De la collection Léon Parcé

Sale Overview

Polytechnicien et collectionneur très discret originaire de Catalogne, Léon Parcé (1894-1979) était un grand amateur et fin connaisseur de l’œuvre de Blaise Pascal, avec qui il partageait l’amour des mathématiques, de la philosophie et de la théologie. La Pascaline ou « machine arithmétique » s’impose comme la pièce phare de la collection : première machine à calculer de l’histoire de l’humanité, il s’agit de l’instrument scientifique le plus important jamais proposé aux enchères. Parmi les huit machines connues, celle de Léon Parcé est la dernière encore en mains privées. Autour de cet objet historique, il a réuni une bibliothèque savante composée d’ouvrages de Pascal mais aussi de Galilée, Kepler, Fermat, Newton, Descartes, Montaigne ou encore Montesquieu. Parmi ces trésors bibliophiliques, citons l’état le plus primitif connu de l’édition originale des Pensées de Pascal, antérieur à l’exemplaire, daté de 1669, conservé à la Bibliothèque nationale de France, avec la toute première version imprimée du texte du fameux « pari de Pascal ».

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A discreet collector from Catalonia and graduate from the Ecole Polytechnique, Léon Parcé (1894–1979) was a passionate admirer and great connoisseur of Blaise Pascal’s work, sharing with him a love of mathematics, philosophy, and theology. The Pascaline, or “arithmetical machine” stands out as the highlight of the collection: it is the first calculating machine in human history – in other words, the most important scientific instrument ever to be offered at auction. Of the eight known machines, Léon Parcé’s is the last remaining machine in private hands. Surrounding this historic object, Léon Parcé carefully assembled an erudite library including books by Pascal, but also works by Galileo, Kepler, Fermat, Newton, Descartes, Montaigne or Montesquieu. Among these bibliophilic treasures is the earliest known state of the first edition of Pascal’s Pensées, predating the copy, dated 1669, held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and featuring the very first printed version of the famous “Pascal’s wager”.

Auction times

19 Nov 04:00 PM (CET) Lots 1-97

Brought to you by

Adrien Legendre

Head of Department | Books & Manuscripts

After graduating from the Sorbonne in 2005 with a degree in History, Adrien Legendre joined a prestigious Parisian book dealer, then the Books department of an international auction house, spending 5 years in Paris and 4 subsequent years in New York.

In July 2017, Adrien joined Christie’s as the Head of the Books and Manuscripts department in Paris. He led with success the sale the Baroness Thysen-Bornemiza collection in 2017, the Juan de Besteigui collection in 2018 (€1,970,625, with 100% of lots sold), the Marc Litzler collection in 2019 (€4,401,375), The Paul Destribats Bibliothèque des Avant-Gardes part 1 in 2019 (€8,116,812), The Alfred Cortot collection in 2019 (€1,839,000), The Library of Martine de Behague and the Counts of Ganay, part 1 in 2019 (€1,641,250), The Paul Destribats Bibliothèque des Avant-Gardes part 2 (€2,171,425, with 100% of lots sold).

Thanks to his international experience, Adrien secured major consignments for the London and New York sales, including the Declaration Of Independence (Stone, 1823), which sold for US$852,500 in 2018.