1340 - GALLON, [Jean Gaffin]. Machines and Inventions Approved by the Royal Academy of Sciences from Its Founding to the Present, with Their Descriptions, 2nd edition, Paris (A. Boudée) 1776–78. 3 folio volumes, sheepskin binding, cover very worn, missing sections and signs of wear, some torn caps, rounded corners, red morocco labels, marbled endpapers. pp. viii + 203 + 95, with 495 plates comprising Volumes 2 & 3.

GALLON, [Jean Gaffin]. Machines and Inventions Approved by the Royal Academy of Sciences from Its Founding to the Present, with Their Descriptions, 2nd edition, Paris (A. Boudée) 1776–78. 3 folio volumes, sheepskin binding, cover very worn, missing sections and signs of wear, some torn caps, rounded corners, red morocco labels, marbled endpapers. pp. viii + 203 + 95, with 495 plates comprising Volumes 2 & 3. Provenance Léon Leroy, watchmaker, No. 583 from his library Hervé Chayette Auction, Paris, March 19, 1982, lot 271. An extremely rare folio edition. The preface to the 7th volume of the quarto edition of this work states that “Many subscribers to the Arts published in folio by the Academy, regretting that they could not include this precious *Recueil des Machines* because it had been published only in quarto format; therefore, to satisfy their desire, it was decided to publish these seven quarto volumes in folio format and to offer them at the same price. They are bound in three large folio volumes, like the *Arts*.” The price was 96 livres, and the edition was produced in two or even four volumes. Apparently there were few subscribers, hence the rarity of this edition. Provenance: library of Jean-Nérée RONFORT (1943–2012)