R. U. R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), English version by Paul Selver and Nigel Playfair
Karel Čapek’s play R. U. R. in the English acting version by Paul Selver and Nigel Playfair, copyright 1923 (Doubleday, Page and Company), read in the Project Gutenberg transcription (2019) of an undated later Samuel French printing; 1923 is not the date of that printing. The Czech play was printed by Aventinum, Prague, in 1920.
- Issued by
- No issuing record yet. A missing record is a gap in coverage.
- Authors credited
- No authorship claim recorded yet. The source record lists Karel Čapek, Paul Selver (English version) and Nigel Playfair (English version).
- Dates
- No date claim recorded yet. The source record gives the publication date as 1923.
- Exact source
- R. U. R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama in Three Acts and an Epilogue Samuel French, Inc.; copyright 1923 by Doubleday, Page and Company; Project Gutenberg eBook #59112 (2019), transcribed from HathiTrust page images · published 1923 · Retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-11-02 (SHA-256 c0191908dbcdc73a853cec0da4ebee618f8f45896b89c6ee3d8bebca29b10b98) and again at admission on 2026-11-04 (same file). The English acting version by Paul Selver and Nigel Playfair, Samuel French printing with a 1923 Doubleday copyright notice, read in the Project Gutenberg transcription. The transcription’s front matter includes a reviewer’s synopsis that is not Čapek’s text and is not quoted. The Czech original (Aventinum, 1920) was not read.
Appears in
- Antecedent texts: machine intelligence before 1965 →1 record on this document
- Propositions about superintelligence, 1863–2025 →1 record on this document
- Machine succession, scale and acceleration: propositions in located texts, 1863–2026 →1 record on this document
Versions
No other versions of this document are recorded. The evidence applies to the source version listed above. Other versions, such as a preprint, working paper or journal publication, are not identified or substituted.
Documentary relations
Each relation is listed separately. Citing, crediting and reporting the use of a method are different acts, and none of them shows agreement or influence by itself.
Articulates · 3
Propositions whose criterion a passage of this document meets. The record says what the text states, in its register; it is not evidence that the proposition is true.
- Control or purpose specificationIn the English version of R. U. R. (1923), when the Robots arm themselves against the factory’s managers, the general manager Domin says, “We can’t stop them.”1923 · event · Stated in source · Supported Inspect claim & evidence ↗Control or purpose specification: propositions page →
- A machine could thinkIn the English version of R. U. R. (1923), Domin says that all work will be done by living machines, and tells Helena that the Robots are mechanically more perfect than people and have an enormously developed intelligence, but no soul.1923 · event · Stated in source · Supported Inspect claim & evidence ↗A machine could think: propositions page →
- Machines succeed humans as the leading intelligenceIn the English version of Karel Čapek’s play R. U. R. (1923), the Robots’ leader Radius proclaims that the power of man has fallen and that a new world, the rule of the Robots, has arisen; a manifesto read earlier in the play says the Robots are more highly developed than man, stronger and more intelligent.1923 · event · Stated in source · Supported Inspect claim & evidence ↗Machines succeed humans as the leading intelligence: propositions page →
Not recorded for this document: cites · cited by · explicitly credits · reports using a method from · method reported as used by · applies parts of · parts applied by · discusses · reports evaluation of. A missing record does not show that the relation does not exist.