On perspective and Newton's color theory - photo 1

On perspective and Newton's color theory

Lot 72
19.10.2023 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Starting price
$ 100
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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ID 1032724
Lot 72 | On perspective and Newton's color theory
Estimate value
$ 2 500 – 3 500
Abbé Nicolas-Louis de LACAILLE (1713–1762). Autograph manuscript, "Theorie de La Persepctive," and "Nouvelle Theorie du Melange des Coulêurs. Tirée de l’Optique de M. Newton," [Paris, ca 1757].

In French. 18 pages 370 x 241mm with numerous diagrams and tables, text and tables with extensive revisions and corrections (light toning along margins, dogeared corners). Stitched along left margin. [With:] a loose bifolium sheet of tables, 2 pages (226 x 184mm) and a one-page leaf of astronomical observations (93 x 105mm).

A detailed manuscript on perspective and optics and Newton's theory of color. An incredibly rich manuscript featuring extensive tables for calculating the distance of objects, probably used in Lacaille’s courses on mathematics which he taught at the Collège Mazarin in Paris. The work begins with the "Théorie de la Perspective," followed by "Pratique de la Perspective." Five full-page and detailed tables follow, with the vertical columns titled "Distances de l’Object au Plan du Tableau," and the horizontal columns titled "Distances de l’Object au plan Horizontal ou au plan Vertical," containing 10,000 calculations. The following section is titled "Regles pour trouver La Perspective des Objets dont les faces sont inclinées au Plan du Tableau," accompanied by another extensive table with 1,700 calculations. The final perspective section is titled "Sur Le Point de vuë, et le Lieu de l’oeil." The second portion is devoted to Newton’s theory of colors, and appears to be based upon the French edition of Brook Taylor’s work on perspective. The French translation appeared in Amsterdam in 1757 and was titled Nouveau Principes de la Perspective Linéaire, which contained "Essai sur le Mêlange des Couleurs, par Newton." However, LaCaille’s text is not a translation of that of Taylor’s, and in fact a radical reworking of the basic geometric principles of perspective. The tables are unique, the result of a massive effort of computation, one of Lacaille’s noted skills. Many of these techniques are related to his observational skills in astronomy and in calculating astronomical positions and distances. The small astronomical manuscript relates to observations he made at the Mazarin : "Par un milieu entre six observations d’un coté deduites au 1 Jan 1748 du egard a la observation eu à la precéssion".

LaCaille was an astronomer who was a prodigious observer and calculator, having observed over 10,000 stars in the Southern hemisphere, and named 14 of the 88 constellations. Initially he was assistant to Jacques Cassini and participated in a series of surveying projects, and in 1739 in remeasuring the arc of the meridian. Appointed professor of mathematics at the Collège Mazarin, he built his own observatory where he carried out astronomical observations. In 1752 he made an astronomical expedition to the Cape of Good Hope, where he built an observatory and carried out a prodigious series of observations, including the discovery and cataloguing of 42 nebulae. Lalande stated that he made more observations and calculations than all previous astronomers combined. Upon his return to Paris in 1754 he resumed his post and teaching duties at the Mazarin. His students included the great chemist Antoine Lavoisier.
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