Architecture.- Wells.- Puits de la Maison de Bicétre, dépendante de l'Hopital-Général de Paris; fait par Monsieur de Bosfrand [sic], Architecte du Roi...& construit sous ses ordres, handbill, text within woodcut decorative border, folds, little marginal chipping and some creasing, some staining, lightly browned, 211 x 191mm., [?Paris], no printer, n.d. [?c.1779].
⁂ Rare handbill giving architectural and operational details of the large wells at the prison / asylum of Bicêtre in Paris, which were designed by Germain Boffrand. The only other copy we can trace is in the papers of Benjamin Franklin. He had visited Bicêtre in September, 1779, when he witnessed the use of inmates instead of horses to operate the wells (autograph note to his copy of the handbill, which was perhaps a souvenir from the visit). We have traced a rare variant of the handbill at the BnF.
Please Login or Register to request further information and images