Victor Schilt

The calculating machine of the swiss Victor Schilt (1822-1880) was exhibited at the Great Exposition in Crystal Palace in London in 1851 and received a bronze medal, after the calculating machines of Staffel and Thomas.

The machine of Schilt was almost an exact copy of the machine of Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué and there is a clear reason for this—Schilt worked some 2 years in the workshop of Schwilgué in Strasbourg (around 1847-1848), before to return to his homeland (Grenchen, near Solothurn, Switzerland), where he built many tower clocks.

In the workshop of Schwilgué in Strasbourg Schilt was mainly busy working on tower clocks, but undoubtedly he was engaged also in the making of calculating machines, because in the same 1848 he made the first copy of his machine. At the 1851 London Exhibition Schilt received an order for manufacturing of 100 machines, but refused to build them, probably because he wasn't the inventor.

Now a copy of the Schilt's machine, featuring an inscription V. Schilt, Mechaniker in Solothurn, is in the collection of Smithsonian Institution in Washington (see the photos below).

The calculating machine of Victor Schilt (Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution)

The inside of calculating machine of Victor Schilt (Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution)

Under the top plate of calculating machine of Victor Schilt (Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution)