This engraving is from the “Chimie” section of vol. 3 of the Recueil de Planches, sur les sciences, les arts libéraux, et les arts méchaniques (Paris, 1763), of the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers organized by Denis Diderot and other philosophes.
This is the first of the series of plates representing chemical apparatus. The figures run from 1 to 7 and represent various furnaces.
“Pl. I” appears at the upper right. The “Goussier del.” signature at the bottom left refers to Jacques-Louis Goussier, the artist who drew more than 900 plates for the Encyclopédie. The “Prevost fecit” signature at lower right refers to Benoit Louis Prevost, a French engraver of the period.
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