{"product_id":"mical-destroying-his-work-timely-feeling-antique-hand-colored-woodblock-print","title":"Mical Destroying His Work, Timely Feeling Antique Hand-colored Woodblock Print","description":"\u003cp\u003eFound on a week when our president was threatening to destroy a civilization, this antique bookplate felt sadly poignant--and here it looks a lot like a bust of George Washington this Mical is about to smash to bits, which seems apt indeed. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI have not been able to determine the source of this print, but a 19th century children's book I presume, with the beginning of the story included as a second page, and the third page of the story included as a copy. As the story tells, Abbe Mical, \"a man of great mechanical genius,\" invented a pair of brass heads that were able to speak whole sentences \"in a strong voice, like that of a man.\" Though \"the most difficult work ever attempted,\" for which \"he deserved a noble reward, the (French) government refused to purchase them. Mical thus fell into poverty, and ultimately destroyed the heads in a fit of rage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eSpecific politics aside, I find this image, and the story itself, quite compelling--as an expression of rage at things beyond one's control, a distillation of tensions embedded in the act of creating things at all, and with a bit of Frankenstein and foreshadowing of AI wrapped up in it. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 5 1\/2\" x 4 9\/16\". Excellent antique condition. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"critical EYE Finds","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48056380915966,"sku":null,"price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0015\/5022\/1382\/files\/IMG_0257.png?v=1775662254","url":"https:\/\/www.criticaleyefinds.com\/products\/mical-destroying-his-work-timely-feeling-antique-hand-colored-woodblock-print","provider":"critical EYE Finds","version":"1.0","type":"link"}