Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - January - 2006 Issue
Pre-1800 Continental Art & Architecture, Etc., from Charles Wood
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Item 42 is perhaps the most important early book on fireplaces. Nicolas Gauger wrote about the causes of smoky chimneys, and how to use air ducts in fireplaces to better spread the heat. Gauger was aware of how such things as neighboring structures could impact wind patterns, leading to chimney downdrafts that back up smoke into the home. His discussion of internal heating ducts was a precursor of the technology used widely by wood and coal burning stoves such as the popular Federal Convection Heaters during the 1980s' energy crisis. Benjamin Franklin acknowledged his use of this source book in designing his Pennsylvania or Franklin Stove. The title is La mechanique du feu... This is the 1714 Amsterdam edition of a book first published in Paris in 1713. $750.
C.L.F. Fosse claimed to have built a better mousetrap, or, in this case, a better stove than Franklin. This book, published in 1786 (42 years after Franklin's stove), is titled, Cheminee economique, a laquelle on a adapte la mechanique de M. Franklin. Fosse claimed that his stove used a smaller amount wood while creating less smoke than Franklin's. Achieving both of those aims has always been a challenge to stove builders as those which burn wood more slowly tend to be smokier as well. Item 38. $575.
Here is a big fish in a small pond, or a very important work in a very targeted field. The books is L'art de la teinture des laines...by Jean Hellot. It is one of the most significant books on the art of dyeing wool. Experts in this field, and I will have to rely on their expertise as I am without such knowledge, consider this one of the foremost treatises on the dyeing process. Item 48, published in 1750. $1,000.
Here is something else you never thought about: when did the process of bleaching with chlorine begin? Apparently in 1785, and you can learn about this process (provided you speak French) in the 1799 title L'art du blanchiment des toiles, fils et cottons du tout genre. Author C. Pajot des Charmes will update you on everything that was known about chlorine bleach at the end of the 18th century. Item 71. $450.
You may reach Charles B. Wood Antiquarian Booksellers online at www.cbwoodbooks.com or by phone at 617-868-1711.
