The first "machine theatre" of the early modern era

Besson, Jacques. Theatrum oder Schawbuch. Allerley Werckzeug und Rüstungen, des Hochverstendigen Sinnreichen Mathematici, Iacobi Bessoni, auß dem Delphinat. Mit einer augenscheinlichen Erklerung Francisci Beroaldi, auff alle und jede Figuren [...].

€ 8,500.00

First German edition of Besson's famous "Theatrum instrumentorium et machinarum", a milestone of early modern technical literature. This "curious work" (Sotheran) established the Baroque genre of "machine theatres": illustrated engineering books that showcased elaborate machinery as if on a theatre stage, complete with human or animal figures. The present example comprises sixty fine engraved plates prepared by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau (1510/20-1585/86) and René Boyvin (1525-98), showing a wide variety of inventions, including lathes, wheelbarrows, load and lifting cranes as well as stamping, grinding and water mills, barrels, nautical propulsion machines, stone-cutting machines, pendulums, smoke stacks, water pumps and fire pumps, most of them intended for use in construction, agriculture, water engineering, mining, and loading ships. Further, some inventions that can be considered part of leisure and "entertainment technology", such as royal carriages or a musical fountain (plate 51).

First published with a different title in 1571 or 1572 without place or date. In fact, it was the second printing, titled "Theatrum instrumentorum et machinarum" (Lyon 1578), that had the most significant impact, particularly among the French nobility, seeing translations into French (1578), Italian (1582), German (1595), and Spanish (1602). Within early modern technical literature, Besson's work remains the model, benchmark and reference for all subsequent machine theatres.