Guyot - Physiques et Mathématiques - 1799

A fascinating compendium of Enlightenment French recreational science. Geometry, perspective, optics, air and water become experiments and scientific entertainments. The volume teaches how to construct instruments, create illusions, and observe physical phenomena. The 48 engraved plates constitute an extraordinary repertoire of devices and demonstrations. A work in which scientific outreach, curiosity, and spectacle meet.

ABSTRACT
According to the second volume of the famous Nouvelles récréations physiques et mathématiques by Edme-Gilles Guyot, here in the new Paris edition of 1799. The work belongs to the successful eighteenth-century tradition of the “récréations mathématiques”: books designed to make mathematics and physical sciences accessible through problems, experiments, games, illusions, and practical constructions. Guyot addresses in this volume principles of geometry, measurement, perspective, optics, mechanics, and phenomena related to air and water, accompanying the explanations with a wide graphic apparatus. Particularly evocative are the sections devoted to perspective instruments, the effects produced by mirrors, pneumatic and hydraulic apparatus, measuring devices, and experiments conceived to astonish the spectator. The exemplar preserves 48 engraved plates, often containing numerous numbered figures, which effectively document the culture of scientific experimentation and the spectacle of science at the end of the eighteenth century.

MARKET VALUE
An interesting work especially for its rich illustration and the growing collecting interest in popular science, instruments, optics, and eighteenth-century curiosities. The presence of the 48 plates, the decorative period binding, and the good general condition make the volume commercially attractive. However, since this is only the second volume of a multi-volume work, its value is significantly lower than that of a complete set. Indicative estimate for this volume: €250–400.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Volume II. Contemporary binding with boards covered in decorative paper and back in gold-ornamented leather; red spine label with title and green label with volume number “2.” Lettering on leather corners. Boards with decorative endpapers. Accompanied by 48 engraved plates, with numerous figures devoted to geometry, perspective, scientific instruments, physical experiments, pneumatic and hydraulic apparatus. Binding shows normal signs of use and age, abrasions and wear especially to the spine, headcaps, and corners. Interior with some light browning, small stains and signs of time. In old books with a long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing includes AI Visualizations. Pages (2); 8nn; 410; (4).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Nouvelles récréations physiques et mathématiques. Nouvelle édition. Tome second.
Paris, A la Librairie, 1799.
Edme-Gilles Guyot (M. Guyot).

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Nouvelles récréations physiques et mathématiques exemplify one of the most characteristic cultural phenomena of the Enlightenment: the transformation of science into material accessible to a cultivated but not necessarily specialist audience. Knowledge is not presented only through theoretical demonstrations. Guyot invites the reader to build, experiment, measure, and observe. Geometry and perspective become practical tools; the properties of air and water are illustrated through devices and experiments; optics and mechanics produce illusions and surprising effects. The subtitle itself clearly conveys the author’s intent: to explain phenomena and to construct devices from which to derive entertainment capable of “étonner et surprendre agréablement.” This very blend of science, technology, play, and wonder renders the work particularly representative of European scientific culture in the eighteenth century.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Edme-Gilles Guyot (1706–1786) was a French mathematician, inventor, and science popularizer, best known for his works devoted to mathematical and physical recreations. His activity falls within the great eighteenth-century wave of experimental divulgation, when phenomena of optics, mechanics, mathematics, and physics were presented also through spectacular demonstrations, instruments, and scientific games. Guyot contributed significantly to the diffusion of this culture of science amusante, in which entertainment became a tool to bring a broader public closer to the principles of science.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The Nouvelles récréations physiques et mathématiques originally appeared in the second half of the eighteenth century and enjoyed considerable editorial success, evidenced by successive editions and revisions. The work’s fortune should be placed within the broader European tradition of problem collections and mathematical recreations, but Guyot greatly expanded the field toward experimental physics, optics, mechanics, and apparatus construction. The present edition, published in Paris in 1799, testifies to the enduring appeal of the work even after the author’s death and toward the close of the Enlightenment. This exemplar includes only Tome Second, complete with its textual sequence up to p. 410 and accompanied by the 48 plates indicated for the volume.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Guyot, Edme-Gilles, Nouvelles récréations physiques et mathématiques, Paris, 1799, Tome II.
For census and bibliographic comparison of the work and its various editions:
BnF – Bibliothèque nationale de France
CCFr – Catalogue collectif de France
WorldCat – OCLC
KVK – Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog
Google Books – digitized copies of historical editions of the work
Bibliothèque du Conservatoire national des arts et métiers – science and technology history collections.