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The Mechanical Turk, illustration in Joseph Friedrich von Racknitz's pamphlet On Mr. von Kempelen's Chess Player and its Replica, 1789.
This drawing depicts how von Racknitz believed the so-called Mechanical Turk, a supposed chess-playing automaton developed by Wolfgang von Kempelen, to actually function, housing a human operator within.
Humboldt University Library, Berlin.
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Cite This Work
APA Style
Racknitz, J. F. v. (2025, September 11). The Mechanical Turk. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/20947/the-mechanical-turk/
Chicago Style
Racknitz, Joseph Friedrich von. "The Mechanical Turk." World History Encyclopedia, September 11, 2025. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/20947/the-mechanical-turk/.
MLA Style
Racknitz, Joseph Friedrich von. "The Mechanical Turk." World History Encyclopedia, 11 Sep 2025, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/20947/the-mechanical-turk/.
