Alfred Kempe in 1876 positively solved the problem of plotting an arbitrary plane algebraic curve by parts using hinge mechanisms. This work, which bears the title "On a general method for drawing plane curves of degree $ n$ by a hinge mechanism", does not contain any theorems. In recent works devoted to the interpretations of Kempe's result it was stated that Kempe's reasoning contained significant errors. And this opinion became widespread among mathematicians. But it is possible to formulate Kempe's theorem in such a way that its proof requires only minimal refinements.