A unique astronomical-geographical manuscript
[Mairan, J. J. d'Ortous de]
Meridienne de Sain-Port ou Saint Assise. [Manuscript].
Published
[1734]-1761
Item ID
77610
€12,500.00
Unpublished, 1734-1761. Folio (36.0 x 23.2 cm). Half-title, contents leaf, title page, 31 pp. [numbered 1-31], 20 blank leaves. Contemporary full mottled calf. Spine with six raised bands; compartments rich gilt with lion vignettes and floral corner pieces, and burgundy morocco label with gilt title. Boards with double gilt-lined borders. Marbled endpapers.
A well-preserved and easily readable manuscript containing astronomical, geodesical, meteorological and geographical observations made between 1738 and 1761, chiefly at Château de Sainte-Assise near Seine-Port (south-east of Paris), here spelled Sain-Port, and Château Saint Assise, or Saint Assize. In his Voyage Pittoresque des Environs de Paris (1757), the French landscaper, botanist and malacologist Antoine-Nicolas Dezalliers d'Argenville (1723-1796), described the Château de Sainte-Assise as follows: "Six leagues from Paris, on the banks of the Seine, is a castle of the best located. You arrive there via a crow's foot pierced in the woods and which leads to a vast esplanade followed by the forecourt and the courtyard. A beautiful terrace spanning the entire extent of the garden is in front of the castle which is a main building flanked by two pavilions. Next to it is another pavilion where is the new dining room whose decoration is very sought after. The terrace of which I have just spoken leads to the left into two groves, and to the right, into a quincunx above which is the orangery. The top of the garden is a high forest with paths. At the bottom of the terrace, opposite the castle, is a flowerbed which extends to the edge of the river." King Louis XV and the famous French Rococo painter Jean Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) were regular visitors. Although not signed, the note was most certainly written by the biologist, physicist and astronomer Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan (1678-1771), as De Mairan stated that he made scientific - in particular astronomical - observations at the chateau ( Traite Physique et Historique De l'Aurore Boreale, seconde edition, p. 430), and the handwriting is identical to that of a letter from De Mairan preserved at the Paris Observatory. "Mairan was concerned with a wide variety of subjects, including heat, light, sound, motion, the shape of the earth, and the aurora. He wanted to find physical mechanisms (in the Cartesian sense) to explain phenomena" (DSB). Subjects include Méridienne de Saint-Port ou Sainte Assise 1738 -1746; Observations astronomiques, géodésiques, etc., faites au, Château de Sainte Assise; Construction de la méridienne tracée dans le grand salon du Château en avril 1738; Déclinaison du salon vers le couchant; Niveau apparent du salon par rapport à Géonville et autres lieux. Position astronomique du Château de Saint-Port; Position du Château de Saint Port en latitude et en longitude selon la grande carte des environs de paris en 9 feuilles, par Mrs de l’Académie R. des Sciences en 1674; Ligne de Midi un quart tracée auprès de la méridienne ce 25 octobre 1746; Opération faite le 21 novembre 1761 pour marquer sur la méridienne l’entrée du soleil dans chacun des douze signes du Zodiaque [Construction of the meridian drawn in the large living room of the Château in April 1738; Apparent level of the living room in relation to Geonville and other places; Astronomical position of the Château de Saint-Port; Position of the Château de Saint Port in latitude and longitude according to the large map of the surroundings of Paris in 9 sheets, by Mrs de l'Académie R.
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des Sciences in 1674; Midday line one quarter drawn near the meridian this October 25, 1746. Operation carried out on November 21, 1761 to mark on the meridian the entry of the sun into each of the twelve signs of the Zodiac]. "Over the course of his life, De Mairan was elected to numerous scientific societies and made key discoveries in a variety of fields including ancient texts and astronomy. His observations and experiments also inspired the beginning of what is now known as the study of biological circadian rhythms. In 1698 he went to Paris to study mathematics and physics. In 1702, he returned home to Béziers and began his lifelong study of several fields, most notably astronomy and plant rhythms. 1723, De Mairan, who had become a member of the Académie Royale des Sciences, co-founded the Académie de Béziers. Eventually, De Mairan received official lodging in the Louvre where he remained pensionnaire until 1743 and served as secretary from 1741 to 1743.[1] In 1746, he was reinstated as pensionnaire géomètre, or full-time boarding surveyor. In 1731, he published Traite Physique et Historique De l'Aurore Boreale (a short summary appeared in the Philosophical Transactions in which he put up a novel hypothesis that the Northern Lights are caused by the Sun, as the interaction of the atmosphere with the zodiacal light. At the time, the aurorae were thought to be 'flames' caused by sulfurous effluvia emanating from the Earth. In 1729, De Mairan constructed an experiment showing the existence of a circadian rhythm in plants, presumably originating from an endogenous clock. In 1718, De Mairan was inducted into the Académie Royale des Sciences. The Cardinal de Fleury and the Count of Maurepas selected De Mairan to replace Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle as 'Secrétaire perpétuel' of the Académie in 1740, a position he accepted only for 3 years, and thus duly resigned in 1743. De Mairan also served as the Académie's assistant director and later director intermittently between 1721 and 1760. Eventually, De Mairan was appointed editor of the Journal des Sçavans, a science periodical, by Chancellor d'Aguesseau. Also, in 1735, De Mairan was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 1769, a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences as well as to the Russian Academy (St. Petersburg) in 1718. De Mairan was also a member of the Royal Societies of London, Edinburgh, and Uppsala; the Institute of Bologna, and the Academy of Rouen. With Jean Bouillet and Antoine Portalon, he founded his own scientific society in his hometown of Béziers, named the Académie de Béziers, around 1723. Beyond astronomical and circadian observations, De Mairan actively worked in several other fields of physics including 'heat, light, sound, motion, the shape of the Earth, and the aurora'" (Wikipedia). In the present manuscript, De Mairan added several marginalia, commenting upon his earlier observations. Several pages are left blank, most probably because he anticipated adding more data. Boards much rubbed at extremities. Spine cover dried, flaking. Internally, however, in excellent condition. A historically and scientifically important, unique item. DSB IX, pp. 33-34.
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