BEDOS DE CELLES Dom François (1706-1779) moine bénédictin, facteur d'orgues et mathématicien.

L.A.S. "D. Bedos", Saint-Denis April 3, 1772, to Auguste-Denis FOUGEROUX de BONDAROY of the Académie des Sciences; 1 1/2 pages in-4, address with red wax seal (broken). Very rare letter from the author of L'Art du facteur d'orgues. [Auguste-Denis FOUGEROUX DE BONDAROY (1732-1789), collaborator of Duhamel du Monceau, botanist and excellent draughtsman, wrote four monographs for the Description des Arts et Métiers, to which Dom Bedos collaborated, including L'Art du coutelier en ouvrages communs (1772)]. He returned his Art du coutelier to him: "I have made remarks on all the plates, and certainly I have not marked all the defects that I found there. I believe that the honor of the nation and even in some way yours requires that these boards be completely scraped and that they be made new. The public is always angry at the author when it sees bad engravings; because it knows in general that there are good engravers in Paris, especially seeing other plates in the arts, which are very good. Although your art in question is the rough cutlery, it is neither less useful, nor less curious, nor less interesting, and it deserves to be as well engraved as the others. He also made several remarks on the manuscript, to remove "repetitions or useless things"... He adds that he "made a bench of turn, which is still with the workman who makes it. It is the 1st Roubo who directs it. These dolls of which you speak to me will not be able to go there for sure. I will examine this and I will have all the necessary changes and repairs made before having everything transported here. It is necessary to derouinate the tree, & c. "...