Bessler's "Inventory after Death..."

[scott]

Well here it is (finally...) I tried to use OCR software to convert the scan into computer text, but I was unsuccessful. (Perhaps the font size is too small.) In any case, here is the inventory of items found in Bessler's estate after his death.

This tantalizing information has been graciously made available to the community by Al Bacon, with translation by Ted of Chicago.

Enjoy!
Scott

[John Collins]

Good work Al and Ted. I have a copy of the inventory but have been unable to make out more than a very few words and I'm amazed that anyone can make any of this writing legible. I'm tempted to offer a lot more stuff for them to translate but I suspect that they already have it and are perhaps workng on it.

The contents of the inventory are very interesting but nothing new really, it was clear that there would be no startling revelations, because doubtless someone would have noticed if there had been. I wonder where the various items described have ended up. I suspect that they are mostly in the Landesmuseum in Kassel, which has an excellent mueum of scientific apparatus dating from those times. They have Leibniz's calculating machine there amongst other things.

John

[grim]

So where might the 219 printed sketches for wood engravings be found?

[GaRy]

The woodcuts can be found at the University Library of Kassel together with a collection of other papers from/concerning Orffyreus, but they are very simple and you won't find any secret there.

[Stewart]

[reel #3, 200-201 (243-244)]
Extract from the Inventory of the Estate of the Deceased Commercien-Rath Orffyreus {i.e. Johann E.E. Bessler (1680-1745)}

1. English astronomical telescope, 20 feet, for use in half or whole, day or night, has brass screws, 2 objective and 4 ocular lenses.
2. Astronomical telescope or 8 feet in white vellum.
3. Astronomical telescope in green casing, 6 feet.
4. Large brass globe and two small brass globes. There are no markings on them [or "There are no diagrams of them."]. There are only the spheres themselves.
5. Three small Nuremberg spheres.
6. Large quadrant of 17 feet.
7. Small quadrant for the previous one.
8. Stands for astronomical telescopes.
9. Optical grinding mill with accessories.
10. Nocturnal lamp clock with two glasses.
11. Camera obscura out of the window.
12. Portable camera obscura.
13. Large concave burning glass, diameter 14 inches, in a frame.
14. Good microscope with objective lenses.
15. Optical theatre with various views and accessories.
16. Several barometers, and several lamps.
17. A wind measuring device and a weather measuring device.
18. Spirit level of special invention.
19. Schnellwage *, rather large.
20. Small Schnellwage, with brass balls.
21. Two fine magnetic stones.
22. Compass for mine surveying.
23. In addition, 2 divining rods.
24. Several marvellous magnetic needles, 2 of which are quite large and accurate.
25. Megaphone, Cochlea acustica [literally, "acoustic snail"]
26. One bird of paradise.
27. Large coconut and starfish.
28. Glass balls for weather table.
29. Curious, lovely marble egg.
30. Curious wine tap with gears; the end can be adjusted; has a domestic indicator for it.
31. Curious pedometer with gears.
32. 48 iron gears for the water machine.
33. Two steel rolling plates for pressing, also for printing copperplates.
34. Large, powerful positive organ with 12 registers: 4 of them mute, large Gedackt 8 feet, principle 4 feet.
35. Carillon, large, with 35 bells, and a bench with keyboard and automatic shaft, but is not finished.
36. Table carillon with English bells, keyboard and two shafts, driven by a bellows, also not finished.
37. High carillon, powerful, automatically plays entire songs, also not finished.
38. High carillon with a special name, thus an invention, automatically plays hundreds of songs, is not at all finished and is lacking the bells.
39. Large carillon with large, thick cylinder, plays the Te Deum Laudamus. Only the cylinder is on hand.
40. Large, long shaft for the large carillon, 2 more of the same shafts.
41. A box full of woodcuts for the Great Treatise.

Specification - original manuscripts from OrffyreusÂ’ literary estate:

1. 219 pieces: printed sketches for wood engravings.
2. Princely rescript, in which Orffyreus is appointed Commercien Rath, dated Cassell, August 15, 1716.
3. Princely contract with Rath Orffyreus regarding his perpetual motion machine, from the year 1716.
4. Princely testimonial that Rath Orffyreus' perpetual motion machine is genuine, dated Cassell, May 27, 1718.

* Literally "quick balance", it is a "balance for quick weighing, usually a balance with unequal beams and only one weight. Either the weight or the object to be weighed is displaced." [J. and G. Grimm]

[scott]

Hi Stewart, thanks a lot for transcribing this for everyone!
-Scott

[Jonathan]

Am I mistaken, or are the somewhat mysterious sounding "Nuremberg spheres" actually globe maps (which I think they were the first to make)?

[Stewart]

Hi Scott

That's ok - glad to help.

In the first post of this topic you said:

The inventory was conducted on May 23, 1737.

However, Bessler died 8 years later in 1745. Can you explain this please?

All the best
Stewart

[jimmyjj]

Hi

I was wondering if anyone has an original of the inventorium as i read that this was just an extract from it. i encountered a similar one(different person) which went for several pages. It would be good to have a copy to translate the full list of the deceased estate.

I understand John Collins may have a copy and if so iJohn have you deciphered any more or is this all there is?

Jimmy

[ken_behrendt]

I suspect that "41. A box full of woodcuts for the Great Treatise" is probably the most important item in the inventory. Those woodcuts were probably not the ones used for Maschinen Tractate, but, rather, were intended for another textbook on mechanics that Bessler wanted to make for Czar Peter after he bought the self-moving wheel design from Bessler. Unfortunately, Peter died before that could happen, but those woodcuts may have contained illustrations of devices that would be self-powered by the same mechanims Bessler used in his wheels! I think if those woodcuts could be located, then the Bessler mystery could be very quickly solved...

ken

[John Collins]

As far as I know jimmyjj, Stewart's transcription of the above list is complete and is all that there is. I'm not aware of another list several pages in length and if you have come across such then I'd be interested to see it.

John Collins

[ken_behrendt]

John...

You've hinted in the past that you are constructing a new wheel design based on some discoveries you made in the Bessler literature.

Are you making any progress with it?


ken

[scott]

In the first post of this topic you said:

The inventory was conducted on May 23, 1737.

However, Bessler died 8 years later in 1745. Can you explain this please?

Hi Stewart,

I'm sorry your question from well over a year ago slipped under my radar until now. No I cannot explain it except to say that it must have been a mistake. Of course the inventory must have been conducted after his death, so I would guess the correct date is May 23, 1745. John C. or Bill, can you corroborate that?

Sorry for the goof,
Scott

[John Collins]

I have a copy of an original inventory but I don't know if it is the "after death" one, and I cannot see a date on it and neither can I tell if it is indeed an "inventory after death". It looks suspiciously like Bessler's writing but I cannot be sure.

It might just be a list of items he had, or wished to dispose of, or anything else.

I'd be interested to know exactly where this "after death inventory" came from? I checked the reel numbers quoted at the top of the page and on my listing that comes out as a list of 36 items and although the writing is almost illegible I can make out the number 4000 on item 13 and item 33, which doesn't seem to be connected with the inventory quoted here.

John C.

[John Collins]

Ken said

You've hinted in the past that you are constructing a new wheel design based on some discoveries you made in the Bessler literature.

Are you making any progress with it?

Not progress, but a sort of creeping understanding! The so-called 'discoveries' I made are so ambiguus that I'm not even sure now whether they are relevant to the wheel. I continue to construct variations on the mechanisms that I favour based on what think I know, but so far no success.

I'm adding the 'discoveries' to the new book and perhaps others may be able to make more sense of them than I have so far. When you look for connections in Bessler's works you find them - but are they coincidences, red herrings or genuine clues?

John Collins