Alfred Gillett Trust GB2075 / SOMAG LVM Latin Verse Machine, c 1830-c 1845
LVM
Latin Verse Machine
c 1830-c 1845
Object description
John Clark of Greinton, Glastonbury and Bridgwater, Somerset, spent some 15 years
inventing and refining his Latin Verse Machine Eureka. A polymath of many interests
and pre-occupations, Clark seems to have worked on Eureka purely out of academic
interest, rather than in terms of commercial viability, although he was able to retire
back home in Bridgwater on the “handsome sum of money” resulting from its
exhibition in 1845.
Automaton and arithmetical-substitution devices became very popular during the 18th
and 19th centuries. Van Noorden’s Polyharmonicon machine composed polkas,
Faber’s Euphonia was a speaking machine and Babbage’s Analytical Machine was the
first mechanical computer. Clark’s Eureka is in many ways the predecessor of the
modern typewriter or calculator.
In July 1845, the Latin Verse Machine was put on display at the Egyptian Hall in
Piccadilly as part of one of the “sights of the season”, on payment of 1s entry fee. The
machine was received very positively, its appearance in London feted as “the
machine’s hour of glory”, meriting articles in Punch and the Illustrated London News
at the time. On visiting the exhibition, however, Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
commented that “John Clark was as great a curiosity as his machine”.
Eureka was a permutation or composition device. Its primary function was visual,
generating a unique line of poetry. Clark designed it with a conventional furniture-like
appearance similar to a bureau bookcase. Essentially it is a wooden box mounted on a
stand which contains a mechanical engine. This creates a Latin text to be read through
a series of glazed windows at the front, not unlike a modern fruit machine. It was
originally covered in blue-green paint with a glossy yellow or brown varnish and
some water gilding, but has since been covered in black paint. The cabinet measures
760x920x1200mm and the stand is 760mm high.
Once wound up, it can be started or stopped by moving the hand lever outside the
case. It will compose one line per minute before it winds down, with a bell ringing
when the line is formed. Originally the National Anthem would play during the
composition (the wooden cylinder still exists inside the machine, covered in paper
with holes drilled in order to mark musical notation).
The machine consists of three sections:
i) ‘composing’ section – six wooden drums (one for each word)
ii) ‘interpreting’ section – 15-20 rows of wooden bars
iii) ‘power’ section – simple clockweight driven motor
The wooden bars or rods consist of different lengths where each row represents a
word. There are six groups of words, with the maximum word length, left to right,
comprising, 8, 6, 7, 12, 7 and 7 characters. An iron framework within the wooden
cabinet supports various wooden pulleys and gearing, sash pulleys, bell cranks, cast
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Alfred Gillett Trust GB2075 / SOMAG LVM Latin Verse Machine, c 1830-c 1845
iron gear wheels and most significantly the brass ‘turnspit’ engine. This engine is
powered by inserting a key onto a shaft extending from the left side of case.
When operational, the Latin Verse Machine will create a total of 26-27m lines before
starting to repeat itself, using a pre-determined vocabulary consisting of 24 words.
From left to right, the words on the display are as follows: adjective, noun, adverb,
verb, noun, adjective. The lines produced are not technically poetry – rather, “they are
simple statements of fact, often platitudinous, nearly always gloomy [since] more
impressive remarks can be made when the setting is solemn”.
Clark commented in 1848 that “the Hexameter Automaton bears some affinity to an
animated being. It possesses a material and an immaterial part, a corporeal and an
incorporeal power. Yet it is a thing far inferior to an animal, inasmuch that it
possesses no volition or intention, not any consciousness of its own existence. – The
materials of which it is composed… are subject to delay. It is further subject to
injuries, and to the casual derangement of its parts”.
At the time of the exhibition, there was an inscription on the front of the machine
above the display, bearing the following verse:
Full many a gem, of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathom’d caves of ocean bear
And many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its fragrance on the desert air.
Full many a thought, of character sublime
Conceived in darkness, here shall be unrolled
The mystery of number and time
Is here displayed in characters of gold
Transcribe each line composed by this machine
Record the fleeting thougths as they arise
A line, once lost, may ne’er be seen again;
A thought, once flown, perhaps for ever flies
Name of creator / Maker
John Clark (1785-1853), inventor, of Bridgwater, Somerset
Extent / Number of items or parts
1 cabinet; 1 stand
Biographical history
John Clark (1785-1853) was a first cousin (on both sides) to brothers Cyrus and James
Clark, founders of C & J Clark Ltd. He was one of the five children of Thomas Clark
senior (1759-1850) and Mary Metford Clark (1766-1837) of Overleigh, Street, and
was born at Greinton, Somerset. His father was an active and respected itinerant
Quaker minister. After leaving school, Clark lived in Glastonbury for some years in
partnership with his uncle Joseph Metford in a woollen stocking business near St
John’s Church, before moving with his own parents and siblings to Bridgwater in
1809. His father set him up there as a grocer in the new family home on St Mary
Street and his younger brother Thomas established a bookseller and stationer’s on
Fore Street. In 1817, Thomas took on the grocery business (later handing it to nephew
Metford Thompson), whilst Clark established a printing firm. As their parents and
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Alfred Gillett Trust GB2075 / SOMAG LVM Latin Verse Machine, c 1830-c 1845
sisters had returned to Overleigh Farm in Street, John and his brother Thomas rented
accommodation in the premises of their uncle Joseph Thompson’s ironmongery
business Thompson Bros, with John’s printers operating upstairs. When the
Thompsons reclaimed their house, Thomas moved to a new house on the High Street
and John removed to Monmouth Street. He subsequently sold his printing business to
Frederick Wood.
Clark was known in local circles variously as Philosopher Clark and the First Mate of
Noah’s Ark, and noted local geologist and family friend Thomas Hawkins (18101889) observed that he was “one of the few really gifted and clever men it has been
my lot to know”. A Sturge relation commented that “like many a genius [he] lacked
the ability to bring to perfection the many original ideas which filled his brain”. He
was known to be very fond of both classical and Romantic poets and wrote a
continuation of Lord Byron’s Don Juan (unpublished). He was allegedly the first male
to relinquish Quaker dress in Bridgwater, favouring a short jacket and short trousers
and an open shirt and necktie.
Clark had a keen interest in antiquarianism and was present at the opening of St
Patrick’s tomb in Glastonbury in 1823. He collected stained glass and masonry from
Glastonbury Abbey, now respectively at St Patrick’s Chapel, Glastonbury Abbey, and
in the churchyard of St John’s Church, Glastonbury and placed a large slab of blue
lias stone on Wearyall Hill. He also published works including The Avalonian Guide
to the Town of Glastonbury and its Environs (1810), which ran to several editions,
Holy Island Monastery: a Legend of the Fourteenth Century (undated) and Tales of
the Convent of St Clair (1823).
Clark spent much of his life occupied in scientific work. He patented a solution for
waterproofing cloth, which he later sold to Charles Mackintosh (1766-1843) who
made it a commercial success by making final cost-effective adjustments to the
process (using meths instead of expensive spirits of wine). Mackintosh patented his
version in 1823 and it was then produced at his family’s factory in Glasgow, Charles
Mackintosh & Co. Clark also invented the forerunner of the lilo (an inflated rubber
mattress), was a skilled clock repairer and created the Latin Verse Machine (see
Object description above) over a 15 year period. On the proceeds of the exhibition of
the Latin Verse Machine in London in 1845, he was able to retire to Bridgwater to his
house in Monmouth Street where he lived as a bachelor until his death.
Clark spent the immediate time following his return to Bridgwater from London
completing the final edition of his General History and Description of a Machine for
Composing Hexameter Latin Verses (1848, first edition 1837).
Object history and association
It is unclear which family member inherited the machine on Clark’s death in 1853, as
it is not mentioned specifically in Clark’s will (his sister Sarah Metford inherited his
house in Bridgwater). However, there are four potential inheritors cited in the Trust’s
archive collections and printed sources about the history of the machine:
1. Nephew Metford Thompson (1823-1856), son of Clark’s sister Ann (Thompson
later drowned at the age of 33)
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Alfred Gillett Trust GB2075 / SOMAG LVM Latin Verse Machine, c 1830-c 1845
2. Isabella Metford, a Glastonbury first cousin (l830-1918) although the machine
allegedly remained with Clark’s relation Charles Thompson at Hamp House,
Bridgwater
3. John Aubrey Clark (1826-1890), his namesake, son of Clark’s first cousin Cyrus
Clark
4. Purchased by James Pyke (possibly Clark’s nephew James Pyke Thompson (18461897)) at an earlier period, but remained with John Clark until his death
In any case, it is certain that the machine was eventually removed to Clark’s cousins
Cyrus and James in Street, probably in c 1856. Roger Clark recalls the machine being
housed in his grandfather William Stephen Clark’s office in the Clarks Counting
House at 40 High Street. It was later transferred into the recently established Geology
Museum at Crispin Hall in c 1889-1890, “much to the vexation of Alfred Gillett, the
donor of the geological collection – who thought it let down his collections”. John
Aubrey Clark was the last person able to maintain and operate it at this time until his
death in 1890. When the Geology Museum was dispersed in 1948, the machine was
moved back to the factory. Following interest from Bancroft Clark, it was fully
restored in 1950 and then removed to the company Records Office where it “stands as
a monument to the patience and ingenuity of John Clark”. By 1963, the machine was
housed in the Clarks Museum (established 1950) and was added to the new machinery
displays in the Shoe Museum in c 1979 in the current High Street reception area,
although it was again no longer in working order by that point. The machine was
moved into storage in 1996 when the reception area was reconfigured as part of the
museum’s rearrangements.
Physical condition
The machine is not currently in working order but will be removed as part of an Arts
and Humanities Research Council ‘Science in Culture Innovation Awards Scheme’
collaboration with the University of Exeter during 2014-2015.
Previous conservation history
Once the machine was removed to Street, John Aubrey Clark was the only member of
the family able to maintain the machine. On his death in 1890, the machine was
presumably not operational until it was removed to Clarks in 1947-1948 and
renovated on the recommendation of Roger Clark and Bancroft Clark. On the
recommendation of tin manufacturer Francis Impey (a Clark cousin from
Birmingham), Charles Foster was brought in to assess the machine, and Leslie W M
Husbands (local clockmaker) and Frederick Berry (Clarks typewriter and sewing
machine engineer) undertook the work in 1950.
The machine was renovated for a second time by Clarks Special Projects Engineer
Peter Jealous in 1970-1971 (again in collaboration with Husbands).
Access conditions
The machine is not currently available for viewing. It is hoped that the machine will
be put on public display once it has been renovated during 2014-2015.
Reproduction conditions
Photography of the machine is permitted only on completion of a Self Digitisation
Form. Usual Alfred Gillett Trust conditions apply for reproduction of the Trust’s book
and archive collections relating to the Latin Verse Machine and John Clark.
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Alfred Gillett Trust GB2075 / SOMAG LVM Latin Verse Machine, c 1830-c 1845
Language
Latin
Finding aids
Reports have been written about the history and workings of the machine at regular
intervals. See References note below.
Related units of description
For further information on the history of the machine and John Clark, see the
‘References’ listed below. See also the following Trust archive collections:
WN 91/19 (WHT 3/09); WN 91/17 (WHT 3/07); WN 91/23 (WHT 3/13); WN 91/18
(WHT 3/08); No One 36/07; PHO 9/1 (L1); PHO 10/3; BC 251/1; LHB 29-31 (John
Clark, Joseph Clark III); LHB 39 (Metford); LHB 41 (Thompson); FAM 1/10; CJC
337/03; CJC 338/01
Exhibition note
The machine was displayed at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, in 1845, and was also
showed in Bristol shortly afterwards. The machine was on display at the Geological
Museum, Street, c 1889-c 1947. The machine was requested for loan for a festival at
the South Bank, London, in 1952, but Clarks refused since it was not in working order
at that point. It was exhibited at the Crispin Hall, Street, in 1976-1977. See Object
History above for further information on its display at C & J Clark Ltd.
References to published bibliographical information
[Anon]. 1845a. ‘The Eureka’, Illustrated London News, 19 Jul 1845
[Anon]. 1845b. ‘The Eureka’, Punch
[Anon]. 1850. ‘Latin versification for the million’, Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal
Blandford, D W. 1963. ‘The Eureka’, Greece and Rome, 2nd series, 10 (1), Mar 1963
Bollen, Neil. 2011.‘The Eureka machine… Preliminary assessment and conservation
options for the internal mechanism’, Aug 2011. Report. Metal conservator
C & J Clark Ltd. 1952a. ‘Two portraits’ [John Clark and Joseph Eaton silhouettes],
Clarks Comments, 26, Apr 1952, 8-9
--- 1952b. ‘On the air’, Clarks Comments, 27, Jul 1952, 23-24 [photo A Salisbury,
Frederick Berry, Desmond Hawkins, l-r; Hawkins and Roger Clark]
--- 1963a. ‘Something old… something new’, Clarks Comments, 60, Feb 1963, 8-9
--- 1963b. ‘Public schoolboys test Latin Verse Machine’, Clarks Courier, 148, 12 Jul
1963, 7
--- 1971. ‘John Clark’s ‘Thinking machine’ gets a major service’, Clarks Comments,
77, Jan 1971, 18-19
--- 1976. ‘Latin verse machine’, Clarks Courier, 400, 11 Feb 1976, 17
Clark, John. 1810/1839/various eds. Avalonian guide to the Town of Glastonbury and
its environs
--- 1848. The general history and description of a machine for composing hexameter
Latin verses. Bridgwater: Frederick Wood
Everson, Richard. 2011. ‘Latin hexameter rules’. Report. Professor of Machine
Learning (University of Exeter)
Gratwick, A S. 1990. ‘The Latin hexameter’, Classical review, 40
Hall, Jason. 2007 ‘Popular prosody: spectacle and the politics of Victorian
versification’, Nineteenth century literature, 62 (2): 222-249
Jaeschke, Richard. 2011. ‘Report on the examination of the Eureka Machine’, summer
2011. Report. Wood conservator
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Alfred Gillett Trust GB2075 / SOMAG LVM Latin Verse Machine, c 1830-c 1845
Lovell, Percy (ed). 1975. Somerset Anthology: 24 pieces by Roger Clark of Street
1871-1961. York: William Sessions Ltd:
- ‘Barbara freona domi promittunt foedera mala’ (1951), pp96-102
- ‘Of air beds’ (1953), pp111-115
Archivist’s Note / Amendment History
Collection description compiled by Charlotte Berry, 4 Sep 2014, in accordance with
ISAD(G) (1995) and SPECTRUM 4.0 (2011) cataloguing standards. Amended 10 Sep
2014 and 21 Nov 2014.
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