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Tabbed Browsing, 16th Century Style

Agostino Ramelli's multiple book reader device, proposed in 1588.

Over at the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society, there's an article about a device proposed by Italian engineer Agostino Ramelli that sounds like it would be the 16th century equivalent of tabbed browsing:

A beautiful and ingenious machine, which is very useful and convenient to every person who takes pleasure in study, especially those who are suffering from indisposition or are subject to gout: for with this sort of machine a man can see and read a great quantity of books, without moving his place: besides, it has this fine convenience, which is, of occupying a little space in the place where it is set, as any person of understanding can appreciate from the drawing.

According to the article, the machine makes an appearance in the movies: Richard Lester’s 1973 version of The Three Musketeers.

Who knew they had ADD back then?

[Cross-posted to the Tucows Blog]

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