Locomotion de l'homme. Images stereoscopiques . . . Offprint from C. r. Acad. Sci.
Publisher Information: 1885.
Marey, Etienne-Jules (1830-1904). (1) Locomotion de l’homme.—Images stéreoscopiques des trajectoires que décrit dans l’espace un point du tronc pendant la marche, la course et les autres allures. Offprint from Comptes rendus des
séances de l’Académie des sciences 100 (1885). 5pp. Text illustrations. (2) [with G. Demeny.] Locomotion humaine, mécanisme du saut. Offprint from Comptes rendus des séances de l’Académie des sciences 101 (1885). 6pp. Text diagrams. (3) Des mouvements de natation de la raie. Offprint from Comptes rendus des séances de l’Académie des sciences116 (1893). 5pp. Text illustrations. (4) Des mouvements que certains animaux exécutent pour retomber sur leurs pieds, lorsqu’ils sont précipités d’un lieu élevé. In an offprint containing four other papers from Comptes rendus des
séances de l’Académie des sciences 119 (1894): 1-4. Text illustrations. Together 4 offprints. 277 x 222 mm. Original plain wrappers, a bit chipped and frayed. Very good.
First Editions, Offprint Issues. Marey pioneered the use of graphical recording in the experimental sciences, using instruments (many of his own invention) to capture and display data impossible to observe with the senses alone, and to record visually the progression of such data over time. He began by applying graphical recording methods to problems in physiology, using machines to investigate the mechanics of the circulatory, respiratory and muscular systems. After 1868 he turned to the study of human and animal locomotion, and in the 1880s he began using cinematography to record animal motion, making him one of the pioneers in this field.
The first two offprints listed above are on human locomotion: No. (1) discusses the stereoscopic images described by a certain point on the trunk during walking, running and other gaits, while no. (2) discusses the mechanics of jumping. The third and fourth offprints are on animal locomotion: No. (3) illustrates the motion of a ray’s fins during swimming, and no. (4) contains a series of chronophotographic images showing how a cat lands on its feet after being tossed from a height.
Price: $1,250.00