Historical Mathematical Instruments

Engravings depicting the fabrication and components of mathematical instruments, bookbinding tools, and early hygrometers from the 18th century.

Cutler's workshop from 'Encylopedie' Paris, 1751-1780, edited by Diderot and Dalembert.

Plate showing the fabrication of mathematical instruments. Engraving from Denis Diderot, Jean Baptiste Le Rond d'Alembert, L'Encyclopedie, 1751-1757. Entitled Instruments de Mathematique (Mathematical Instruments).

Bookbinding: book presses and their constituent parts. Engraving by Benard after Lucotte.

Types of hygrometers, 18th century, to measure moisture content. Jean-Andre De Luc's whalebone hygrometer, and others by Horace-Benedict de Saussure, Benjamin Meggot Forster, Henry Kater and the Hungarian Machine. Copperplate engraving by Sidney Hall from Abraham Rees' Cyclopedia or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Literature, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, London, 1820.

Components of the wheel used in the manufacture of silver dishes. Etching by Bénard after Lucotte.

Surgery: surgical instruments, including a speculum for the uterus and a speculum for the anus. Engraving with etching by B.L. Prevost after L.-J. Goussier.

Cutler's workshop from 'Encylopedie' Paris, 1751-1780, edited by Diderot and Dalembert.

Carpentry: a treadle-operated lathe, with an assortment of tools for turning. Engraving by N. L. Rousseau ? after Gallet ?.

A microscope (top), and a watermill (below). Engraving.

Clocks: details of clock mechanisms. Engraving c.1861.

Depictions of some parts of a fire-engine. Engraving.

Glass: a wire-drawing machine for producing the lead cames used for glazing windows. Engraving by R. Bénard after Bourgeois.

Architecture: sections of a windmill-driven sawing shed. Engraving by Bénard after Lucotte?.

Plate showing a furrier workshop and tools. Engraving from Denis Diderot, Jean Baptiste Le Rond d'Alembert, L'Encyclopedie, 1751-1757. Entitled Fourreur (Furrier).

Hydraulics: various designs for pumps. Engraving by A. Bell.

Electrometers, 18th century. Copperplate engraving by Wilson Lowry from Abraham Rees' Cyclopedia or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Literature, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, London, 1810.

Engineering: hydrostatics, illustrations of pressure gradients. Engraving.

Textiles: a spinning wheel (top), making the design (below). Engraving by R. Benard after Radel.

Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent (1743-1794). French chemist. Established the composition of the water and the basis of bioenergetics. Illustration of scientific equipment from Lavoisier's 'Trait_ elementaire de chimie' (Elementary Treatise of Chemistry). Sheet. Engraving. SPAIN. CATALONIA. Barcelona. Biblioteca de Catalunya (National Library of Catalonia).

Implements with various components used in the making of parchments. Etching by Bénard after Lucotte.

Engineering: an assortment of inventions. Engraving by W. Lowry.

Machinery with various components used in pyrotechny. Engraving by A. Bell.

Surgical instruments. Engraving with etching by R. Parr.

Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent (1743-1794). French chemist. Established the composition of the water and the basis of bioenergetics. Illustration of scientific equipment from Lavoisier's 'Trait_ elementaire de chimie' (Elementary Treatise of Chemistry). Sheet 7. Engraving. SPAIN. CATALONIA. Barcelona. Biblioteca de Catalunya (National Library of Catalonia).

Six types of press: cheese, wine (two), printing, clothes, and rolling. Engraving.

Diagrams illustrating mining implements. Etching by A. Bell.

Surgical chair. Engraving with etching.

Science: various types of forced-air calorimeter. Engraving.

Physical Instruments, Nicolaas van Frankendaal, 1759 print Display of instruments for physical research, with numbers and letters. Print in the middle of it marked: Tom. II.8me Leçon. Pl. 1. Amsterdam paper etching physics (+ tools, instruments; laboratory equipment ~ scientific research)

Plate illustrating fan manufacture from Diderot's "Encyclopédie.". Engraving on paper. Date: ca. 1751-1766. Museum: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Bookbinding: large and small book presses, and their constituent parts. Engraving by Benard after Lucotte.

Hydraulics: a hydro-pneumatic workbench, details. Engraving by A. W. Warren after R. Cocking.

Elementos de Matematica (Elements of Mathematics), by the Spanish architect and mathematician Benito Bails (1730-1797). Engravig with depiction of different tools and utensils used for the work. Volume IX, 2nd part, which treats the civil architecture. Published in Madrid, 1790.

A printing press, for copper plates, with many details. Engraving by R. Benard after L.-J. Goussier.

PRENT Left and at the top right labeled: fol. 15 - Fig 3.

Textiles: a loom for ribbon-weaving, with a weaver working. Engraving by T. Jefferys.

Electrical equipment. Electrical mirror 1, electroscope 2, electrometer 3,4, battery 5, condesator 6 and electrophorus 7. Physique: miroir electrique, electroscope, electrometre a feuilles dor, electrometre a cadran, batterie electrique, condensateur, elecrtosphere. Handcoloured steel engraving from Felix-Edouard Guerin-Meneville's Dictionnaire Pittoresque d'Histoire Naturelle (Picturesque Dictionary of Natural History), Paris, 1834-39.

Textiles: lace making, workers (top), and details of equipment (below). Engraving by R. Benard after Lucotte.

Hydraulics: various designs for pumps. Engraving by A. Bell.

Left, anal fistulas and instruments for their treatment; right, instruments to perform sutures on tendons. Engraving with etching.

A lapidary, sitting at his foot-operated grinding wheel (above), an elevation and plan of his worktable (below). Engraving by B. L. Prevost after J. N. F. Boucher.

Process of moulding brass with diagrams of the instruments used. Etching.

pl. II, Dying silk, pl. II The art of dying wool, silk, and cotton, Hellot, Jean, 1685-1766, Engraving, 1789

Surgical instruments. Engraving by Andrew Bell.

Petrus (Pieter) van Musschenbroek (Leiden, 1692-Leiden, 1761). Médico y físico neerlandés. Ensayo de Física. Con una descripción de nuevos tipos de máquinas neumáticas. Tomo II. Lámina con ilustraciones referentes a ciclos de evaporación del agua. Obra traducida del holandés al francés por Pierre Massuet. Obra editada en Leiden, Paises Bajos, 1739. Biblioteca Histórico Militar de Barcelona. Cataluña. España.

Surgical instruments for trepanning, including a tripod elevator. Engraving by Wilson Lowry, 1813.

Mechanical Jacks, 19th century illustration

Photometer and optometer, 19th century illustration

Optics: camera obscura (top) and a Leeuwenhoek style microscope (below). Engraving by Benard after Lucotte.

Rope-making: view of a rope-walk with boys winding ropes (top), details of various weights and a carriage (below). Engraving by A. Bell.

Surgery: instruments for the performance of a glossectomy, including a pharingotome, an obturator and a speculum. Engraving with etching by A.J. Defehrt after L.-J. Goussier.

Printing: cleaning formes (top), and the equipment used (below). Engraving by R. Benard after L.-J. Goussier.

Use of the measuring board illustrated, Sébastien Leclerc (I), 1690 print print maker: Francepublisher: Paris paper etching planimetry, geometry

Hydraulics: a pressure equalizing device. Engraving by Eastgate.

Surgical instruments. Engraving with etching.

Organs and pianos: details and sections.. Knight, Charles, 1791-1873. Prints, Illustrations. 1858. Science, Industry and Business Library: General Collection. Art, Industrial arts, Pianos, Organ (Musical instrument)

Gem Engraving, from Encyclopédie 1762-1777 France. Engraving on cream laid paper . A. J. Defehrt

Plate I, from Theatrum instrumentorum et machinarum, Bartholomeo Vincent, Julio Paschale, Woodcut on paper, Showing instruments and mechanical aprts. Center, a large screw, partially uncut, and a joint below. Upper right, a compass. Upper left, a coiled metal strip. Description in Latin on verso of 1949-152-198., Europe, 1582, Print, Print

Folio 5 two piston pumps, Edificij et machine MS, Martini, Francesco di Giorgio, 1439-1502, Brown ink and wash on paper, between ca. 1475 and ca. 1480

Elevations of a pebble and a quadrille table with its developments, created between 1769 and 1774 by M. Roubo (André Jacob), a member of the Académie royale des sciences in France. Published in Paris by L.F. Delatour, the work features engravings related to carpentry and joinery in France

A portable oven, and a machine for making the tips of hats. Engraving by J. Taylor after C. Varley.

A turner's workshop, a man working the crank of a large lathe, the tools ranged around the walls. Engraving by R. Bénard after Lucotte.

Machinery used in the production of lead sheet: vertical and horizontal elevations. Etching by Bénard after L.J. Goussier.

Surgical instruments. Engraving by G. Georgi, 1656.

Gold workshop: interior view, spinning wheel with various components used in the making of gold thread. Etching by Bénard after Lucotte.

Weapons and tools, Borneo island, Indonesia, Asia. Old engraving illustration, The Malay Archipelago by Alfred Russell Wallace

The eye: five diagrams showing the microscopic structure of the retina. Lithograph by F. Foedisch, 1875.

Hydraulics: different kinds of waterwheel. Engraving by W. Lowry, 1817, after J. Farey.

Plate VII, Surgical instruments used for perforation.

Physical Instruments, Nicolaas van Frankendaal, 1759 print Display of instruments for physical research, with numbers and letters. Print in the middle of it marked: Tom. I 3.Me Leçon. Pl. 3. Amsterdam paper etching physics (+ tools, instruments; laboratory equipment ~ scientific research)

Textiles: a loom used for ribbon weaving, side elevation. Engraving by R. Benard after J.-M. Lucotte.

Weaving and Loom (Plate IV), 1762, Denis Diderot, French, 1713-1784, 13 7/8 x 8 15/16 in. (35.24 x 22.7 cm) (plate)16 x 10 1/8 in. (40.64 x 25.72 cm) (sheet), Etching and engraving, France, 18th century

Plate showing potter's workshop and coal pans. Engraving from Denis Diderot, Jean Baptiste Le Rond d'Alembert, L'Encyclopedie, 1751-1757. Entitled Potier de terre (Earthenware Potter).

A device which could be used for escaping from a fire. Etching G. Gladwin after C. Varley.

distiller with indications AK, Jan Luyken, Jan Claesz ten Hoorn, 1689

Surgical equipment including elevator, tripod elevator, Mr. Rodman's trepanning instrument, I.L. Petit's elevator as improved by M. Louis, old conical saw and trepan from the 19th century. Copperplate engraving by Wilson Lowry after an illustration by J. Farey Jr. from Abraham Rees' "Cyclopedia or Universal Dictionary," London, 1813.

Chemistry: a tracking burning-glass and details. Engraving by A. Bell.

Textiles: lace making, a loom (top), and the pattern (below). Engraving by R. Benard after Lucotte.

Telegraph equipment, alphabet, and machinery. 19th century communication technology. Copperplate engraving by W. Lowry after an Illustration by J. Farey from Abraham Rees' "Cyclopedia or Universal Dictionary," London, 1817.

Physics instruments. Display of physics research instruments, with numbers and letters. PRENT In the mid top marked: Tom. I. 2. The Leçon. Pl. 3.

Micrometres, 19th century illustration

The balista. Ancient machine for projecting stones. From Mr. Newtons Designs for Vitruvius. Copperplate engraving by N.C. Goodnight from Francis Grose's Military Antiquities respecting a History of the English Army, Stockdale, London, 1812.

James Dewar's ( 1842-1923) inventor of the vacuum flask. His old flasks, top, and new flasks. From his 'Liquid Atmospheric Air', London, 1893.

Surgical instruments: various detached instruments designed by Paolo Assalini. Engraving by J.B. Taylor after C. Varley.

Illustrations for a medical work (tools and obstetric chairs). Mizutowicz, Tadeusz (1778-1826), graphic artist

Chemistry: various furnaces. Engraving by A.J. Defehrt after L.J. Goussier.

Types of hydrometers, 18th century, by Clark 2,3, John Theophilus Desaguliers 4, Jean-Andre De Luc 5, and William Nicholson 6. Copperplate engraving by Wilson Lowry from Abraham Rees' Cyclopedia or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Literature, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, London, 1818.

Surgical instruments for trepanning. Engraving with etching by T. Jefferys.

Butler, mold maker; Encyclopedia of Diderot and Alembert 1751-1772. Negen Werktuigen Voor Het Maken van Knopen. Plate II. ITU encyclopedia or dictionary of science, arts and trades Door Denis Diderot in John the Rond of Alembert, Parijs, 1751-1772.

Advertisement for toys including diablo, cup and ball, spinning top, skittles, yo-yo, dice, marbles, etc., during the Empire era. Lithograph from Henry Rene Allemagne's Sports and Games of Skill (Sports et Jeux d'Adresse), Librairie Hachette, Paris, 1903.

Fig. LXIIX. Nitromylos, tundens.. Bockler, Georg Andreas. Prints, Drawings, Design drawings. 1662. Rare Book Division. Mechanical engineering, Machinery, Mills and mill-work, Waterwheels, Rifles, Millstones, Gearing

Mathematics: various surveying instruments. Engraving by Benard.

Pyrotechny: designs for fireworks. Engraving by A. Bell.

Board of the Encyclopedia of Diderot and Alembert Denis Diderot and Jean The Rond of Alembert. "The encyclopedia or dictionary reasoned science, arts and trades by a society of visuals", 1771 - Collection of planks on science, liberal arts and the mechanical arts with their explanation - Volume XII / board 1, Page 210: "Art of doing porcelain". Museum of Fine Arts of the city of Paris, small palace.

Surgical instruments and applicances: 21 figures, including a demonstration of a combination stomach-pump/enema (). Engraving with etching by J. Scott, 1850/1860

Boutonnier, and Métal; Encyclopédie De Diderot et d'Alembert 1751-1772. About making metal knots: top face in workplace; This is different kind of tools and examples of knots. From encyclopédie ou dictionnaire raisoné des sciences, des Arts et des Métiers by Denis Diderot and Jean Le around d'Alembert, Paris, 1751-1772.

Textiles: tapestry weaving, a new type of loom being raised to working tension (top), details of the improvements (below). Engraving by R. Benard after Radel.

1 Transmitter apparatus, 2 receiver apparatus, 3 and 4 details of the equipment, 5 and 6 sections of photographic and engraving gelatine, Amstutz electrograph with two examples of reproduced photographs, from L'Illustrazione Italiana, Year XXII, No 28, July 14 1895.

Bleaching: vats, glassware, and cauldrons for bleaching cloth. Coloured engraving by J. Pass after himself, 1799.

Two designs of barometer using mercury, c1666. From 'Saggi de naturali esperienze fatte nell' Accademia del Cimento', 2nd edition. (Florence, 1691). Engraving.

Ship-building: ropes, blocks, and rigging. Engraving.

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