ARTIFICIER - Désiré RUGGIERI(1817-1885,Artificier, Son of Cl - Lot 286

ARTIFICIER - Désiré RUGGIERI(1817-1885,Artificier, Son of Claude Ruggieri, Napoleon I's artificier, grandson of Petroni Ruggieri, Louis XV's artificer -In 1835, he entered Ingres' workshop to learn the rudiments of drawing, and succeeded his father in the family business upon his death in 1841 -He was Napoleon III's artificer, who granted him his friendship and protection) / Autograph letter signed, 3 p small in-4 plus address page with postage,Bellegarde(Gard), June 15, 1838, to Monsieur Lormier in Paris (Monsieur Lormier was the "physicist" at the Opéra de Paris, in charge of special effects, using chemicals and fireworks -His son Paul Lormier, a costume designer at the Opéra, was Désiré Ruggieri's disciple in Ingres' studio): He comes to give his news and asks for news from the entire Lormier family: "I always look at the Salon exhibitions to see if I can see Paul's name, but I haven't seen anything yet. Could it be that he has neglected the good intentions he announced?", "Tell me what's happening at the Opéra, if you're still doing something there and if there are any new effects. This reminds me of a discussion I had a few days ago with our doctor, on the subject of combined gas lighting. He claims it's impossible, given the explosion in all circumstances. Please give me some details of the experiments that have been carried out, both for the microscope lamp and for large-scale illumination, so that I can convince this unbeliever".