Découvertes et Inventions Mémorables Datées par Elles-Mêmes

Paris: A. Bedelet, 1863. Oblong 16mo. (13)ff. After an engraved title page, which in twelve miniatures prefaces the inventions subsequently mentioned, and an alternate lithographed title page printed on the verso of the following sheet, each page shows two side-by-side tinted lithographs, with titles above and captions below. The twenty-two total illustrations depict important mechanical inventions in Europe, from the creation of musical notation in 1022, to the electric telegraph in 1850. Cleverly, each image incorporates its date of discovery into the composition itself. For example, in the illustration of the introduction of paved roads in Paris, two columns stand as 11, two round stained glass windows create an 8, and the eaves of neighboring houses form a 5, to give the date 1185. Other highlighted discoveries include the invention of rag-paper by "Arabes" (the Chinese are mentioned in the caption as another possible inventor; regardless this is the text's only mention of non-Western contributions); oil painting by the likes of Van Eyck and Juan de Bruges; Gutenberg's movable type; and the introduction of the potato in Europe. Some interior foxing, general exterior cosmetic soiling and bumping, else near fine in color-printed boards with red cloth spine. Unrecorded in OCLC.