[Jacquard Looms, Early Computing, Textiles] French manuscript with 94 textile samples and loom programming instructions

[Jacquard]

Published by [no publisher stated] mid-late 19th century, [Lyon, France?]

About this Item

First Edition. Large Folio, approx. 13 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches. Not paginated. Marbled boards with parchment spine and corners. Parchment spine professionally renewed and internal stitching redone to style. Laid paper, lined, with red inked boarders on all four sides. Previous owner name/date penciled on front flyleaf along with "French cloth design" note. Entire manuscript is written in French, closely and finely written. "Lyon" penciled on one page. The manuscript consists of five gatherings, each with 28 pages (14 sheets folded once). Most pages are substantially filled with manuscript notations and diagrams which we have described below. We have not noted blank pages. There is browning/ghosting of samples on the opposite pages. There are a number of designs/extra papers laid in. First gathering: 26 pages with a finely written overview of the Methods of Manufacture ("Principes de Fabrique"), along with inked configurations diagrams with titles. Second gathering: Three additional pages of sample diagrams, followed by six full page pasted in drawings showing parts of the overall machine configuration. These particular drawings are unusual in our experience. The next eleven leaves each contain two textile samples, and corresponding machine patterns for each. Third gathering: 26 textile samples with the corresponding keys (some very complex) necessary to make the cloth pattern. The rear leaf has been excised. Fourth gathering: 27 textile samples with corresponding patterns (some visualized on paper with small grids colored in). Fifth gathering: 19 additional textile samples with corresponding patterns. Some pages have pasted in grids with colored squares to help in visualization. Each textile sample page includes documents the loom specifications "Disposition" (a layout), "Empoutage" (In a drawloom, the operation of passing the necking cords through the holes of the comber board), "Remettage" (The process of threading the warp ends through the heddles or leashes), "Ourdissage" (turning on or Arranging and winding the warp on the warp beam of the loom), and "Lissage" (smoothing). Some pages have an additional descriptions as well. Most have a textile sample affixed to the page (or the page opposite). Some of the more complex examples have separate affixed grid drawings with colored squares to help visualize the pattern in the cloth. A total of 94 textile samples with corresponding information necessary to recreate them. Many appear to be silk, but there are other types of textile as well. The laid paper has a watermark/countermark. One is uniformly trimmed off but shows (d & c Blauw). The other has a monogram/emblem of some type with an embedded MV in the design and a crescent moon at top. (see images) Further research may help discover where andwhen the paper for the manuscript was made. Cloth. This manuscript describes the methods of manufacture, overview of the loom, and many cloth samples for a Jacquard mechanism. These manuscripts are important for several reasons. First they documented the secrets to manufacturing a specific cloth design on a Jacquard mechanism. With just the design, one could recreate the same cloth pattern on any loom with a Jacquard mechanism. Some manuscripts were created as part of extensive professional training (think of a PhD practicum) for those entering the industry. Others were in essence trade secret documentation for specific firms. Importantly, the loom programming cards created from these designs foreshadowed the use of punch cards in early computers. Many of us have heard of punch-cards used to program early IBM computers. This writer used these cards to program a computer in the 1980s. There is a direct correlation between these Jacquard designs and the punch cards I used. Line by line (card by card), the Jacquard card designer tells the loom (a programmable machine in effect) how to create a specific textile, just like I created, card by card, punchcards to tell an IBM machine how to execute a.

Seller Inventory # 29428

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [Jacquard Looms, Early Computing, Textiles] French manuscript with 94 textile samples and loom programming instructions
• Publisher: [no publisher stated] mid-late 19th century, [Lyon, France?]
• Binding: Cloth
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Engineering
  • History of Computing
  • Textiles