Pioneering British mathematician and mechanical engineer (1791–1871) whose Difference Engine and Analytical Engine are generally acknowledged as the first programmable computers. ALS signed “C. Babbage,” one page, 4.25 x 7, February 23, 1836. Handwritten letter to writer and biographer Maria Teresa Lister, in part: "Many thanks dear Mrs. Lister for the valuable information your brother so kindly and so immediately procured for me—The translator of the Economy into Spanish backed by his own government ought to have got it and failed. I conclude therefore it required steady energy which is one of the bright points of the English and apparently not of the Spanish character. If I am right in my interpretation, they have adopted a very curious arithmetic informing their list of prices and if their other plans resembles this I am not surprised at their giving up the concern. Pray convey my best thanks to Sir George Villiers." In fine condition.
The recipient of the letter was Maria Teresa Lister (née Villiers, 1803-1865), a British writer and biographer. The brother referred to was George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon (1800-1870), an English diplomat and statesman. In 1833 he had been appointed minister at the Court of Spain. Babbage is clearly referring to his work On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures. The work was first published in 1832 and established Babbage as an expert in political economy. It was first published in Spanish in 1835 from the third English edition, the translation and notes by José Diez Imbrechts.
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