KERSAINT, Louis-Pierre de Coetnempren, Count... - Lot 327 - Gros & Delettrez

Lot 327
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KERSAINT, Louis-Pierre de Coetnempren, Count... - Lot 327 - Gros & Delettrez
KERSAINT, Louis-Pierre de Coetnempren, Count of (1743-1793), Breton sailor and French statesman. Fond of all kinds of innovations, he created the ship's kitchens known as "à la Kersaint" and devised a new system of sails. L.A.S. Brest, May 22, 1787. 2 pp. in-4. Trimmed edges. A fascinating letter concerning the problems of ventilation in ship's kitchens, precious for the history of shipbuilding in the 18th century: "[...] I propose to have a kind of ventilator executed in the same principle as those you spoke of. To follow the English idea, I would need to have their galley as well, and ours are very different, but I intend to have three atmospheric air ducts on each side, and I am convinced that when the air becomes rarefied in the holds due to the fermentation of the objects contained therein, and ceases to be in equilibrium with the outside air, a current will be established which will be sufficient to renew it. I think that a poelle that is lit from time to time would be a simpler way of determining this current and producing the desired effect. Like you, I consider this object to be an essential instrument [...]". Kersaint then mentions masts, sails, pulleys, ropes, etc. RARE.
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