It is predicted that in twenty years every well-to-do reader in the civilised world will have one. It will enable the intelligent to take hundred of books on holiday them, but one would not advise using it to read a novella in the bath.
It is the Steam Reader. Based on Stevenson’s locomotive, this machine will allow people to transport and read up to two-hundred and eighteen serious books, and many more novels, without weighing down their valet. It is the size of two baker’s ovens, weighs five tonnes and can turn pages at twelve miles per hour.
Two strong men can operate the machine; one drives while the other directs the mechanical arms to move the pages, leaving a third to enjoy reading the text. The system enables up to a dozen books to be read at once. It is expected that this will greatly increase the intelligence of modern gentlemen.
The new technology has sparked debate among normally noble publishers as they argue with uppity authors over the means in which royalties should be divided for the sale of the new Steam Books. Steam Books are identical to traditional books except that they have steel covers and their pages are coated in chlorinated paraffin in order to be fire retardant.
It is hoped that the new fangled invention will bring reading to a new audience of extremely wealthy eccentrics and inspire those who have grown disinterested in reading experiences that do not involve fire.
Tuesday 14th August 1865
