César-Nicolas-Louis Leblanc

César-Nicolas-Louis Leblanc is a draftsman and French engraver, born the July 8th 1787 with Paris and deceased the November 23rd 1835 in Fontenay.

Life and work

César-Nicolas-Louis Leblanc is the second wire of Nicolas Leblanc, inventor of the process of extraction of the soda of sea salt. He was one of the first pupils of the art school of the Conservatoire of arts and trades, where he studied 1804 with 1806 before working with the land register. In 1812, it was “ engraver draftsman ” and married, in Paris, Henriette-Joséphine-Catherine Henry, the girl of an officer of cavalry.

In 1815, Leblanc entered to the Academy of arts and trades in the capacity as draftsman, his control of engraving having played in its favor. Gradually, he assumed only the teaching of the drawing of machines, a speciality in which he excelled. Leblanc was a pioneer of the technical design: he taught with the pupils not only the linear drawing and the theory of projections, the prospect and the shades, but endeavoured to give them a method to include/understand the operation of a machine and the articulation of his various elements.

In the preamble to sound Collection of the machines, instruments and apparatuses which are used for the rural economy (1819), he explains his method of drawing:

“ I will endeavor to choose the most suitable aspect and most suitable to give a perfect idea of the general provision of the machine, and I will entirely ombrerai this sight. In the other figures, the cylindrical parts and those which do not have the angle will be slightly ombrées. The cut parts will be expressed by diagonal hatchings. As for the details, they as much as possible will be developed on a high stepladder so that they more easily are seized and that using the ladder and of the compass, one can find each dimension exactly. ”

Ten years synthesis of teaching, it published in 1830: Choice of models applied to the teaching of the drawing of machines with a descriptive text , work in which it developed its design of the drawing of machines. It was a question for him not only of drawing already produced machines, but also of drawing machines in project correctly. Thus the machines or their details are not dimensioned, but the scale is reproduced on each board and makes it possible to find dimensions and to reproduce the machines. In its drawings, Leblanc privileged the feature, which gave them a certain dryness, but facilitated their reproduction and thus their diffusion.

The teaching of Leblanc comprised another originality, its contacts with the industrialists and the manufacturers of machines, to which it very frequently went with its pupils to carry out surveys of machines on the spot. This bond enriched the collections by the Academy, which kept up to date thus with the last processes, at one time when the priority was well to know the English machines. This teaching then attracted wire of industrialists, who could also acquire with the Academy a high level formal training.

The drawings of machines of Leblanc were a great success. From 1824, it thus engraved the boards of drawings of the Bulletin of the Company of encouragement of national industry , then the boards of the newspaper the Industrialist . It illustrated many technical works. Leblanc created its own workshop of drawing, in which it made work its best pupils, like Jacques-Eugene Armengaud, and which produced quantity of boards, all signed “Leblanc”, and whose it ensured itself the impression.

After her untimely death at 48 years, its widow continued the edition of her work under the signature “Vve Leblanc”, which became “V. Leblanc”, which was at the origin of a confusion as for the first name of the author, which always signed her drawings “Leblanc”.

Source

Louis Andre, “ César Nicolas Leblanc and the drawing of the machines ”, Books of history of the CNAM , 1994, n° 4, p. 71-92.

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