RAMELLI, Agostino (c.1531-1608) - photo 1
RAMELLI, Agostino (c.1531-1608) - photo 2
RAMELLI, Agostino (c.1531-1608) - photo 3
RAMELLI, Agostino (c.1531-1608) - photo 4

RAMELLI, Agostino (c.1531-1608)

Lot 84
09.07.2025 10:30UTC +01:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1450302
Lot 84 | RAMELLI, Agostino (c.1531-1608)
Estimate value
£ 20 000 – 30 000
RAMELLI, Agostino (c.1531-1608)
Le diverse et artificiose machine ... nelle quali si contengono uarij et artificiosi mouimenti, degni di grandissima speculatione, per cauarne beneficio in ogni sorte d'operatione. Composte in lingua italiana et francese. Paris: by the author, 1588.
First edition of one of the most famous illustrated books of the 16th century: a landmark in book design and in the history of technology. The scientific importance of Ramelli's work lies in his demonstration of the unlimited possibilities of machines. About half of the engravings depict hydraulic devices, the rest show military machines, fountains, bridges, cranes, and foundry equipment alongside a handful of innovative devices such as the famous ‘reading wheel’ or the bouquet with artificial singing birds. The former represents the earliest European design for a book wheel: modelled after a water wheel, the device allows for convenient use of multiple large volumes and is considered one of the first ‘information retrieval’ machines. 'The plates in Ramelli’s treatise are artistically as well as technologically superb, the bilingual text beautifully printed, and both plates and text surrounded by handsome borders of typographic ornaments. The reasons for this sumptuousness were twofold: first Ramelli had dedicated the book to his patron Henri III; and second, he had previously had several designs stolen from him by a trusted associate (probably Ambroise Bachot, later engineer to Henri IV), who published them in corrupt and mutilated form and claimed them as his own. As a result of this experience Ramelli planned his treatise as a particularly lavish work that would be difficult to counterfeit, and produced and published it from his own house where he could maintain absolute control over the project' (Norman). The present work is a very fine example of the exquisite craftsmanship of late 16th-century French printers and artists, and had a major influence on later mechanical engineering. Mortimer French 452; Norman 1777; Dibner Heralds 173.

Folio (333 x 215mm). Engraved title within architectural frame by Leonard Gaultier, each leaf of text printed within a border of typographical fleurons, engraved portrait of Ramelli by Gaultier on title-page verso, 194 engravings, 20 of which full-sheet, numbered I-CXCV with CXLVIII and CXLIX combined on a single engraving and three signed with the cipher JG (title hinge reinforced, slight browning and scattered small stains, especially in quires r-s, T3 and V8 with a torn corners). Contemporary blindstamped pigskin, central panels with the figures of Justice and John the Baptist (minor repair to front cover, stain on rear cover, spine with tiny wormholes). Provenance: Girolamo Cosmi di Rovereto (recorded at the university of Padua in 1595; ownership inscription on title) – Roger Paultre (leather booklabel; cf. his sale, Ader Tajan, ‘Grands siècles et grandes images’, 6 July 1993, lot 247) – Sotheby’s Paris, 18 May 2010, lot 12.
Place of origin:Western Europe, France, Europe
Auction house category:Books and manuscripts, Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
09.07.2025 – 09.07.2025
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
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