Alphonse POITEVIN (1819-1882) engineer and photographer, inv - Lot 661

Lot 661
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Alphonse POITEVIN (1819-1882) engineer and photographer, inv - Lot 661
Alphonse POITEVIN (1819-1882) engineer and photographer, inventor of photolithography.4 L.A.S., Conflans (Sarthe) and Paris 1859-1860, to his cousin Chesneau or to his lawyer; 14 pages in-8. File concerning photolithography and the conflict opposing him to the lithographer printer Joseph Lemercier (1803-1887), associated with Jean-Ernest Deraine, who wanted to appropriate his invention. November 10, 1859. He forwards to Chesneau the letter he received from Edmond BECQUEREL (L.A.S. attached, October 29, 1859), informing him that he presented "to the Photographic Society your note for obtaining images on glass and it was very well received by all the members", and that he saw Lemercier who complained about the summons sent by Poitevin: he did not think "that you cared so much about the words of Poitevin's process" and is ready for a direct arrangement; he advises him to withdraw his summons, in order to settle this matter amicably and to avoid a trial. One would put on each proof the mention Process Poitevin. Poitevin indicates to his cousin that he is ready to settle with Lemercier "if he wants to give back on the proofs already made but not annotated, and that he declares the number and the indication of these proofs, that he commits himself thereafter not to make this omission any more"... -12-13 December, to his lawyer: "The proposal of a sum of money for Lemercier to be exempted from putting on each proof printed at his place by my process the indication - Procédé Poitevin - was not made to me by Lemercier but by Deraine in the course of a conversation that I had with him a few days after the sale of my patents. This clause had been put in place with the sole aim of keeping all the credit for the invention of the process for myself". But they put P. Poitevin, which represents a first name and a surname of individuals, this indication not even designating me since I sign A. Poitevin. [...] Lemercier must not however be unaware of how much I wanted to keep the honor of this discovery since I sacrificed everything to put it into practice and that for two years I made myself a lithographer printer, a state which was so different from mine. He refused to Lemercier and others to join, fearing "to see my process pass to the name of Lemercier that I thought to want to substitute it for the one that he said to have invented and with which he could not do anything. The very sale, that I made to Deraine of my patents, and for the price of 18 000 frs plus 2 000 frs for the material, proves enough to Lemercier that I sacrificed my pecuniary interests to my honor and my own love of inventor"... The following day, he specifies to have "sold my patents to Deraine at a price much lower than their value, in the only hope that the exploitation would be made in a special printing house and separated from any other printing especially from that of Mr. Lemercier. My complaint about the non-execution by the assignees of the clause that preserves the merit of the invention for me is therefore not only a matter of hurt self-esteem, but also of the non production in my favor of a sum of money that I sacrificed to preserve my right as inventor. .... - January 11, 1860. He informs his lawyer that at "the Exhibition of photography which lasted during several months of the last year in the Palace of industry in the Fields Elisées", Lemercier had put a frame with the inscription "Process of Mr Poitevin perfected and applied on stone by Lemercier. The catalog of the exhibition bore only the title "Procédé de Mr Poitevin perfectionné par Lemercier". The commission had suppressed applied on stone (by Lemercier). This commission admitted the word perfected although it was not true "... He complains about the maneuvers of Lemercier to prevent from giving the price of the duke of Luynes to his process: " All that is of an unspeakable lowliness "... One joined the corrected draft of the assignment (6 p. in-fol.), and its autographed print.
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