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Gulliver's Travels "The Engine". Earliest known illustration of a computer 1751

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[Illustration of The Engine from Gulliver's Travels]The earliest known illustration of a device resembling a modern computer appears in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726), one of the earliest works of Science Fiction. This fictional machine, known as "The Engine," is described at the Academy of Projectors in Lagado—the capital of Balnibarbi, a fictional island nation which Swift locates in the Pacific Ocean near Japan. The Engine was designed to generate permutations of word sets— language—in order to produce new ideas and knowledge without human effort. 300 years later, your author—naively and without irony—asked ChatGPT to explain the purpose of Gulliver's "Engine" to him. It is described thus by Swift: "... Every one knew how laborious the usual method is of attaining to arts and sciences; whereas, by his contrivance, the most ignorant person, at a reasonable charge, and with a little bodily labour, might write books in philosophy, poetry, politics, laws, mathematics, and theology, without the least assistance from genius or study. He then led me to the frame, about the sides, whereof all his pupils stood in ranks. It was twenty feet square, placed in the middle of the room. The superfices was composed of several bits of wood, about the bigness of a die, but some larger than others. They were all linked together by slender wires. These bits of wood were covered, on every square, with paper pasted on them; and on these papers were written all the words of their language, in their several moods, tenses, and declensions; but without any order. The professor then desired me 'to observe; for he was going to set his engine at work.' The pupils, at his command, took each of them hold of an iron handle, whereof there were forty fixed round the edges of the frame; and giving them a sudden turn, the whole disposition of the words was entirely changed. He then commanded six-and-thirty of the lads, to read the several lines softly, as they appeared upon the frame; and where they found three or four words together that might make part of a sentence, they dictated to the four remaining boys, who were scribes. This work was repeated three or four times, and at every turn, the engine was so contrived, that the words shifted into new places, as the square bits of wood moved upside down."

[Illustration of The Engine from Gulliver's Travels]


The earliest known illustration of a device resembling a modern computer appears in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726), one of the earliest works of Science Fiction. This fictional machine, known as "The Engine," is described at the Academy of Projectors in Lagado—the capital of Balnibarbi, a fictional island nation which Swift locates in the Pacific Ocean near Japan. The Engine was designed to generate permutations of word sets— language—in order to produce new ideas and knowledge without human effort. 300 years later, your author—naively and without irony—asked ChatGPT to explain the purpose of Gulliver's "Engine" to him. It is described thus by Swift: "... Every one knew how laborious the usual method is of attaining to arts and sciences; whereas, by his contrivance, the most ignorant person, at a reasonable charge, and with a little bodily labour, might write books in philosophy, poetry, politics, laws, mathematics, and theology, without the least assistance from genius or study. He then led me to the frame, about the sides, whereof all his pupils stood in ranks. It was twenty feet square, placed in the middle of the room. The superfices was composed of several bits of wood, about the bigness of a die, but some larger than others. They were all linked together by slender wires. These bits of wood were covered, on every square, with paper pasted on them; and on these papers were written all the words of their language, in their several moods, tenses, and declensions; but without any order. The professor then desired me 'to observe; for he was going to set his engine at work.' The pupils, at his command, took each of them hold of an iron handle, whereof there were forty fixed round the edges of the frame; and giving them a sudden turn, the whole disposition of the words was entirely changed. He then commanded six-and-thirty of the lads, to read the several lines softly, as they appeared upon the frame; and where they found three or four words together that might make part of a sentence, they dictated to the four remaining boys, who were scribes. This work was repeated three or four times, and at every turn, the engine was so contrived, that the words shifted into new places, as the square bits of wood moved upside down."

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Size 17 x 9 cm | 6.5 x 3.5 inches

Date Published: 1751

Type: Antique copperplate print

Author: Swift, Jonathan

Publication: Gulliver's Travels

"Travels into several remote nations of the world. In four parts.", by Lemuel Gulliver, first a surgeon, and then a captain of several ships. The fifth edition, corrected. London: Printed for Charles Bathurst, and sold by T. Woodward, C. Davis, C. Hitch, R. Dodsley, and W. Bowyer. MDCCLI [Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift]

Condition: Good |

Good; suitable for framing. Please check the scan for any blemishes prior to making your purchase. Please contact us if you would like to arrange to view this print. There is nothing printed on the reverse side, which is plain

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