Transparent mirror
A transparent mirror is a device that was invented around 1787 by Conrad Bernhard Meyer (1755–1830).
It should help the draftsman to draw objects lifelike. The background to his invention is probably the fact that Meyer built a temple of homage 14 meters high in 1786 , but was deterred by the copper engravers' fee demands . He wanted to do these stitches himself, but had no artistic training.
So he devised an apparatus that enabled him to make drawings himself. This consists of mirror glass in a frame and a second frame in which the paper goes. With the device it was possible to zoom in and out and to take landscape photos.
The invention did not make Meyer rich. But he sold a number of portraits and views of East Frisian cities. The publication of the description made it known and for a time the apparatus was in use by many artists. The apparatus can also be found literarily z. B. with Jean Paul .
literature
- Carl Wilhelm Hennert: Brief instructions on some geometric aids . Friedrich Nicolai, 1789, p. 125 ( full text in the Google book search - reprint of the 2nd edition of CBMeyer's book Der Transparentspiegel ).
- Conrad Bernhard Meyer: The transparent mirror, or description of an instrument for draftsmen, engravers, botanists and various professionals . 1788 ( limited preview in Google Book Search - published by the inventor).
- Johann Heinrich Moritz von Poppe: New miracle scene of the arts and most interesting phenomena in the field of magic, alchemy, chemistry, physics, secrets and forces of nature, magnetism, sympathy and related sciences . 3rd part. J. Scheible's Buchhandlung, Stuttgart 1839 ( full text in the Google book search).
Web links
- Transparent mirror . In: Heinrich August Pierer , Julius Löbe (Hrsg.): Universal Lexicon of the Present and the Past . 4th edition. tape 17 . Altenburg 1863, p. 757 ( zeno.org ).
- Transparent mirror . SILBERSTIFT.DE with description of the device