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britannica - americana
les expérimentations furent déterminantes pour l’avenir de l’aviation.
Ce document a servi à l’impression de l’article paru dans l’
Aero Club
of America Bulletin,
en avril 1912.]
La récente inauguration au Caire d’un monument à Mouillard a appelé
l’attention sur l’un des plus grands missionnaires de la cause de l’aviation
au XIX
e
siècle. Mouillard était un Français qui passa une grande partie de
sa vie en Algérie et en Égypte, où son attention était attirée par l’envol
merveilleux des vautours, et jusqu’à la fin de ses jours, c’était le prophète
qui prêchait dans le désert, exhortant le monde de se repentir de son
incroyance à la possibilité du vol humain. En 1881 il publia
L’Empire de
l’air,
l’une des œuvres de la littérature aéronautique les plus importantes
qui soient, et une source d’inspiration pour l’histoire de l’aviation…
Il n’y a pas de doute que la lecture de ce livre incita Octave CHANUTE
à entreprendre ses expériences, comme elle stimula les frères Wright.
Mouillard fut un missionnaire à l’égal de Lilienthal et Chanute.
Cependant, pour les lois et principes de l’aérodynamique, il n’est pas
du même niveau que Cayley, Wenham, Penaud, Langley, Lilienthal,
Chanute et Maxim. Ses faibles essais de construction ne dépassèrent
pas ceux de ses prédécesseurs Cayley et Wenham. À Otto LILIENTHAL
revint la gloire d’avoir expérimenté le vol plané…
Wright déplore que l’érection du monument commémoratif ait été
accompagné de manœuvres chauvines indignes, au détriment de
Lilienthal, et à l’encontre de Chanute, le bienfaiteur de Mouillard, accusé
faussement d’avoir volé les secrets de Mouillard et de les avoir transmis
aux frères Wright. Il rappelle d’autres prétentions fallacieuses de la
Ligue Aérienne Française concernant SANTOS-DUMONT et Clément
ADER, et défend vigoureusement Chanute, qui non seulement ne prit
jamais à Mouillard l’idée de voiler les ailes pour contrôler l’équilibre
latéral, mais fit le plus vibrant éloge de Mouillard dans son
Progress
in Flying Machines
(1893). En outre, apprenant que Mouillard était
devenu invalide et pauvre, M. Chanute œuvra pour faire breveter
ses inventions et lui fit don d’une somme importante d’argent… Cette
honteuse campagne chauvine de calomnie et de diffamation n’est
pas approuvée par la masse du peuple français…
WRIGHT WILBUR
(1867-1912). American aviation pioneer.
TYPSCRIPT signed « Wilbur Wright »,
L.P. Mouillard
– What He Did
, [circa 1912] ; 5 pages and a half, in-4
format, typed document, with the title, six typographical
instructions to the printer, and five minor corrections written
in an unidentified hand (pencil inscriptions ; small stains);
in English.
4 000 / 5 000 €
Wilbur Wright writes about the aviation pioneers who inspired
the Wright Brothers, such as Louis-Pierre Mouillard but also two
pioneers of motorised aircraft construction Octave Chanute and
Otto Lilienthal.
This article was written to underscore the unveiling of a monument
in honour of the engineer Louis-Pierre MOUILLARD (1834-1897),
whose experiments were essential for the future of aviation. This
document served for the printing of the article published in
Aero
Club of America Bulletin
in April 1912.
In this manuscript Wilbur Wright writes: “The erection at Cairo, Egypt,
of a monument to L. P. Mouillard recalls attention to one of the greatest
missionaries of the flying cause which the 19th century produced.
Mouillard was a Frenchman who passed a large part of his life in
Algeria and Egypt, where his attention was attracted by the wonderful
soaring of vultures on fixed wings. His imagination was greatly excited by
what he saw, and during the remainder of his life he was like a prophet
crying in the wilderness, exhorting the world to repent of its unbelief
in the possibility of human flight. In 1881 he published a book called,
“The Empire of the air”, which is one of the most remarkable pieces of
aeronautical literature that has ever been published. In his introduction
he says: - If there be a domineering, tyrant thought, it is the conception
that the problem of flight may be solved by man.... His observations
upon the habits of vultures led him to the conclusion that flight without
motors was possible to man, and this idea he presented to his readers
with an enthusiasm so inspiring and convincing that his book produced
results of the greatest importance in the history of flight....”
“...There is no doubt that the reading of this book was one of the main
factors in inducing Mr. Chanute to undertake his experiments, and I
know that it was one of the inspiring causes of the efforts of the Wright
Brothers.... With the possible exception of Lilienthal none of the men
who wrote on aviation in the the century, possessed such power to
draw recruits to a belief in the possibility of motorless human flight.
As a missionary, Mouillard stood at the very top along with Lilienthal
and Chanute. As a scientific student of the laws and principles of
aerodynamics he is not to be mentioned in the same class with
such men as Cayley, Wenham, Penaud, Langley, Lilienthal, Chanute
and Maxim. He was a careful observer of birds, and possessed a
genius for expressing his thoughts and feelings in words, but beyond
that he was mediocre. He made a few feeble attempts to construct
soaring machines, but their design and construction were so crude
that he failed to surpass the futile attempts at gliding made by Cayley
and Wenham, who long antedated him. It remained for Lilienthal
to definitely employ this mode of experiment, and thereby win for
himself a glory which the world will never forget…” […]
“The memory of Mouillard is well deserving of perpetuation by
a monument, but it is pity that should have been used by a self-
constituted group of pretended champions of French glory, in a
disgraceful Chauvinistic campaign of slander and detraction not
approved by the mass of the French people.”
200
YOUNG ARTHUR
(1741-1820). Agriculteur et agronome
britannique, auteur d’intéressants Voyages en France (1792).
L.A.S. « Arthur Young », Londres 27 avril 1803, à Jacques
BOUCHER DE PERTHES, directeur des Douanes
à Abbeville ; 3 pages in-4, adresse ; en anglais.
400 / 500 €
Il le remercie d’avoir bien voulu lui procurer une charrue picarde (« a
Picard plough ») qui va bien sans être tenue, et il le prie de la faire
transporter à Calais par les moyens habituels pour objets lourds,
avec instructions de la faire embarquer pour Douvres ; le voiturier
de Douvres l’apportera à Londres, et règlera les frais de transport.
Il donne son adresse précise au Bureau de l’Agriculture, Sackville
Street, Londres, et assure qu’il remboursera le prix de la charrue
suivant ses instructions…
YOUNG ARTHUR
(1741-1820).
British agronomist and writer of Voyages en France (1792).
Signed autograph letter, signed « Arthur Young », London,
27 April 1803, to Jacques BOUCHER DE PERTHES, Director
of Customs at Abbeville; 3 pages in-4 format, address;
in English.
400 / 500 €
He thanks him for having obtain a « Picard plough » and asks him to
have transported to Calais to have it sent on to Dover, who will have
it brought to London. He gives his precise address at the Bureau of
Agriculture, Sackville Street, London : “The plough should be directed to
Mr. Arthur Young at the Board of Agriculture Sackville Street, London.”