Description

GATTEY (François), Tables des rapports des anciennes mesures agraires avec les nouvelles. Troisième édition, Paris, Michaud Frères, 1812.

8vo of (4), 328, (2) and 1 folded plate; contemporary half-sheepskin (faded spine, missing leather, and fragile joints).

Third edition, but the first given an illustrated description of Gattey’s Arithmograph, a separate publication of which had already appeared in 1810 at the time of the publication of the second edition of the Tables. The original edition of the tables appeared in 1801. Gattey invented this logarithmic circle in 1799, at which time he called it “Logarithmic Dials.”

“The decree relating to weights and measures of 18 Germinal, Year 3 (April 7, 1795) stipulates that “citizens are invited to demonstrate their commitment to the unity and indivisibility of the Republic by using the new measures from now on in their calculations and commercial transactions.” Article 19 specifies that “Instead of tables of ratios between the old and new measures, graphic scales will be used to estimate these ratios without the need for any calculations.”

It was in this context that François Gattey (1756–1819) proposed the use of logarithmic dials, which he renamed “arithmographs” in 1810.” (See the Interstices website on calculating machines).