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Philippe Danfrie the elder (about 1532 in
Philippe Danfrie the elder (about 1532 in Cornouaille
Cornouaille (; br, Kernev, Kerne) is a historical region on the west coast of Brittany in West France. The name is cognate with Cornwall in neighbouring Great Britain. This can be explained by the settlement of Cornouaille by migrant princ ...
in Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
- 1606 in Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
), was a designer and maker of mathematical instrument
A mathematical instrument is a tool or device used in the study or practice of mathematics. In geometry, construction of various proofs was done using only a compass and straightedge; arguments in these proofs relied only on idealized properties ...
s in metal and paper, as well as a type-cutter, engraver, minter of coins and medals, publisher and author. Much is known about Danfrie's life and activities. He is probably best known as designer of the surveying instrument known as the graphometer
The graphometer, semicircle or semicircumferentor is a surveying instrument used for angle measurements. It consists of a semicircular limb divided into 180 degrees and sometimes subdivided into minutes. The limb is subtended by the diameter with ...
.
Danfrie went to Paris in the 1550s and set up as an engraver of letter punches. He produced a number of books in partnership with Richard Breton in 1558–60 and later with Pierre Haman and Jean Le Royer. He also made mathematical instruments, globes and astrolabes and dies for marking bookbindings. In 1571 he cut his first dies for jeton
Jetons or jettons are tokens or coin-like medals produced across Europe from the 13th through the 18th centuries. They were produced as counters for use in calculation on a counting board, a lined board similar to an abacus. They also found use ...
s. As Engraver-General of the French coinage from 1582, he provided the puncheons from which the dies used in every mint in France were taken. He also produced a number of medals (e.g. London, British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
) commemorating the events of the first fifteen years of Henry IV's reign.
Engraver and superintendent of the Paris Mint, Philippe Danfrie was also an engineer and inventor of scientific instruments. Active in the second half of the sixteenth century, he built globes, astrolabes, and clocks. He invented a typeface that he used in his published writings. These include: ''Declaration de l'usage du Graphometre...'', printed in Paris in 1597 together with ''Traicte de l'usage du Trigometre, avec le quel on peut facilement mesurer sans subiection d'Arithmetique''.
His son Philippe Danfrie the younger (b. ?Paris, c. 1572; d. Paris, 1604) was appointed Controller-General of effigies in 1591. On his appointment it was claimed that he had demonstrated great skill in modelling portraits in wax and engraving puncheons. His most famous and only signed medal (e.g. London, BM) is cast rather than struck and celebrates the victory of Henry IV over the Duke of Savoy
The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy at ...
in 1600.
References
*A. J. Turner, "Paper, Print, and Mathematics: Philippe Danfrie and the Making of Mathematical Instruments in late 16th century Paris", in C. Blondel, et al. (eds.), Studies in the History of Scientific Instruments (London and Paris, 1989), pp. 22–42. *''Traicté de l'usage du Trigometre'' (Paris, 1597)External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Danfrie, Philippe 1530s births 1606 deaths 16th-century French engravers 16th-century French scientists French scientific instrument makers