1751 Diderot Encyclopédie Large Folio Hand-Colored Engraving: HYDROLIQUE, Noria

Description: 1751 Rare, Large Folio Hand-Colored Copper-Plate Engravingby Louis-Jacques Goussier & J.A. Defehrt from: ENCYCLOPÉDIEOUDICTIONNAIRE RAISONNÉDES SCIENCESDES ARTS ET DES MÉTIERS Pl. IV Hydraulique Noria (Hydraulics, Noria, machine for lifting water) This handsome hand-colored Folio engraving originates from the famous Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, published in France between 1751 and 1772. Appears to be printed on the original, chain-lined laid verge cotton fiber paper. This one is from the section on Hydraulics depicting the Noria, a machine for lifting water into a small aqueduct from a well. The machine, made of timber, fiber & ceramic components, is rendered & composed with exceptional bold balance & intricate grace, The craftsmanship in the copperplate engraving is stunning, with hatch-work & shading so tight & perfect like the grooves of a record. It's especially rare to find these hand-colored & in such clean shape. The hand water-coloring looks to me to be as beautiful & crisp as the day it was painted. The Volumes:Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (French for 'Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts and Crafts'), better known as Encyclopédie. It was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis Diderot and, until 1759, co-edited by Jean le Rond d'Alembert. It was about the most influential & revolutionary early encyclopedias, a founding document of the Age of Reason & the Enlightenment.These 3 engravings originate from the plate volume titled: ‘Receuil de Planches sur les sciences, les arts libereaux, et les arts mechaniques avec leur explication. Troisieme Livraison', published 1765.’ The Encyclopédie is most famous for representing the thought of the Enlightenment. According to Denis Diderot in the article "Encyclopédie", the Encyclopédie's aim was "to change the way people think" and for people to be able to inform themselves and to know things. He and the other contributors advocated for the secularization of learning away from the Jesuits. Diderot wanted to incorporate all of the world's knowledge into the Encyclopédie and hoped that the text could disseminate all this information to the public and future generations, an early & epic example of democratization of knowledge. The work consisted of 28 volumes, with 71,818 articles and 3,129 illustrations. The first seventeen volumes were published between 1751 and 1765; eleven volumes of plates were finished by 1772. Engraver Robert Bénard provided at least 1,800 plates for the work. The Artists:This one is signed by Louis-Jacques Goussier (1722 - 1799), a French illustrator and encyclopedist. Goussier is famous for his work on Diderot's encyclopedia. He was the first drawer to be hired on that project, in 1747 and he did himself more than 900 plates and directed the drawing of the others. Some call Goussier the third encyclopedist, after Diderot and d'Alembert. Goussier spent ten years visiting people of all arts and techniques (textile, smith, mill, glass, etc.), and twenty-five years drawing. He also wrote sixty-one articles. The Publisher & Printer:Charles-Joseph Panckoucke (1736 – 1798) was a French writer and publisher. He was responsible for numerous influential publications of the era, including the literary journal Mercure de France and the Encyclopédie Méthodique, a successor to the Encyclopédie by Denis Diderot (the present work) The Prints & Technique:Line-engraving or Copperplate engraving is a highly exacting & labor-intensive process for intaglio printmaking. The original drawing is cut into the surface of a copper plate, with shading created by many fine cut lines, or hatching. Before printing takes place, the plate is heated, covered with ink. The warm ink seeps into the finest of depressions and fills the lines and textures of the drawing. The rest of the plate is cleaned off. The copper plate is now pressed with a printing press on to moistened paper which soaks up the ink from the depressions in the plate. The copperplate-engraving technique is very exacting, time-consuming and exhausting for the engraver, who needs a lot of strength for it. Condition:Appears to be in Excellent condition for a 235-year-old engraving. The hand-coloring appears to remain as beautiful as the day it was printed. Very little if any age-toning for an antique print. Appears to be on the original laid, chain-lined handmade cotton fiber paper. These prints are very old & may have imperfections expected with age, such as age-toning of the paper, oxidation of the old original watercolors, spots, text-offsetting, artifacts from having been bound into a book, etc. Please examine the photos & details carefully.Text Page(s): This one comes without the original text page. I've included a scan of the title page of one of the volumes for reference, it's not part of the listing. About this Gorgeous Engraving & The Objects it Illustrates:The earliest machinery from what I like to think of as the 1st Industrial Revolution, those which were powered by water, wind or animal power, were often beautifully made testaments to the incredible craft & handwork of the period.The timber machines depicted in the earliest encyclopedias are to us often simply beautiful images & drawings. But the the people who created them & used them, they were game-changing ways of leveraging power & production. This particular machine, the Noria, was clearly beautifully made, yet its invention, importance & attempts to own its use were apparently the source of considerable fretting. I found a lengthy letter from Thomas Jefferson to Isaac McPherson, dated 13 August 1813, on the website of the National Archives, concerning a Mrr Oliver Evans’s & his claim of exclusive right to the use of what he calls his Elevators, Conveyers, and Hopper-boys, whether they are actually ownable inventions or the product of ancient discoveries, specifically mentioning the Noria & this work: "the Encyclopedie de Diderot et D’alembert 8vo edn of Lausanne, 1’st vol. of Plates, in the 4. subscribed Hydraulique. Noria, is one where round earthen pots are tied by their collars, between two endless ropes suspended on a revolving lanthern or wallower. this is said to have been used for raising ore out of a mine.in a book which I do not possess, ‘L’architecture Hidraulique de Belidor, the IId vol. of which is said [De la Lande’s continuation of Montucla’s Histoire des Mathematiques III. 711.] to contain a detail of all the pumps, antient and modern, hydraulic machines, fountains, wells Etc. I have no doubt this Persian wheel, chain-pump, Chapelets, Elevators, by whichever name you chuse to call it, will be found in various forms." Size: 15-3/4 x 10 inches approximately. Combined Shipping:Multiple prints combine into one USPS Flat-Rate package. Ebay should auto-combine multiple prints if you put them in your shopping cart & check out all at once. Or if you purchase individually, & eBay assesses multiple shipping charges for one combined package, I will endeavor to refund the shipping overage asap.Please note that the eBay international Shipping Program can apparently only combine shipping if you put your selections in your shopping cart & check out all at once. For some reason, eBay won't allow us to combine after individual purchases are made, & we can't refund the overage after multiple purchases. Hope this gets fixed... EBay's domestic shipping, however, does let us combine after, & allows us to refund the shipping overage. Thanks for Visiting!

Price: 79 USD

Location: Great Barrington, Massachusetts

End Time: 2024-11-27T20:22:36.000Z

Shipping Cost: 15 USD