Scientific Instrument Society 25th Anniversary Exhibition
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08 Slide Rule on the Rim of a Snuff Box
I remember seeing this snuff box in the window of a jewellery shop and waiting outside for three hours until they opened.
It is made of three-colour écaille moulée, an early form of resinous plastic, which is made by mixing fine tortoiseshell dust with a colourant and resin and heating it under pressure. It was described in 1816 by Jomard as being invented and made by the ‘mécanicien’ Hoyau of 14 rue Mauconseil, Paris. He clearly thought that snuff takers had a need for a slide rule.
The base is impressed with a ’VUE DU PONT DE LA CONCORDE’ and the top with a ‘VUE DE LA GALLERIES DU LOUVRE’.
The logarithmic scale is of single radius and is stamped ‘HOYAU.’ Rotating the lid against the base facilitates calculations and it is contained in a velvet lined, red Morocco box.
Hoyau was also an engraver as, in the previous year, he engraved the plate of the English ‘Soho’ slide rule made by W. & S. Jones that Jomard was encouraging the French to adopt (a version was later produced in Paris by Etienne Lenoir, 1744-1832). A few years later Hoyau was promoting the calculating machine of Thomas de Colmar and later still he was writing on metalworking, where he also engraved the plates.
French, c. 1816
See: Bulletin de la Société d'Encouragement pour L'Industrie Nationale, 15e Année, p.173, 1816
Bulletin de la Société d'Encouragement pour L'Industrie Nationale, February 1822
Hoyau, Modèles de Serrurerie, Paris 1826
Collection: Peter Delehar, London
Objects lent by Peter Delehar, London:
11. Reversible Circular Slide Rule, English, c.1840
25. Slide Rules - a Selection of the Original Pocket Calculators
26. Javal's Ophthalmic Slide Rule, by A. Cretes, Paris, c. 1875
27. Triangular Slide Rule with Four Sliders, by Elliott, London, c. 1870
28. Oil Calculation Slide Rule Designed by Forrest M. Towl, New York, c. 1889
29. Master Rule and Gauging Slide Rule, by Dring & Fage, London, 19th Century
30. Anderson Celluloid Gridiron Slide Rule, by Casella & Co, London, c. 1903
31. Slide Rule in a Drawing Scale, by J. Casartelli, Manchester, c. 1870
32. Circular Slide Rule, by Joseph Lamb, London, c. 1827
33. Roubicek Circular Slide Rule for Surveying, by Neuhöfer & Sohn, Vienna, c. 1870
34. Annular Slide Rule, by Elliott Brothers, London, c. 1875
36. Box Sextant with Integral Slide Rule, by Troughton & Simms, London, c. 1870