A.Chapuis and E.Droz have recounted in the book "The automata", the history of the "Draughtsman-Writer" of H. Maillardet.

A series of old posters enabled them to follow the history of this automaton until 1815.
Henri Maillardet and his associate Philipsthal, presented their draughtsman alongside with other automata.

We next find the draughtsmn in Philadelphia.

It became the property of Mr. John Penn Brock and, after his death, was presented to The Franklin Institute by his grandchildren

Seriously damaged by fire, it was reconstructed by the Staff Institute. An Institute machinist began tinkering with the Automaton and eventually had it functioning and gave him the appearance of a young girl. Some time later it was realized that H. Mallardet intended the draughtsman to be a boy. Today, this small wonder again has the appearance of a small boy.

The automaton is described as follows by Brewster in the Encyclopedia of Edinburgh (1812, article " androïd"): " Maillardet created an automaton which writes and draws.

The figure is that of a child kneeling on one knee and holding a brush with the hand. When he starts to work, he soaks his brush in ink and adds a sheet of drawing paper to the bronze table.

When a spring is touched, the figure starts to write and when the line is finished, his hand moves to the beginning of the next line. Thus he carries out four beautiful examples of French and English writing and three landscapes in the space of one hour approximately ".

Maillardet achieved this by placing the driving machinery in a large chest that forms the base of the machine, rather than in the Automaton's body.

The memory is contained in the "cams," or the brass disks seen below . As the cams are turned by the clockwork motor, three steel fingers follow their irregular edges. The fingers translate the movements of the cams into side to side, front and back, and up and down movements of the doll's writing hand through a complex system of levers and rods that produce the markings on paper.