Description

A very early testimony in the Lenoir’s production.

This fine and typically French double telescope graphometer has the particularity to bears two signature : “Meurand à Paris” and “divisé par Le noir”.

Antoine-Joseph Meurand (Meurand elder) was active in Paris from 1750 to 1780.

Etienne Lenoir, the brilliant engineer of the Borda circle and of the revolutionary Weights and Measures, came in Paris in 1772 and worked in this own workshop from 1775.

The present example is of a rare testimony of an documentable partnership between two French instrument makers from 1770s’ and obviously a very early example of the Etienne Lenoir production, already famous for his dividing method and skill works.

“In Etienne Lenoir France had at last found a craftsman to rival the best of the London makers, one who could only make verty fine instruments for astronomy, navigation and surveying, but was also capable of originality in his designs. Born in 1744, he began to build his reputation in the 1770s’ and was attracting important official commissions in the 1780s’. He was thus sufficiently well established to take advantage of the upheaval of the Revolution ; among the many radical changes introduced was a comprehensively reformed system of measurement, and measurement was Lenoir’s business” (See Bennett, “Le Citoyen Lenoir. Scientific instrument making in revolutionnary France, A special exhibition to mark the bicentenary of the French revolution”, 1989).

“The traditional French graphometer is converted to a consideravbvly more sophisticated surveying instrument by a number of features. Most obvious are the two telescopic sights, both pivoted to accomodate a greater vertical range. The upper telescope is used to align the index [….]. The lower telescope is used to set (by an azimut clamp and tangent screw beneath) and mainting the instrument’s orientation and corresponds to the fixed sights on the common graphometer” (see Bennett, number 81).

The double signed present example preserved its two telescope complete and in working order, his micrometric screws behing beneath the semi-circulat plate, its large compass with its needle and its joint.

A very interesting instrument in the Lenoir’s production, maybe made before Lenoir has a large worshop for making all the piece of the instruments and a fine complete instrument.

38,5cm lenght and around 24cm height without the later wooden stand.