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 ninth of the series of plates representing furnaces and other chemical apparatus. The figures run from 108 to 126. The figures at the upper left represent distillation by means of reflected or refracted solar light.
“Pl. IX” 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 “Desehrt fecit” signature at lower right refers to a French engraver of the period.
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