Jacques Besson - Theatrum instrumentorum et machinarum - 1578

Jacques Besson – Theatrum instrumentorum et machinarum – 1578

Author: Jacques Besson (Iacobus Bessonius, ca. 1540–1573)
Title: Theatrum instrumentorum et machinarum. Cum Franc. Beroaldi figurarum declaratione demonstrativa.
Place of publication: Lyon
Publisher: Barthélemy Vincent (Bartholomaeus Vincentius)
Year: 1578
Language: Latin, with privilege in French
Format: Large folio, about 36 × 25 cm
Binding: Nineteenth-century half-leather with marbled paper boards, decorated spine and title label.

Description of the work
Important and rare sixteenth-century edition of one of the most famous illustrated treatises on engineering and mechanics of the Renaissance.
The Theatrum instrumentorum et machinarum by Jacques Besson presents 60 large illustrations dedicated to mechanical inventions, mathematical instruments, lathes, mills, machines for lifting and transporting materials, hydraulic devices, constructions, and navigation.
The compositions, rich in technical and figurative details, constitute a significant testimony to the history of European technology in the 16th century.
The Lyon edition of 1578 includes the Latin explanations of François Béroalde de Verville’s figures.

Collation
Figured title page; 11 additional unnumbered leaves, including privilege, introductory texts, explanations of the 60 machines, and final errata.
In total 12 leaves (24 pages), all physically present but with textual gaps and restorations.

Follow the series of the 60 numbered plates, thus composed:
48 original 16th-century engravings.
12 modern photographic reproductions, elaborated and printed on antique paper, inserted in replacement of the missing original engravings.
The reproduced plates are exactly: 1, 2, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 22, 23, 53, 55 and 56.
The sequence of the 60 illustrations is therefore present, but the copy is not complete with all 60 original engravings.

Condition
Restored and faulty copy, with original lacunae and consolidation interventions.
Textual part
Figured title page present, with restorations, folds, stains and paper repairs.
The privilege and some initial leaves show restorations, reintegrations and localized losses of text.
Particularly notable is the defect on leaf 5: about half of the original sheet is missing, on both recto and verso, with loss of the corresponding printed text. The missing part has been reintegrated with unprinted white paper.
Other leaves show tears, major and marginal restorations, small losses of characters, folds, warping and haloing.
The descriptions of the machines continue up to figure LX, with the final FINIS. The final errata leaf is present, with blank reverse.

Illustrated plates
The 48 original engravings are in variable condition. Many retain good legibility and sharpness of the engraved details, despite folds, stains, warping and conservation interventions.
Numerous plates have been reinforced with paper repairs applied to the margins of the verso, not necessarily implying loss of images.
Plate 42 has paper reinforcements applied to the original sheet, with the main figure preserved.
Plate 39 shows a small marginal lacuna reaching the upper area of the framed engraving.
Plate 54, original, is severely lacunose: a large portion of the engraved surface is missing, with loss of part of the depiction and the caption, replaced by reintegration paper.
The twelve reproduced plates are modern prints on antique paper and are not original 16th-century engravings.

Binding
Subsequent binding in half-leather with marbled paper boards. Signs of wear, abrasions and defects, as shown in the photographs.

Final observations
Despite the gaps and restorations, the volume retains significant historical and iconographic interest for the presence of 48 original engravings from a famous Renaissance engineering work.
The copy is explicitly incomplete in its original parts and is presented with all substitutions and the main defects expressly described.

The photographs document the actual state of the volume and constitute an integral part of the description.