Bosse, Abraham

1. Dates

Born: Tours, 1602

Died: France, 14 February 1676

Dateinfo: Dates Certain

Lifespan: 74

2. Father

Occupation: Artisan

His father was a master tailor.

No information on financial status.

3. Nationality

Birth: Tours, France

Career: Paris, France

Death: France

4. Education

Schooling: No University

Bosse began to study engraving at age 13. He lived in the house of the master clockmake, Jean Sarrabat, presumably as an apprentice leaving engraving. He subsequently married Sarrabat's daughter.

5. Religion

Affiliation: Calvinist

6. Scientific Disciplines

Primary: Mathematics

Bosse published several works on geometry and graphic techniques. He was Girard Desargues's most ardent propagandist. Through his efforts Desargues's methods achieved some success among artists of the 17th century.

7. Means of Support

Primary: Art, Publishing

Secondary: Schoolmastering

He settled in Paris around 1625 and worked as a draftsman and engraver. When he first arrived in Paris, he lodged with Melchior Tavernier, an engraver and publisher, for whom Bosse worked. They had a long an amicable friendship, and Bosse gradually came to be an equal. Tavernier eventually became controlleur of the house of the Duke of Orléans and abandoned his shop, which Bosse took over. After Tavernier's death (1665), Bosse continued to lease the shop from Tavernier's heirs.

From 1648, when he was given permission by the Académie de Peinture to give lectures, Bosse was recognized as a professor, although he was not a member. Although nothing is said about income, I find it impossible to believe that he did not receive fees. In 1651, he was made an honorary member. Due to his love of polemics and his bellicose nature, he was removed in 1661.

8. Patronage

Type: None

Bosse was Girard Desargues' most ardent supporter. (Desargues had presented a universal method for perspective as early as 1636.) I don't know what the relation between them was, but I am not listing this as patronage.

9. Technological Involvement

Type: Applied Mathematics

Pratical applications of geometry.

10. Scientific Societies

Memberships: None

He became involved in controversies, and lost his membership in the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture.

Bosse made the acquaintance of Jean de Saint-Igny, an artist in the circle of Jacues Callot, with whom he evidently collaborated.

Sources

1. M.L. Blumer's article on Bosse in Dictionaire de biographie francaise, VI, (Paris, 1954), cols. 1146-1147.
2. A. Blum, Abraham Bosse et la société francaise du dix-septième siècle, Paris, 1925.
3. A. Valabregue, Abraham Bosse, Paris, 1892.
4. Michaud, Biographie universelle, 5, 222-3.

Compiled by:

Richard S. Westfall

Department of History and Philosophy of Science

Indiana University

Note: the creators of the Galileo Project and this catalogue cannot answer email on geneological questions.