Found 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. 

I 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.

Specific 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. 

 5 1/2" x 4 9/16". Excellent antique condition.