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About the Author
—
Steven Heller is the
cofounder and the cochair of the MFA Designer as
Author
program at the School of Visual Arts. He writes the Visuals
column
for the New York Times Book
Review and the Graphic
Content
blog for T-Style; is editor
of AIGA
Voice; and is a contributor to Design
Observer. He is the author, coauthor, and/or editor of more
than 120 books on design and popular culture, including the forthcoming
New Ornamental Type (Thames
and Hudson). More information can be found at his homepage.
See
all
Daily Heller posts here.
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Boilerplate Lost, Now Found
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by Steven Heller
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We are painfully aware that drone aircraft and other unmanned fighting machines have made the "art" of war even more horrific than ever. But did you know that 100-plus years ago--in 1898, during the Spanish-American War--the first mechanical man, or robotic soldier, charged with Teddy Roosevelt up San Juan Hill?
He also fought in the Japanese-Russian War, the Philippine War of 1899, and the Boxer Rebellion in China. His name was Boilerplate, the invention of Chicago Professor Archibald Campion (below top, right), and for decades his stunning exploits have been forgotten. That is, until an intrepid pair, Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett, brought this extraordinary Victorian invention back to life through their website and book, Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel.
The book is a pitch-perfect replication of the days before our current digital wonders when H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Albert Robida spun their futuristic yarns. The details are extraordinary, the fantasy sublime. So don't miss a thrilling screen-page of this rich site filled with news, adventures and souvenirs (below middle). You'll never look at your boiler the same way again.
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