[Anonymous collection of 15 illustrated scientific treatises, manuscript circa 1631]. Traité des machines hidroliques par lesquelles ons imite les voix & faict iouer lorgue. [With, a few pages further on:] Leçons horolographiques. Two extensively and finely illustrated manuscripts, in French and Latin, respectively pp. 152–181 and pp. 242–440. Manuscript in French and Latin, in black and red ink, no place, written around 1631 [reference date mentioned several times for the Gregorian Tables]. In-8°. 438 pp. 354 sketches and illustrations, including 51 full-page illustrations and 6 fold-out pages. Also covered are: arithmetic, mechanics, hydraulic machines, gnomonics, telescope manufacturing, engraving varnish, mapmaking, gold lettering with purpurine, pearl manufacturing, Spanish wax in all colours, the manufacture of Purpurine from deer skin, various tables based on the Gregorian calendar, and musical instruments. Marbled fawn sheepskin, flowered spine with 5 raised bands, title label in fawn morocco, cold fillet of framing on the covers, gilt rolls on the cuts, red edges. (18th-century binding).
A valuable scientific manuscript consisting of:
Le Traité des machines hidroliques par lesquelles ons imite les voix & faict iouer lorgue [Treatise on hydraulic machines by which voices are imitated and the organ is played] includes: imitation of birdsong and then the sound of the flageolet, the hydraulic organ or hydraule, the machine for blowing air into flutes by means of bellows, how to arrange the pegs on the musical wheel (with a folding page), a machine placed at the foot of a statue « jettera un son au lever du soleil ou quand le soleil donera dessus en sorte quil semblera que ladite figure face le dit son » [will cast a sound at sunrise or when the sun shines on it so that it appears as if the said figure is facing the said sound] ; followed by a treatise on organology (the fusion of lead and tin, the rolling mill, the tuning fork, the pipes, the proportions of their mouths, their tuning, the registers, the wind chest, the hydraulic windchests, the bellows, the manufacture of hydraulics and various problems). 23 sketches and figures, including 4 full-page and 1 fold-out page.
Leçons horolographiques deals with, in French, horizontal, vertical, solar, and declining clocks of all kinds, along with the compass of proportion and its use, then, in Latin, cross, star, and fleur-de-lis clocks; again in French: « pour avoir exactement l’élévation du pôle par les tables des sinus » [to obtain the exact elevation of the pole using the sine tables], « Invention géométrique de hauteurs du soleil sur l’horizon pour les cilindriques » [Geometric calculation of the sun’s height above the horizon for cylindricals], then in Latin, arcs, azimuths, meridians, zodiacs, etc., various types of ancient and modern clocks, including one in the shape of a tiara, another nocturnal clock, astronomical clocks, cylinder clocks, magnetic clocks, heart-shaped clocks, sphere-shaped clocks, etc.; with a small section devoted to refraction. 144 sketches and figures, including 9 full-page illustrations, 4 fold-outs and numerous tables (climates, lunar cycles, tangents to the sun, etc.)
On Arithmetic, in Latin (numbers, cubes, numeris musicis, signorum cœlestium, multiplication, division and fractions, geometry, proportions, square and cube roots, Pythagorean theorems, music) pp. 1-48, 69 sketches and figures; on Mechanics, in Latin, (forces, wheels, pulleys, various machines including water wheels, wobbly towers, hydraulics) pp. 49-102, 59 sketches and figures including 19 full-page and 1 fold-out.
On Hydraulic Machines, in French (water collection, clock, Neptune fountain) pp. 103-136, 23 sketches and figures, including 11 full-page illustrations. One leaf (pp. 131-132) is missing.
On Gnomonics, in Latin, pp. 137–150, 10 sketches and figures, pagination 147 repeated; on the manufacture of a Telescope, in Latin, with references to Galileo and Porta pp. 182-206 (with a short treatise on Iron), 2 sketches and figures, the other spaces reserved for illustrations having been left blank; on Engraving Varnishes, in French, pp. 206–207; On the Mapping, in Latin, (pp. 208-210), 2 sketches and figures; written in French: on Dyeing with gold letters using purpurine, the manufacture of Pearls, Spanish wax of all colours, the manufacture of Purpurine from deer (pp. 211-213); on various Tables based on the Gregorian calendar, in Latin (golden ratio, phases of the moon and sun, and others) pp. 216-232, 13 sketches and figures, including 3 full-page figures with alidade (the alidade is missing in the third figure).
and finally on musical instruments, in Latin, pp. 233–241, 9 sketches and figures, including 2 full-page illustrations.
Some comments below on loose pages, others in the margins.
Ciphered black stamp ‘FC’ repeated, ink bookplate and pencil ex-dono ms. 19th century.
Binding restored, paper deterioration in lower margin due to traces of moisture, occasionally affecting a few letters; small, fine marginal waterstain at top of pp. 99-150.
An outstanding manuscript.
6 500 €