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    Re: Western Europe watch face
    From: Murray Buckman
    Date: 2023 May 31, 11:14 -0700

    Perhaps not THE original source, but certainly AN original source, right down to the asterisk in the lower right corner, is the 1857 edition of L'Illustration, Journal Universel, a French illustrated periodical that ran for about 100 years.

    It can be found on page 357.  As was common in those days, the page numbering was retained from start to finish for a certain period (a year typically).  It happens that page 357 in is the November 21, 1857 edition.

    A good scan is available here...

    https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=illusfr

    Go to 1857 Volume 30 then to the page. 

    Somewhat predictably, the watch was a function of rail transportation and the fact that France did not yet have a standard time nationwide.  The text accompanying the picture digs into this in a lighthearted way, at one point stating "To help the precise traveller with a need to know..."  The article goes on to explain its use.  As a French reader I enjoyed the item - it was written with a non-technical audience in mind and is jaunty in style.  The watchmaker is named in the article, though it does not state whether the watch was actually made and/or available for purchase.

       
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