuals to write, see Handedness.

The writing hand is a mechanical automaton created by Friedrich von Knauss in 1764.^[1][2] A clockwork mechanism moves a hand which dips a pen into an inkstand and writes the phrase "Huic Domui Deus / Nec metas rerum / Nec tempora ponat" ("May God not impose ends or deadlines on this house") on a small card.^[3] On the silver-coating of the mechanism are the words "Pro patria".

Knauss's "writing hand"

The instrument was dedicated by von Knauss to the House of Lorraine, which ruled at that time in Tuscany.

The object is housed in Room 10 of the Museo Galileo in Florence (inventory no. 3195).^[4] It is made of copper and silver and measures 680mm x 1000mm.

See also

• Maillardet's automaton

Bibliography

• Istituto e Museo di storia della scienza (Firenze) (1991). Mara Miniati (ed.). Museo di storia della scienza: catalogo. Firenze: Giunti. p. 220. ISBN 88-09-20036-5.