Objects : 2
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Object / Directoire-Consulat-Ier Empire/Directory-Consulate-1st EmpireNapoleon I’s Coronation SwordWhen Bonaparte became First Consul, head of state, he wanted a ceremonial weapon for grand state occasions, based on the example of the very lavish sword made in 1784 for Louis XVI. He specified that it should “be in keeping with the customs related to…
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ObjectThe phonautographe
The phonautograph, the first machine ever to record sound, was invented during the Second Empire, in 1853, by the Frenchman Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville (1817-1879). Using a technique analogous to that of today’s seismometer (which converts earth tremors into a visual signal), the phonoautograph consisted of a membrane, placed at the end of an acoustic […]