Speech synthesis
Speaking Machine by Wolfgang von Kempelen 1791
from the Book:
Mechanismus der menschlichen Sprache nebst der Beschreibung seiner sprechenden Maschine
Mechanism of human speech together with a description of its speaking machine
Around 1835, the Englishman Charles Wheatstone recreated a speaking machine from Wolfgang von Kempelen's book from 1791.
This machine is still partly preserved in the Wheatstone Collection at King's College London.
Wheaston had been researching the new variant of the free reed technique developed in Europe since 1828, inventing instruments such as the aeolian, several variants of the symphonium and the English concertina with free reed.
Kempelen used a stop reed whistle for his speaking machine (as the free reed was still new and difficult to obtain in Europe at the time). Unfortunately I have not been able to find out whether Wheatstone built his replica with free reed, but this could easily be discovered by looking inside the preserved model in London.