155 - REAUMUR (René-Antoine Ferchault de). The Art of Converting Wrought Iron into Steel, and the Art of Softening Cast Iron, or of Making Cast-Iron Pieces as Finely Finished as Wrought Iron.

REAUMUR (René-Antoine Ferchault de). The Art of Converting Wrought Iron into Steel, and the Art of Softening Cast Iron, or of Making Cast-Iron Pieces as Finely Finished as Wrought Iron. Paris, Brunet, 1722, in-4, 10 unnumbered folios—566 pp.—1 unnumbered folio—17 plates. Bound in brown grained calfskin, ribbed spine, panels with gilt fillets adorned with small gilt ironwork and palmettes, red edges. (Contemporary binding).—Corners, caps, and hinges tastefully restored; scattered foxing on the interior. First edition. The folded plates depict crucibles; furnaces; foundry workshops; ore samples; and several finished products. The famous physicist and naturalist demonstrates here that steel contains carbon. "Reaumur’s most significant and original contribution to industrial technology was unquestionably his investigation of the iron and steel industry, the results of which he presented in a series of memoirs read before the Academy in 1720, 1721, and 1722. They were collected and published under the title “L’art de convertir le fer forgé en acier et l’art d’adoucir le fer fondu...”. He brought to these researches a profound mathematical ability, an extraordinarily keen power of observation, a lively experimental imagination, and a fine rational intellect.” (DSB XI, pp. 327–335) – (Quérard VII, p. 481).