Science 1600-1800
See also : Sciences Astronomy Physics Instrument and equipment Books Books 1501-1700 Maps Old clocks Ancient England
Chronology : 1680-1699 1700-1709
Chronology : 1680-1699 1700-1709
1607 The Military Compass
2018 SOLD for £ 470K including premium
The Republic of Venice needs military engineers for its arsenal. Galileo Galilei, who had left his native Tuscany because of family debts, was hired in 1592 at the University of Padua. To earn a living, he improves and sells instruments : the compass from 1597 and the thermoscope.
The proportional compass was used for geometry calculations related to Euclid's postulates. With complex scales on its two rulers, Galileo adds from 1597 new practical applications : calculation of the optimal elevation of the gun, calculation of the powder load with respect to the size and metal of the bullet. He includes with each delivered compass a handwritten manual prepared by copyists.
In 1606 the commercial success of his compass remains important. Galileo has his manual printed in Italian as a 28 x 19 cm folio book.
Jealousies between scientists are not a recent phenomenon. The young Baldassare Capra had not accepted that Galileo did not recognize his skill in the discovery of a new star that could question the principle of Aristotle on the inalterability of the sky. Reciprocal insults lead to hatred.
In 1607 Capra adapted in Latin the instructions for use of the proportional compass to claim as his own the recent developments, in a 19 x 14 cm quarto book. Galileo is angry. His copy of this book in which he annotated all the errors of interpretation made by Capra is preserved in the Biblioteca di Firenze.
The trial required by Galileo against Capra at the University of Padua is easily won by the real inventor. A witness tells that he had a compass from Galileo as early as 1597, when Capra was only 17 years old. Capra refuses a request from the court to demonstrate his competence in the use of the instrument. The copies of Capra's book are destroyed.
Galileo is upset once again : 30 copies that were already distributed could not be retrieved. He publishes in the same year as a counter-attack a new book in Italian, the Difesa, 24 x 17 cm quarto, detailing his arguments against Capra's slanders.
A copy of each of these three books is included in the sale of the Tomash Library by Sotheby's in London on September 18. Lot 197 estimated £ 60K is the 1606 user's manual. Lot 101estimated £ 30K is Capra's book. Lot 198 estimated £ 300K is the Difesa in a presentation copy inscribed by Galileo to one of the three administrating judges of the University of Padua. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
RESULTS including premium :
Operation manual : £ 162K
Capra : £ 50K
Difesa : £ 470K
The proportional compass was used for geometry calculations related to Euclid's postulates. With complex scales on its two rulers, Galileo adds from 1597 new practical applications : calculation of the optimal elevation of the gun, calculation of the powder load with respect to the size and metal of the bullet. He includes with each delivered compass a handwritten manual prepared by copyists.
In 1606 the commercial success of his compass remains important. Galileo has his manual printed in Italian as a 28 x 19 cm folio book.
Jealousies between scientists are not a recent phenomenon. The young Baldassare Capra had not accepted that Galileo did not recognize his skill in the discovery of a new star that could question the principle of Aristotle on the inalterability of the sky. Reciprocal insults lead to hatred.
In 1607 Capra adapted in Latin the instructions for use of the proportional compass to claim as his own the recent developments, in a 19 x 14 cm quarto book. Galileo is angry. His copy of this book in which he annotated all the errors of interpretation made by Capra is preserved in the Biblioteca di Firenze.
The trial required by Galileo against Capra at the University of Padua is easily won by the real inventor. A witness tells that he had a compass from Galileo as early as 1597, when Capra was only 17 years old. Capra refuses a request from the court to demonstrate his competence in the use of the instrument. The copies of Capra's book are destroyed.
Galileo is upset once again : 30 copies that were already distributed could not be retrieved. He publishes in the same year as a counter-attack a new book in Italian, the Difesa, 24 x 17 cm quarto, detailing his arguments against Capra's slanders.
A copy of each of these three books is included in the sale of the Tomash Library by Sotheby's in London on September 18. Lot 197 estimated £ 60K is the 1606 user's manual. Lot 101estimated £ 30K is Capra's book. Lot 198 estimated £ 300K is the Difesa in a presentation copy inscribed by Galileo to one of the three administrating judges of the University of Padua. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
RESULTS including premium :
Operation manual : £ 162K
Capra : £ 50K
Difesa : £ 470K
1613 The Garden of Eichstätt
2016 SOLD for £ 1.93M including premium
The plant is the basic element of the apothecary. Medical universities maintain gardens to analyse their features. Naturalists are then interested in their variety and undertake classifications. The first flower gardens designed for sole pleasure appear around 1600.
The prince-bishop of Eichstätt is passionate about flowers. His garden has eight sections or terraces where plants are grouped according to their origin. He entrusts the maintenance of the garden and the drawings of the plants to a botanist-apothecary based in Nuremberg, Basilius Besler.
Besler prepares 366 plates with an average of three plants per page. They are classified by season and the reader can compare the phases of a plant including bulb, flower and fruit. The Hortus Eystettensis is issued in 300 copies in 1613, in a very large format 54 x 42 cm. The deluxe version is only printed on one side to avoid the shadow of the back, and hand colored. It may be the most expensive book of its time.
A few copies began circulating in Rome in the circle of the Accademia dei Lincei. This academy is one of the earliest scientific societies in the modern sense of that wording. Its goal is to understand nature from an objective observation. In 1611, the Accademia welcomes into its ranks Galileo and also Faber, the director of the papal botanical garden.
It was known that one of the last sets of uncolored plates of the Hortus Eystettensis was purchased for the use of Faber in 1617. We did not know more. It is probably this one that has just surfaced.
On July 13 in London, Christie's sells that deluxe copy, lot 173estimated £ 800K. It is complete of Besler's 366 plates, without the additional botanical text. Before it got its binding, this copy was supplemented with fifteen drawings and one print of a rare plant that was the pride of the garden of Cardinal Farnese. This 1619 dated plate is dedicated to Faber. The whole book was colored by a single hand.
Let us comment the considerable interest of the Roman Catholic aristocracy for flowers. The preparation of the Hortus Eystettensis is indeed contemporary to the artistic study of flowers executed throughout the summer of 1606 by Jan Brueghel from the incitement of the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's :
The prince-bishop of Eichstätt is passionate about flowers. His garden has eight sections or terraces where plants are grouped according to their origin. He entrusts the maintenance of the garden and the drawings of the plants to a botanist-apothecary based in Nuremberg, Basilius Besler.
Besler prepares 366 plates with an average of three plants per page. They are classified by season and the reader can compare the phases of a plant including bulb, flower and fruit. The Hortus Eystettensis is issued in 300 copies in 1613, in a very large format 54 x 42 cm. The deluxe version is only printed on one side to avoid the shadow of the back, and hand colored. It may be the most expensive book of its time.
A few copies began circulating in Rome in the circle of the Accademia dei Lincei. This academy is one of the earliest scientific societies in the modern sense of that wording. Its goal is to understand nature from an objective observation. In 1611, the Accademia welcomes into its ranks Galileo and also Faber, the director of the papal botanical garden.
It was known that one of the last sets of uncolored plates of the Hortus Eystettensis was purchased for the use of Faber in 1617. We did not know more. It is probably this one that has just surfaced.
On July 13 in London, Christie's sells that deluxe copy, lot 173estimated £ 800K. It is complete of Besler's 366 plates, without the additional botanical text. Before it got its binding, this copy was supplemented with fifteen drawings and one print of a rare plant that was the pride of the garden of Cardinal Farnese. This 1619 dated plate is dedicated to Faber. The whole book was colored by a single hand.
Let us comment the considerable interest of the Roman Catholic aristocracy for flowers. The preparation of the Hortus Eystettensis is indeed contemporary to the artistic study of flowers executed throughout the summer of 1606 by Jan Brueghel from the incitement of the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's :
1624 The Scroll of Alchemy
2017 SOLD for £ 580K including premium
Alchemy is based on antique axioms stating that everything which seems independent is in fact connected. A skillful operator must be able to transmute elements and metals, to establish and use the relationships between mental and physical, to create new forms of life in his laboratory and to simulate the mystical phenomena.
To this end the alchemists have two main objectives : to create gold by mingling sulfur and mercury and to obtain the elixir of life. In the state of knowledge of the Middle Ages such research was not aberrant. It was known how to gild the metals and to prescribe healing potions, and alchemy was indeed an additional issue of obtaining perfection by an initiatory transmission of empirical observations and by new experiments in the laboratory.
The first chemists were particularly skilled or fortunate alchemists but none of them could find the philosopher's stone or the elixir. Alchemy has fallen into disuse and has become an object of reprobation when the mechanisms of the universe have been explained by demonstrable principles. Unlike astrology which is only speculative, alchemy is an obsoleted precursor to modern science.
A Ripley scroll is a manuscript synthesis of alchemy. It is known in 23 copies which are very similar one another. The texts are partially in Middle English of the 15th century and its designation is a tribute to the most famous English alchemist from that time, George Ripley. The dates of these copies extend from the middle of the 16th century to the 18th century. The previous history of this work is not known.
The illustration of the Ripley scroll is a parody of Christian illuminations, from the alambic creation of man and woman by the alchemist and his assistants up to the liberation of the Apocalyptic monsters. The uninterrupted transition from one action to the next one in vertical scrolling is read like a fabulous comic strip. The comparison with Christianity must not go further and the instructions for use of a Ripley scroll in the secret cabinet of the alchemists remain a mystery.
Only one Ripley scroll is still in private hands. It is an assembly of seven vellum membranes of variable width for a total length of 3.70 m. It is dated 1624 in the colophon and signed by a craftsman registered in Manchester as a heraldic illustrator. This fantastic illuminated manuscript is estimated £ 200K for sale by Christie's in London on December 13, lot 22. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
To this end the alchemists have two main objectives : to create gold by mingling sulfur and mercury and to obtain the elixir of life. In the state of knowledge of the Middle Ages such research was not aberrant. It was known how to gild the metals and to prescribe healing potions, and alchemy was indeed an additional issue of obtaining perfection by an initiatory transmission of empirical observations and by new experiments in the laboratory.
The first chemists were particularly skilled or fortunate alchemists but none of them could find the philosopher's stone or the elixir. Alchemy has fallen into disuse and has become an object of reprobation when the mechanisms of the universe have been explained by demonstrable principles. Unlike astrology which is only speculative, alchemy is an obsoleted precursor to modern science.
A Ripley scroll is a manuscript synthesis of alchemy. It is known in 23 copies which are very similar one another. The texts are partially in Middle English of the 15th century and its designation is a tribute to the most famous English alchemist from that time, George Ripley. The dates of these copies extend from the middle of the 16th century to the 18th century. The previous history of this work is not known.
The illustration of the Ripley scroll is a parody of Christian illuminations, from the alambic creation of man and woman by the alchemist and his assistants up to the liberation of the Apocalyptic monsters. The uninterrupted transition from one action to the next one in vertical scrolling is read like a fabulous comic strip. The comparison with Christianity must not go further and the instructions for use of a Ripley scroll in the secret cabinet of the alchemists remain a mystery.
Only one Ripley scroll is still in private hands. It is an assembly of seven vellum membranes of variable width for a total length of 3.70 m. It is dated 1624 in the colophon and signed by a craftsman registered in Manchester as a heraldic illustrator. This fantastic illuminated manuscript is estimated £ 200K for sale by Christie's in London on December 13, lot 22. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
#ClassicWeek An alchemist’s guide to the elixir of eternal life, The Ripley Scroll, goes on view tomorrow in #London. Discover the emblematic representation of the Philosopher's stone: https://t.co/KQ41i7iuGT pic.twitter.com/BlHmBzUMMV
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) December 8, 2017
1630 The Pair of Globes from the Princes of Liechtenstein
2008 SOLD 790 K€ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
On April 1 in Amsterdam, Christie's sells the pair of globes of the princes of Liechtenstein
This lot 137 is a pair of library globes belonging to the private collection of the princes of Liechtenstein. This set, composed as it should as a terrestrial and a celestial globe, is the work of Willem Janszoon Blaeu.
Blaeu was a famous cartographer, and we see more often his name for atlas or maps than for globes. After his death in 1638, his workshop was continued by his sons.
For the time, its size, 68 cm high, was the largest size available for globes, before being surpassed half a century later by the monumental Coronelli globes.
This brings us, of course, into the mapping science : each of the globes is composed of laid half triangles colored by hand, with also, on the earth, the two polar calottes. And we go into the great history when we know that these globes reflect some discoveries of their time.
On April 1 in Amsterdam, Christie's sells the pair of globes of the princes of Liechtenstein
This lot 137 is a pair of library globes belonging to the private collection of the princes of Liechtenstein. This set, composed as it should as a terrestrial and a celestial globe, is the work of Willem Janszoon Blaeu.
Blaeu was a famous cartographer, and we see more often his name for atlas or maps than for globes. After his death in 1638, his workshop was continued by his sons.
For the time, its size, 68 cm high, was the largest size available for globes, before being surpassed half a century later by the monumental Coronelli globes.
This brings us, of course, into the mapping science : each of the globes is composed of laid half triangles colored by hand, with also, on the earth, the two polar calottes. And we go into the great history when we know that these globes reflect some discoveries of their time.
1638 Mechanics and Motion
2017 SOLD for € 730K including premium
The work of Galileo Galilei, altogether experimental and mathematical, is extremely abundant and varied. Arriving in the fall of his life, the scientist is fully aware of the innovative importance of his theories. He gathers the most basic elements that he prepares in the form of dialogues offering to the reader a clear view of argument and counter-argument.
He begins with cosmology. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo, published in Florence in 1632, is placed on the following year in the Index of forbidden books. Galileo now suspect of heresy can no longer publish his works in a Catholic country. Fortunately this ban does not stop his activity.
The treatise on physics, titled Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze attenenti alla mecanica e i movimenti locali, is ready in 1636. The comte of Noailles transmits a copy to Elzevier who publishes the book at Leyden in 1638. The book is dedicated to Noailles.
The Discorsi includes Galileo's assertion that the distance traveled in a naturally accelerated movement is proportional to the square of time. Galileo supports this discovery by describing an experiment using a steel ball rolling in a groove. For three and a half centuries the learned world will question the possibility of such measurement with the required accuracy at the time of that demonstration. It is now taken for sure that this very real experiment, published for the first time in the Discorsi, was made by Galileo in 1604.
On April 26 in Paris (Drouot), the auction house Pierre Bergé et Associés in co-operation with Sotheby's sells the association copy of the comte de Noailles, lot 21 estimated € 700K. Some typographical errors are present but without the usual erratum, suggesting that this copy was the very first that was released from Elzevier's presses. It is assembled in a sumptuous 'à la fanfare' binding attributed to Le Gascon, certainly commissioned by Noailles.
Physics is less disruptive than astronomy for the religious authorities and the Discorsi will not be threatened. Much later Einstein would acknowledge Galileo rather than Newton as the father of modern physics and more generally of modern science.
He begins with cosmology. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo, published in Florence in 1632, is placed on the following year in the Index of forbidden books. Galileo now suspect of heresy can no longer publish his works in a Catholic country. Fortunately this ban does not stop his activity.
The treatise on physics, titled Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze attenenti alla mecanica e i movimenti locali, is ready in 1636. The comte of Noailles transmits a copy to Elzevier who publishes the book at Leyden in 1638. The book is dedicated to Noailles.
The Discorsi includes Galileo's assertion that the distance traveled in a naturally accelerated movement is proportional to the square of time. Galileo supports this discovery by describing an experiment using a steel ball rolling in a groove. For three and a half centuries the learned world will question the possibility of such measurement with the required accuracy at the time of that demonstration. It is now taken for sure that this very real experiment, published for the first time in the Discorsi, was made by Galileo in 1604.
On April 26 in Paris (Drouot), the auction house Pierre Bergé et Associés in co-operation with Sotheby's sells the association copy of the comte de Noailles, lot 21 estimated € 700K. Some typographical errors are present but without the usual erratum, suggesting that this copy was the very first that was released from Elzevier's presses. It is assembled in a sumptuous 'à la fanfare' binding attributed to Le Gascon, certainly commissioned by Noailles.
Physics is less disruptive than astronomy for the religious authorities and the Discorsi will not be threatened. Much later Einstein would acknowledge Galileo rather than Newton as the father of modern physics and more generally of modern science.
#Vente livres et manuscrits de la #bibliothèque de Jean A. Bonna le 26 avril 2017 en partenariat avec @Sothebys !
— PBA-Auctions (@PBA_Auctions) March 27, 2017
Plus d'infos à venir. pic.twitter.com/oMp0IiaV9U
1638 Aves ad vivum by Holsteyn
2015 SOLD for $ 850K including premium by Sotheby's
Link to catalogue.
1657 Mamluk Astrolabe
2020 SOLD for £ 520K including premium by Sotheby's
Link to catalogue.
#AuctionUpdate Written in the stars: This glorious Royal Mughal astrolabe brings £523,200#SothebysMiddleEast pic.twitter.com/rxEIc39vZD
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) October 27, 2020
1687 The Universal Philosophy revealed to the World
2016 SOLD for $ 3.7M including premium
Isaac Newton was the most brilliant scientific innovator of all time. Late in his life he laid down the rules that had guided his unprecedented method. One of these rules summarizes in a simple sentence how he created the modern physics : to the same natural effects we must, as far as possible, assign the same causes.
One of his outstanding skills was to develop mathematical methods of high complexity to analyze and support his own physical theories. Even before he was 30, he compared the motion of the planets and the fall of the bodies. Essentially preoccupied with his own understanding of the mechanism of the universe, he published sparingly.
In 1684 in London, the scientists of the Royal Society challenged themselves to find the mathematical formulation of the law of motion of the planets described by Kepler. All failed. Halley visits Newton in Cambridge. He is stunned : Newton knows the solution but has lost his calculation notes. The orbital movement of a celestial body is an ellipse whose position of the other body is one of the foci.
The scientific stake is highly important and Halley manages to persuade Newton to disclose in their entirety his results concerning the law of universal gravitation. Edited and financed by Halley, Newton's Latin book entitled Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica is published in 1687 with the imprimatur of the Royal Society.
The book is difficult in the opinion of the author himself and the circulation probably did not exceed 300 copies but it is of such scientific importance that Halley and Newton took care of organizing their sale through booksellers. One of them named Samuel Smith is more specifically entrusted to the supply onto the Continent and receives about 50 copies for that purpose.
On December 14 in New York, Christie's sells a copy in a luxury binding in inlaid morocco, presented in that state by Smith to an unidentified recipient. It is estimated $ 1M, lot 167.
Another association copy with a binding of a comparable luxury is known. It was offered to King James II, patron of the Royal Society. This book was sold for $ 2.5M including premium by Christie's on December 6, 2013 over a lower estimate of $ 400K.
One of his outstanding skills was to develop mathematical methods of high complexity to analyze and support his own physical theories. Even before he was 30, he compared the motion of the planets and the fall of the bodies. Essentially preoccupied with his own understanding of the mechanism of the universe, he published sparingly.
In 1684 in London, the scientists of the Royal Society challenged themselves to find the mathematical formulation of the law of motion of the planets described by Kepler. All failed. Halley visits Newton in Cambridge. He is stunned : Newton knows the solution but has lost his calculation notes. The orbital movement of a celestial body is an ellipse whose position of the other body is one of the foci.
The scientific stake is highly important and Halley manages to persuade Newton to disclose in their entirety his results concerning the law of universal gravitation. Edited and financed by Halley, Newton's Latin book entitled Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica is published in 1687 with the imprimatur of the Royal Society.
The book is difficult in the opinion of the author himself and the circulation probably did not exceed 300 copies but it is of such scientific importance that Halley and Newton took care of organizing their sale through booksellers. One of them named Samuel Smith is more specifically entrusted to the supply onto the Continent and receives about 50 copies for that purpose.
On December 14 in New York, Christie's sells a copy in a luxury binding in inlaid morocco, presented in that state by Smith to an unidentified recipient. It is estimated $ 1M, lot 167.
Another association copy with a binding of a comparable luxury is known. It was offered to King James II, patron of the Royal Society. This book was sold for $ 2.5M including premium by Christie's on December 6, 2013 over a lower estimate of $ 400K.
Newton's deluxe "Principia" far surpasses $1 million @ChristiesBKS today, reaching $3.7 million! https://t.co/V3Bwq6aGsu pic.twitter.com/4xardPPXsM
— Fine Books Magazine (@finebooks) December 14, 2016
1687 Principia by Newton
2013 SOLD for $ 2.5M including premium by Christie's
Narrated above.
Link to catalogue.
Link to catalogue.
1694 Draft Manuscript by Newton for the Principia
for sale on July 8 by Christie's
to be narrated
working manuscript by Newton (est £ 600K)
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Christie’s Presents Working Manuscript of Newton’s "Principia" https://t.co/1HAuHuCNoh via @finebooks @ChristiesInc
— Fine Books Magazine (@finebooks) June 1, 2021
1704 The Dispersion of Light
2015 SOLD for $ 1.33M including premium
In 1666 Isaac Newton aged 24 is working on improving the optics of the telescopes. His observation that the generation of the spectrum is related to the physical properties of light and not to those of the prism is one of the most important scientific advances of his time. He irrefutably demonstrates it by recomposing the white light though a second prism.
In 1672, he manages to suppress the chromatic aberration in the telescopes and reveals his findings at the Royal Society which publishes his lecture in its Philosophical Transactions.
The great scientist had a difficult temperament and did not accept contradiction. Robert Hooke, who had considered before Newton a wave property of light, is challenging some elements. The hatred between the two physicists is irremediable. Newton refuses to publish his book all along Hooke's lifetime.
Fortunately, Newton also has friends such as Edmund Halley who helps him to publish in 1687 his seminal book on the use of mathematics to model the gravitational properties of matter, the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
Opticks is finally printed and released in London in 1704, curiously without the author's name, the year after the death of Hooke. Newton added two discussions on curvilinear figures, in order to establish his priority over an ongoing work by Leibniz.
The copy of Opticks presented by Newton to Halley is estimated $ 400K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on December 4, lot 918. It is not dedicated but Halley wrote on the inside title page: "Luceo. Ex dono doctissimi authoris". Luceo, which does not mean anything in Latin, is a burst of enthusiasm based on Lux.
In 1672, he manages to suppress the chromatic aberration in the telescopes and reveals his findings at the Royal Society which publishes his lecture in its Philosophical Transactions.
The great scientist had a difficult temperament and did not accept contradiction. Robert Hooke, who had considered before Newton a wave property of light, is challenging some elements. The hatred between the two physicists is irremediable. Newton refuses to publish his book all along Hooke's lifetime.
Fortunately, Newton also has friends such as Edmund Halley who helps him to publish in 1687 his seminal book on the use of mathematics to model the gravitational properties of matter, the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
Opticks is finally printed and released in London in 1704, curiously without the author's name, the year after the death of Hooke. Newton added two discussions on curvilinear figures, in order to establish his priority over an ongoing work by Leibniz.
The copy of Opticks presented by Newton to Halley is estimated $ 400K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on December 4, lot 918. It is not dedicated but Halley wrote on the inside title page: "Luceo. Ex dono doctissimi authoris". Luceo, which does not mean anything in Latin, is a burst of enthusiasm based on Lux.
On our last day of book sales from the Pirie Collection, Newton’s Opticks sold for $1.3m, more than 2x the estimate pic.twitter.com/YPeX07ZcJy
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) December 4, 2015
1745-1749 The Scientific Archives of Cirey
2012 SOLD for € 960K including premium by Christie's
2018 SOLD for € 510K including premium
PRE 2018 SALE DISCUSSION
Helped by Maupertuis and Clairaut, the Marquise du Châtelet is able to understand and comment on Newton and Leibniz. In their château de Cirey, the marquis admires the exceptional intelligence of his wife and closes his eyes on her loves.
In 1734 Voltaire is disgraced. The Marquise lodges him in Cirey. She is 27 years old. The philosopher learns from his mistress the mathematics and physics that he had largely neglected until then.
The Marquise is a tireless worker. Her manuscripts, often written by secretaries and extensively reworked by her, surfaced a few years ago in an attic. Important pieces were sold by Christie's on October 29, 2012. A call for donations had been issued for an acquisition by the French State and 1400 researchers from around the world had signed a petition for a pre-emption. Both moves were unsuccessful because of the high prices that were expected.
The top lot was a set of 35 workbooks prepared from 1745 to 1749 by Madame du Châtelet for the didactic abstracts accompanying her translation of Newton's Principia Mathematica. Estimated € 400K, it was acquired in that sale for € 960K including premium by the Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits de Paris which had immediately communicated its commitment to exhibit it to the public.
The museum was managed by Aristophil. In the same sale, Aristophil had anonymously acquired 8 lots of manuscripts by the Marquise, 2 lots of manuscripts by Voltaire on Newton and a portrait of the Marquise attributed to Marie-Anne Loir.
These 12 lots will be sold in Paris - Drouot on November 19 by OVA, the company in charge of the legal dispersion of the Aristophil collections. The auction is operated by Artcurial. Pieces from the 2012 sale are now lots 679 to 690. The abstracts of the Principia are the lot 689.
RESULT :
Lot 689 SOLD for € 510K including premium
Helped by Maupertuis and Clairaut, the Marquise du Châtelet is able to understand and comment on Newton and Leibniz. In their château de Cirey, the marquis admires the exceptional intelligence of his wife and closes his eyes on her loves.
In 1734 Voltaire is disgraced. The Marquise lodges him in Cirey. She is 27 years old. The philosopher learns from his mistress the mathematics and physics that he had largely neglected until then.
The Marquise is a tireless worker. Her manuscripts, often written by secretaries and extensively reworked by her, surfaced a few years ago in an attic. Important pieces were sold by Christie's on October 29, 2012. A call for donations had been issued for an acquisition by the French State and 1400 researchers from around the world had signed a petition for a pre-emption. Both moves were unsuccessful because of the high prices that were expected.
The top lot was a set of 35 workbooks prepared from 1745 to 1749 by Madame du Châtelet for the didactic abstracts accompanying her translation of Newton's Principia Mathematica. Estimated € 400K, it was acquired in that sale for € 960K including premium by the Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits de Paris which had immediately communicated its commitment to exhibit it to the public.
The museum was managed by Aristophil. In the same sale, Aristophil had anonymously acquired 8 lots of manuscripts by the Marquise, 2 lots of manuscripts by Voltaire on Newton and a portrait of the Marquise attributed to Marie-Anne Loir.
These 12 lots will be sold in Paris - Drouot on November 19 by OVA, the company in charge of the legal dispersion of the Aristophil collections. The auction is operated by Artcurial. Pieces from the 2012 sale are now lots 679 to 690. The abstracts of the Principia are the lot 689.
RESULT :
Lot 689 SOLD for € 510K including premium
Les manuscrits d'Emilie du Châtelet "Exposition abregée du sisteme du monde selon les principes de Mr.Neuton" vient d'emporter 507 000 € lors de la vente n°13 des Collections Aristophil par @Artcurial pic.twitter.com/WU40wTQ76c
— Drouot (@Drouot) November 19, 2018
1750 Microscope of the Duc de Chaulnes
1999 SOLD for £ 1M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2013 before the sale of another instrument by Piasa (see below)
The mid-eighteenth century is a golden age for scientists. Science is so vast that they still are multidisciplinary. Their ingenuity and skill are encouraged by the King of France and his entourage.
The duc de Chaulnes is altogether astronomer, physicist and engineer. One of his most spectacular contributions to knowledge is the simulation of lightning.
He also had the idea of combining the microscope and the micrometer, invented separately before him. This invention was fruitful because it immediately enabled to measure the small objects admired by Van Leeuwenhoek.
A small series of microscopes from the design of the duc de Chaulnes was made circa 1750. Some copies have survived.
The optical microscope and the mechanism are assigned to one of the most skilled clockmakers of his time, Claude-Siméon Passemant, also author of an astronomical clock which set the official time of the kingdom. The micrometer was made by André Maingaut. The scientific quality was at that time not inconsistent with luxury: its gilt bronzes may be attributed to Caffieri.
The first two instruments below have their tube wrapped in fishskin. One of them was sold for £ 1M including premium by Christie's on July 8, 1999, lot 184 and the other one for € 900K including premium by Sotheby's on October 22, 2008, lot 65.
Another one with no shagreen had been discussed before sale in this column. It was sold for € 620K including premium over a lower estimate of € 200K by Piasa on June 19, 2013.
The duc de Chaulnes is altogether astronomer, physicist and engineer. One of his most spectacular contributions to knowledge is the simulation of lightning.
He also had the idea of combining the microscope and the micrometer, invented separately before him. This invention was fruitful because it immediately enabled to measure the small objects admired by Van Leeuwenhoek.
A small series of microscopes from the design of the duc de Chaulnes was made circa 1750. Some copies have survived.
The optical microscope and the mechanism are assigned to one of the most skilled clockmakers of his time, Claude-Siméon Passemant, also author of an astronomical clock which set the official time of the kingdom. The micrometer was made by André Maingaut. The scientific quality was at that time not inconsistent with luxury: its gilt bronzes may be attributed to Caffieri.
The first two instruments below have their tube wrapped in fishskin. One of them was sold for £ 1M including premium by Christie's on July 8, 1999, lot 184 and the other one for € 900K including premium by Sotheby's on October 22, 2008, lot 65.
Another one with no shagreen had been discussed before sale in this column. It was sold for € 620K including premium over a lower estimate of € 200K by Piasa on June 19, 2013.
1750 Microscope of the Duc de Chaulnes
2008 SOLD for € 900K including premium by Sotheby's
1750 The Inventions of the Duc de Chaulnes
2013 SOLD 620 K€ including premium
This lot had been narrated before sale.
Full story reprinted above.
Full story reprinted above.
1770-1773 French Rotating Spheres
2015 SOLD for £ 600K including premium
From the early eighteenth century, the best English and French clockmakers develop mechanisms simulating the movements of the planets. These instruments are named orrery clocks in England.
The Enlightenment fosters the scientific precision. In addition to the technical achievement already in combination with multiple complications, very competent astronomers such as Lalande and Cassini adjust the astronomical tables and mathematicians like Camus position their gears and wheels.
At the end of the reign of Louis XIV, Jean Pigeon realizes a moving sphere clock on the principle of Copernicus and publishes his invention in 1714. The astronomical clock by Passemant is presented in 1749 at the Royal Academy of Sciences and is used to set the official time of the kingdom. It is kept at Versailles.
The Prince of Conti had little skill in politics but became the greatest collector of his time. Resolutely dismissing the academies and corporations, he commissioned around 1770 the most complex astronomical clock of his time. The clockmaking is made by Mabille and the spheres by Baffert, certainly before 1773 which is the date of bankruptcy of the latter.
The clock displays all the possible elements for measuring time and a beautiful dial for the position of the moon. Extended to the outer planets, the planetary includes six rotating spheres with the highest scientific accuracy. It also marks ecliptic, solstices, equinoxes and zodiac.
Janvier, who had this piece in hand after the Révolution, noted that it is better than Passemant's clock by the accuracy of its annual rotation because it incorporates the calculations published by Camus in 1749.
The planetary clock of the Prince de Conti is estimated £ 600K for sale by Christie's in London on July 9, lot 9.
The Enlightenment fosters the scientific precision. In addition to the technical achievement already in combination with multiple complications, very competent astronomers such as Lalande and Cassini adjust the astronomical tables and mathematicians like Camus position their gears and wheels.
At the end of the reign of Louis XIV, Jean Pigeon realizes a moving sphere clock on the principle of Copernicus and publishes his invention in 1714. The astronomical clock by Passemant is presented in 1749 at the Royal Academy of Sciences and is used to set the official time of the kingdom. It is kept at Versailles.
The Prince of Conti had little skill in politics but became the greatest collector of his time. Resolutely dismissing the academies and corporations, he commissioned around 1770 the most complex astronomical clock of his time. The clockmaking is made by Mabille and the spheres by Baffert, certainly before 1773 which is the date of bankruptcy of the latter.
The clock displays all the possible elements for measuring time and a beautiful dial for the position of the moon. Extended to the outer planets, the planetary includes six rotating spheres with the highest scientific accuracy. It also marks ecliptic, solstices, equinoxes and zodiac.
Janvier, who had this piece in hand after the Révolution, noted that it is better than Passemant's clock by the accuracy of its annual rotation because it incorporates the calculations published by Camus in 1749.
The planetary clock of the Prince de Conti is estimated £ 600K for sale by Christie's in London on July 9, lot 9.
Prince de Conti's Planetary clock — the 18th century equivalent of the best of Silicon Valley http://t.co/Ssoz70EO2r pic.twitter.com/93nzHxPAIX
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) May 26, 2015
