Réaumur, René Antoine Ferchault de | First edition of Reaumur's treatise on iron and steel

Réaumur, René Antoine Ferchault de

L'Art de convertir le Fer forgé en Acier, et l'art d'adoucir la fer fondu, ou de faire des ouvrages de fer fondu aussi finis que de fer forge. Paris: P. A. Paulus-du-Mesnil for Michel Brunet, 1722

4to (250 x 190 mm). In-text woodcut ornaments, and 17 engraved folding plates by Simonneau; light toning, and very occasional pale spotting. Contemporary speckled calf, gilt decorated spine and board edges, all edges speckled red and brown; the joints and spine soundly repaired, front hinge reinforced, the rear hinge cracked, lacking spine label, light rubbing and scuffing to boards, with some spots of wear along the edges.

First edition of French scientist, entomologist, and mathematician René Antoine Ferchault de Reamur’s treatise on iron and steel. He was the first to recognize that steel was impure iron, rather than a refined form of iron as was generally believed. He correctly showed that there is the greatest amount of carbon (sulfur in the language of eighteenth-century chemistry) in cast iron, less in steel, and least in wrought iron. The plates illustrate forges, tools, various types of metals, and some of the objects that can be wrought from them.

REFERENCES

Sotheran I 3917; Norman 1803; Cole, Chemical Literature 1100

PROVENANCE

The Earls of Macclesfield (armorial bookplate; embossed stamp; Sotheby's London, 25-26 October, 2005, lot 1714)