Possible Antedating of "Computer" Again

[Shapiro, Fred]

A few years ago I posted the following citation to this list.  The consensus on ADS-L, as I remember, was that this was an example of "computer" meaning a kind of calculating machine.  But I see that the revised OED entry has 1897 as its earliest citation for the machine sense.  Jesse, do you know whether this was considered by the OED and rejected as a machine example?

Fred Shapiro



1869 Marion Harland _Phemie's Temptation_ 12  Phemie made no reply.  Her
pen was slowly traversing the length of the page, at an elevation of a
quarter of an inch above the paper, her eyes following the course of the
nib, as if it were the index of a patent computer.

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