The Curious Printing History of ‘La Science de l’Arpenteur’
December 1, 2021 in Manuscript Studies, Research Group Speaks (The Series), Uncategorized
The Research Group Speaks
Episode 5
The Curious, Possibly Unique, Printing History
of Editions (1766–1813)
of La Science de l’Arpenteur
by Dupain de Montesson
Ronald K. Smeltzer
Dupain de Montesson, Le spectacle de la campagne and La science de l’arpenteur (1777), First Title-page, Vignette. Ronald K. Smeltzer Collection. Photograph Ronald K. Smeltzer, reproduced by permission.
[Posted on 1 December 2021, with updates]
For Episode 5 in our series (23 January 2022), Ronald K. Smeltzer (Ronald K. Smeltzer, Ph.D.) examines a telling case of multiple editions, issued with variations in printing methods, of an eighteenth-century treatise in French on methods of surveying. The technique of surveying has a long and venerable tradition, with a varied series of books on the subject from late-antiquity onward.
The Plan
Direct, detailed examination of the editions, all in octavo format, of La science de l’arpenteur by Louis Charles Dupain de Montesson reveals multiple changes and adaptations that illuminate its extraordinary printing history. Early editions were printed all engraved including signatures of the leaves. Some of the later changes to the text and to the book design were a direct result of the French Revolution. Assembling examples of all the known editions has taken twenty years. The process attests to the value of direct inspection. This presentation describes the results.
