Dessins tracés mécaniquement par le campylographe de Dechevrens.
[Jersey, circa 1900-1910]
Large oblong folio (420 x 325 mm), green half-morocco, mounted on tabs, green morocco sheepskin covers; snags and rubbings to the binding, bumped corners, redone spine, some foxing (Publisher’s binding).
A rare collection of nearly 600 drawings reproduced after the ingenious invention of Marc Dechevrens (1845-1923), a Swiss Jesuit and scientist, who combined art and mathematics.
It consists of a title page in gilt letters, a plate showing the machine (with the handwritten inscription "St. Louis Observatory in Jersey (England)" found on all copies), and 35 plates mounted on heavy cardboard.
"From 1873 to 1887, [Marc Dechevrens (Thônex 1845-1923)] directed the Natural History Museum and Astronomical Observatory of Zikawei near Shanghai (China), which became famous for its typhoon forecasts. A very active researcher, specializing in typhoons and terrestrial magnetism, he created a centralized meteorological service, but had to return to Europe for health reasons in 1887. He was professor of natural sciences in Saint-Hélier (Jersey, where he founded and directed an observatory with a meteorological service, 1888-1891) and in Istanbul (1891-1893), then resumed his scientific activities in Jersey until his death." Historical Dictionary of Switzerland online, article F. Strobel, Schweizer Jesuitenlexikon, ms., 1986, 141.
The campylograph was a curve-drawing machine invented by Marc Dechevrens around 1900. The machine was intended, among other things, to draw the trajectory of the planets as seen from Earth, but it could also produce many other curves. This device was praised by mathematicians and scientists.
Dechevrens (M.), "The Campylograph, a Curve-Drawing Machine," in Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences, June 11, 1900, no. 130, pp. 1661-1620.
Dechevrens (Marc), Le campylographe, Louvain, Imprimerie Polleunis & Ceuterick, 1901.
Apéry (François), "The Campylograph: A Mechanism for Drawing Curves," in Tangente, 2018, pp. 42-43.
2 800€
In stock
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