"L'Âge d'Or des Automates 1848-1914 (The Golden Age of Automata)," by Christian Bailly with collaboration by Sharon Bailly. First published in 1987 in English by Sotheby's, New York. This is the second edition published in the French language in 1991 by les Editions Ars Mundi, France. Hard cover with dust jacket, 360 pages with over 150 black-and-white and beautiful color photographs. The book measures 12-1/2 inches (31.75 cm) high by 9-5/8 inches (24.5 cm) wide.

"This spectacular book, the first to be devoted entirely to the period of the automation's apogee, breaks much new ground for the collector, the specialist, and all who are interested in automata. An introductory chapter depicts the Paris in which automationmakers lived and worked, its atmosphere, preoccupations and amusements. There follow the little-known histories of the seven leading makers, from their foundation in the mid-century to the decline of production after the First World War. Here for the first time names, dates and chronologies are accurately established, to give a reference framework of inestimable value. First published in 1987 by Sotheby's Publications. In both the English and French editions of this work pages 229 to 351 are facsimiles of catalogue pages in French. Please note that this is the French text edition, the main text, page 9-225 is in French.