B chapter.indd - Charles Babbage Institute - University of Minnesota

148
Illustrations available:
Title page
Colophon
Portrait
Erwin Tomash Library
Bion, Nicholas Bion, Nicholas
B 158
Nicholas Bion, B 158
Colophon, B 158
B 159
Bion, Nicholas (ca.1652–1733) [Edmund Stone (1700–
1768), translator]
The construction and principal uses of mathematical
instruments. Translated from the French of M. Bion,
chief instrument-maker to the French King. To
which are added, the construction and uses of such
instruments as are omitted by M. Bion; particularly of
those invented or improved by the English.
Year: 1723
Place: London
Publisher: Printed for H.W. by J.Senex and W. Taylor
Edition: 1st (English)
Language: English
Figures: 26 engraved folding plates; title in red and black
Binding: contemporary paneled leather; red leather label
Pagination: pp. viii, 264
Collation: π 2 A–3X 2
Size: 342x221 mm
Reference: DSB II, p. 133; Hamb DI, p. 37
Edmund Stone, the translator of this work, was the son of
a gardener to the Scottish Duke of Argyle. At the age of
8, another servant taught him to read. Shortly thereafter
he noticed an architect working on the duke’s house,
using instruments and making calculations. Inquiring
about these, he learned of the existence of arithmetic and
geometry and purchased a book on the subject. When
Stone was 18 and a gardener on the estate, the duke saw a
copy of Newton’s Principia in the grass. Assuming it was
from his library, the duke called a servant to return it and
was very surprised when the young gardener intervened,
claiming it was his own. The duke became his patron
(this translation is dedicated to him) and provided him
with employment that allowed time for Stone to study.
Stone became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1725.
The patronage continued until the duke’s death in 1743.
Thereafter, Stone lost his employment and was reduced
to poverty (he had to resign his membership in the Royal
Society because he could not afford to pay the dues) and
eventually died a pauper.
According to the translator’s preface (see the illustrations),
Stone had wanted to produce a work on instruments
and decided that Bion’s provided the best model
available. Rather than writing one himself, he decided
to translate the French work and add to it those English
instruments that Bion had overlooked. An example of
such an addition—the inclusion of the English gunner’s
calipers—can be seen by comparing the plate showing
artillery instruments in the first (1709) edition of Bion
with the present volume.
Stone also added, as an example of the power of the
instruments, a short section on The Use of the Sector in