Carl and Larry, I will be happy to share privately an account I wrote long ago on Paige Compositor that does include the technical history of it and the competition, but I am traveling and can’t do so just now.  Meanwhile, here is a citation:

Lee, Judith Yaross.  “Anatomy of A Fascinating Failure.” [Mark Twain and the Paige Compositor]. American Heritage of Invention and Technology 3 (Summer 1987): 55-60.

Judith



Judith Yaross Lee, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Communication Studies

Charles E. Zumkehr Professor of Rhetoric & Culture
Director, Central Region Humanities Center
School of Communication Studies
Ohio University
Schoonover Center 439
Athens, Ohio 45701
T: 740-593-4888
F: 740-593-4810

My newest book: Twain's Brand:  Humor in Contemporary American Culture <http://www.ohio.edu/people/leej/Twains_Brand.html>

On Mar 11, 2018, at 8:06 PM, Larry Howe <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:

Carl=97
I recommend Bruce Michelson=92s _Printer=92s Devil_.  It doesn=92t go into =
the level of engineering detail that perhaps you=92re looking for, but it=
=92s a brilliant analysis of the powerful lure of technology and of Clemens=
=92s experience and understanding of the printing industry.

=97Larry Howe

Sent using OWA for iPhone
________________________________________
From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> on behalf of Carl J. Chimi <cchim=
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2018 6:50:50 PM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Paige Typesetter

I'm just reading the section of the recent edition of the Autobiography in
which Clemens discusses to some extent his perception of how the typesetter
worked.  His description is valuable, not only because he had considerable
experience as a compositor, but also to show how he could have been so take=
n
by the machine as to invest so heavily in it.

I've read descriptions of the machine that range from roughly "hopelessly
incapable of the task" to "hopelessly complex given the task".  I've seen i=
t
depicted in the 1940s biopic as a truly silly and ridiculous device.  I
believe I even saw some version of the actual machine in the basement of th=
e
Hartford house the first time I visited back in late 1972.  Nothing like th=
e
Rube Goldberg thing in the movie.  Not being an expert, but being
mechanically inclined, I remember the machine I saw as "plausible".

All this has me wondering if anyone has ever written a study of the
technical aspects of the machine.  How it worked.  How it perhaps drew on
and related to other technology of that period.  That Clemens said such a
machine would have to "think" is fascinating, and makes me wonder how Paige
created something that did apparently work and did, apparently, give the
illusion of "thinking".

I figure if anyone has written on this topic, this is the forum that would
know about it.

Thanks,

Carl
Grandfather of Olivia