Autograph letter signed to Citoyen [Pepin?] at Charleville

Sedan, 1794.

Clouet, Jean-François (1751-1801). A.L.s. to Citoyen [Pepin?] at Charleville. 3pp. on 2 conjugate leaves. Sedan, 17 mai l'an 2me de la République française [1794]. Creased and a little chipped but very good.

A specialist in metallurgy and active supporter of the French Revolution, Clouet was put in charge of reorganizing metallurgical establishments in his native region in 1793, and he must have written the above letter in his official capacity. He discusses iron products, mostly with military applications, and gives a detailed account of materiel shipped in recent weeks. At the time of writing, the last days of Robespierre's Reign of Terror, there was fierce civil war in the west of France (the Wars of the Vendée). Clouet also writes of the chemical preparation of earths in barrels. Before the revolution Clouet was professor of physics and chemistry at Mézières, where he worked with Gaspard Monge on the liquefaction of sulfur dioxide, arsenious iron, the manufacture of Damascus blades and the preparation of cast steel. He showed that steel is formed by heading wrought iron with diamond powder. DSB. Partington III, 103.

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