Estimate
€ 6.000 - 8.000
Aggiudicato
Current bid Starting bid
€ 6.000
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At auction on Tuesday 24 June 2025 at 15:30
Information
Paper manuscript of 54 pages numbered at the top right, 200 x 280 mm., written by a single hand and datable to the mid-18th century, with corrections and notes, enriched by DOZENS OF DRAWINGS OF VARIOUS SIZES , some even half-page, depicting fireworks of different shapes and sizes, more or less elaborate, marginal traces of humidity and halos, without binding. In a modern orange leather slipcase.
Specialist Notes
Extraordinary and fascinating manuscript of Pyrotechnics, probably preceding Alberti ( La Pirotechnia o sia Trattato dei Fuochi d'Artificio , Venice, 1749), certainly a practical manual written by a professional stoker .
The first cards list the specific doses of gunpowder and the different mixtures suitable for making Rays, Pinwheels, Rocks, Fountains, Blowholes, Trumpets etc. The next part details the "composition for loading the Water Globes, which burn above and below the Water", the creation of Flying Fires, the different arquebus powders to be used, a whole series of "water fireworks" of which the structure is depicted and the construction is detailed, until arriving - on the last page - at a spectacular "Comet Ray conceived but not tested", in all respects a missile with a propulsion system at the base and side, probably such as to make it rotate in the air. That the manual has a practical and not theoretical nature is demonstrated by the recurring remarks in the margin of the various fireworks: "Tested and successful", "Tested and succeeded to perfection", "tested", sometimes with comments "Tested and succeeded and it is a beautiful ray".
In these few illustrated pages there is all the ancient poetry and the charm of fireworks, which have a very ancient history linked to the discovery of gunpowder, but which in the 18th century took on their most complete form of illustrious public entertainment, especially in France. Pyrotechnics is an ancient art and also extremely dangerous, hence the extreme rarity of manuscripts like the present one, which jealously handed down the secrets of a risky profession and also for this reason unique and fascinating.
The first cards list the specific doses of gunpowder and the different mixtures suitable for making Rays, Pinwheels, Rocks, Fountains, Blowholes, Trumpets etc. The next part details the "composition for loading the Water Globes, which burn above and below the Water", the creation of Flying Fires, the different arquebus powders to be used, a whole series of "water fireworks" of which the structure is depicted and the construction is detailed, until arriving - on the last page - at a spectacular "Comet Ray conceived but not tested", in all respects a missile with a propulsion system at the base and side, probably such as to make it rotate in the air. That the manual has a practical and not theoretical nature is demonstrated by the recurring remarks in the margin of the various fireworks: "Tested and successful", "Tested and succeeded to perfection", "tested", sometimes with comments "Tested and succeeded and it is a beautiful ray".
In these few illustrated pages there is all the ancient poetry and the charm of fireworks, which have a very ancient history linked to the discovery of gunpowder, but which in the 18th century took on their most complete form of illustrious public entertainment, especially in France. Pyrotechnics is an ancient art and also extremely dangerous, hence the extreme rarity of manuscripts like the present one, which jealously handed down the secrets of a risky profession and also for this reason unique and fascinating.
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Condition report
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