The Dreams of an Inventor in 1420

January 27, 2018 2:47 AM

Bennett Gilbert peruses the sketchbook of 15th-century engineer Johannes de Fontana, a catalogue of designs for a variety of fantastic and often impossible inventions, including fire-breathing automatons, pulley-powered angels, and the earliest surviving drawing of a magic lantern device (Public Domain Review).
posted by sapagan (3 comments total)

From that fourth picture, turns out George Lucas was a pilfering hack.
posted by Karaage at 4:33 AM on January 27, 2018 [2 favorites]

Amazing imagination. I love how some of the drawings incorporate lion's feet or animal parts.

The musical instruments and toys--WANT!
posted by BlueHorse at 12:25 PM on January 27, 2018

I must be warped because I see torture devices in some of the inexplicable ones...
posted by mightshould at 4:50 PM on January 27, 2018 [1 favorite]