Friday 1 October 2010

Das Triumphirende PERPETUUM MOBILE ORFFYREANUM 1719 FOR SALE.

In November 2001 I drove to Germany to see Kassel and the other places nearbye which featured so much in Bessler's life. In Furstenberg I saw Bessler's wndmill. In Karlshafen I visited Bessler's house and also the antiquarian bookshop which is close to where Bessler lived after leaving Kassel. There I found a copy of the famous Das Triumphirende Perpetuum Mobile Orffyreanum and I was unable to resist the temptation to buy it.

Back in my hotel room I examined the book carefully and found that it had two portraits inside the front cover; one of  Bessler himself and the other of an anonymous person. I say anonymous because Bessler had carefully cut out the face on the second portrait and aligned his portrait so carefully that his own face filled the cut out perfectly. The reason for doing this is difficult to determine but I presumed that it had to do with the different items included in each portrait.  Subsequently I learned that there are probably no more than three other copies in existence with this unusual feature.

There are one or two which may include the one portrait but the double one is rare, and this must add value to the book. Inside the front cover, just after the double portraits, my copy has a label attached which reads "Ex Libris Emmy Destinn".  She was a renowned Czech operatic soprano (26 February 1878 – 28 January 1930). Destinn was born Emílie Pavlína Venceslava Kittlová. She was very versatile and besides being a singer was a poet, novelist and playwright, though nothing she has done in other professions has rivalled her reputation as a singer. She performed in Paris, London and New York many times. She is buried in Prague. Why she owned a copy of Bessler's book I have no idea but her ownership of the book can only add to the provenance and thus its value. I hesitate to add that my own part in its history can scarcely lower its intrinsic value.

The time has come for me to let it go - albeit with extreme reluctance. The book has been treated with care and has been handled by very few people other than myself, it is however a delicate object and should be kept in optimum conditions, something I am unable to guarantee. With this in mind I am offering it for sale to the highest bidder, and there is no particular time limit on the availability of this sale.

Bearing in mind the approaching 300th anniversary of the 6th June 1712 when Bessler first exhibited his wheel, and the current sale of the windmill he was building and from which he fell to his death, there is likely to be some public interest in the inventor at that time and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that someone may finally succeed in reconstructing Bessler's wheel. Given the convergence of these factors at this moment, the timing could not be better for a dramatic increase in the value of this book and is one of the reasons why I am still loath to put it up for sale.

I am tempted to set a price but I won't, preferring to receive offers and give all due consideration to each. I will say just this; very recently I was in negotiations on behalf of another person who wished to purchase the only other copy currently available. This copy lacked the portraits but a price of £3000 was agreed before the seller withdrew from the sale, preferring to hold onto his copy for a few more years, mainly because he didn't wish to part with it and I guess also in the hope of making a substantial profit on his investment.

I have placed further information at http://www.orffyreus.net/ , so if anyone is interested in obtaining this book or just to ask questions about it please let me know by email or through the BW forum

JC

40 comments:

  1. John I noted what you said about the bi-directional wheel,...that it had it had two meachanisms for each direction. I really don't think that was the case.
    There just would not be enough room for two. It's a tight squeeze just making room for one.
    I am convinced that the mechanism had a symetrical design,this is why it could run in both directions.Do you think this is a credible explanation.

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  2. Oh,.. and regarding you priceless book, you could possibly get a very good price on Ebay.

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  3. J.C.What is the price of that book and why you are selling it ?

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  4. Thanks for the advice Trevor, I'll look into it.

    Anon, the price is offers over £3000 and I have received three at around that price so far and I think there are a couple of others interested.

    I tried to explain why I'm selling it on my web site, but the reason is this. I have had it for nearly ten years and whereas I used to sit with it resting on my lap, idly turning the pages and studying every detail and relishing the knowledge that Bessler himself had held the book and stuck in the portraits and written under them - now I only take it out to check its condition about twice a year and although I still treasure it, it seems pointless to hold on to it when there are so many people out there who would love to own it.

    I'm selling it now because it would be a good time for someone to buy it knowing that it will rise in value once the wheel is reconstructed. I paid a lot of money for it in 2001 and inflation has accounted for the increase in price I'm asking for now.

    If I hold on to it so that I can make a profit myself, none of the guys who are so dedicated to the subject of Bessler's wheel could afford to buy it (unless they are the onces who reconstruct it)and it would go to someone purely interested in an investment and with no real interest in Bessler himself.

    JC

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  6. I can not understand this at all!!!
    You are trying (But I believe you don’t) to reconstruct the wheel of Bessler!
    If you succeed the book will be 10 times the price of what you are getting now!

    I have a book in my collection that has Quadrupled in price for 20 year now, I bought it for 5€ and it is now selling for 700€ to 800€ on the eBay!! But I will never EVER sell it because it is a book about my beloved hobby and I personally now the writer.

    So I can not understand the reason you are selling it!!! Even if you want to make a profit.
    I think you are a fraud just like Bessler and his wheel, the ‘Bessler Wheel’ will never work and it never did.

    Thagre Oehlarry

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  7. Bessler's wheel was not a fraud.

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  8. Now let me see if I've got this right - because you can't understand my reasons for selling my book, I must be a fraud - yes? You also believe Bessler wasa a fraud too?

    Your failure to understand my reasons for selling my book cannot be ascribed to fraud on my part, there is no fraud, just a decision based on my personal feelings. It is you that has the problem of being incapable of understanding those reasons.

    People with far more intelligence and hugely impressive qualifications believe that Bessler was genuine, which suggests that they are cleverer than you are. Why not read the book I wrote which gives the history of Bessler's life. There is a lot of information in there which is based on purely documentary evidence. The book is called "Perpetual Motion; An Ancient Mystery Solved?" The question marl is there to raise the question was it a perpetual motion machine and did it work? I maintain that it did.

    JC

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  9. Good luck selling that unique book for a good price, John. I too believe that Bessler was certainly no fraud, and you are in my book (pun intended) a very capable and sincere researcher and author - most certainly not a fraud in any way.

    More power to you!

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  10. Hello all,

    Of course he was a fraud (Bessler).
    And yes John I have read your book and other books regarding Bessler and perpetual mobile and I see many problems regarding the Wheel.
    I could easily sum up more than 10 faults and strange considerations about the eye witnesses.
    I now a lot about Magic and Magicians and I can tell you if somebody tells me how an illusion from David Copperfield or in Your country Paul Daniels went, they never tell you how a trick is really happened. Even if there are dignitaries present in that time period of Bessler they will be amazed about it and they never will remember the full story.

    I just say you are a fraud because you never start working on your wheel, there is always something holding you back, holiday, to much stuff to work and working on your books.
    If I was you (considering your age) I will start working on it an than finishing your book and shouting to the world Bessler was right.
    I don’t want to make you angry but this is the feeling I get reading your book, websites and blog.
    I will be the first to congratulate you if you can proof me wrong, butt al the facts are (so I see it) against you.

    Thagre Oehlarry

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  11. It is very easy to label someone as a fraud person but it takes a life time of efforts to prove that he isn't so...

    JC sir must have spent a fortune researching on Bessler and one should take all this into account..this book has been picked up and saved and is now being released at an appropriate time...this book is one of the crucial evidences that can prove that bessler was indeed genuine...

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  12. Bessler's destiny you can say was very cruel to him..if bessler was a fraud then so many tests done on his wheel would have definitely exposed the trick..and talking of tricks, it is gravity that was tricked by bessler...he successfully found out a way to use gravity for the welfare of mankind..

    The story is too candid to be suspected...the twists and turns the incidents happen to bessler is too true to be doubted...it deserves an epic movie...

    Thagre..you suddenly crop up from nowhere and blatantly talk about fraud...can you just tell us how many years of research was done by you...you could just be a non-believer or a too cautious person...but try unearthing bessler mystery and I assure you that you will be simply amazed...bessler had many enemies when he lived and there exist many even after his death...but thank god there are few that really know that bessler's story is genuine...

    Man has designed machines to utilize many different fuels that are available on earth..but he is yet to harness gravity the way bessler did...it is just a matter of design dear..

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  13. And a matter of time, too, before the wheel is presented to the world. Actually, the internal design is very, very simple but very unique and does not come that easily to anyone...and just because of this factor is it right on our part to conclude the entire story as fraud?
    Bessler was dedicated and finally died with the secret and some of us simply fail to realize his plight..
    Thagre..you may know magic tricks but do you know anything on man's destiny? Can you tell us why was Bessler's destiny so? If Bessler was a fraud then why did he spend so many years experimenting with various wheels? why did he have to suffer so much and literally die of hunger? You must have been on this blog for a long time and why now you raise doubt on bessler? If you had done this on Besslerwheelforum you would got a better reply..there are more professional guys there.. So far you have been listening so much about bessler and suddenly raise doubt like this..It's like patiently listening to the long American history throughout the night and questioning in the morning as to who really was Abraham Lincoln..

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  14. Mouahhaa..

    Wow, didn't I predict exactly that like 6 months ago!?

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  15. Thagre? I'm not going to rehash the evidence that Bessler was not a fraud- you're entitled to your opinion.

    As for me being a fraud because, as you say I "never start working on your wheel, there is always something holding you back, holiday, to much stuff to work and working on your books". Those reported events which prevent me working on my wheel are temporary hold ups in a long period of consistent research and construction. I have made more non-working wheels than you have had hot dinners (that's hyperbole)and just because I sometimes say I can't work on my wheel for a particular reason it is because it's true and people are always hassling me to know how I'm getting on and when will it be finished etc etc.

    So now I say very little about what I'm doing. Just for the record though I am currently working on my wheel using new materials in a reorganised workshop and its great!

    I'm pleased that you don't wish to make me angry and I should add that you may think me old but I'm not that old and I still have ambitions and hope to finish my own wheel and have it working before anyone else - and I will finish my book and make a documentary too!

    JC

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  16. I,understand that some people can't swallow the
    fact,that person (Bessler),from deep Bohemian forest,was able to invent gravity workhorse.
    And my advice to those disclaimer's .
    Don't worry about him,and believe me,it is not good for your stomach.

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  17. John, I wish to reassure you that if I for instance happen to be the one that succeeds,I will presonally make sure that you are handsomly rewarded for your dedication.

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  18. Is Bessler religion? Because one say " I believe " and another say " I do not believe"

    Bessler is part of wonderful and same time cruel history. Besslers literature for me is like a ticket to the time-machine.

    Besslers wheel is not only wheel. It is hope of better future, and whiteout hope, the life is only vain. It is not important do you achieve it or not.

    I learn this from my daughter’s film ratatouille. I find that it fits well for person who criticise John and other Bessler´s wheeler dealer.

    “”In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talents, new creations. The new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new; an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking, is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto, "Anyone can cook". But I realize — only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more.””

    John, unfortunately Besslers book is too expensive for me but I hope it will find another good home as it have now.

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  19. Any day now guys,...but I think I should hold back the announcement of a working wheel in case it spoils the charm of the mystery of the undiscovered wheel principle for 298 years.I think I must wait for John to retire from the quest.

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  20. Are you through, Trevor, really??? Is it rotating as it should??? Try to give us more hints or clues without giving away everything so that we are very sure what you are saying..I am planning to start by the end of this year if everything goes well...

    I am going to employ 8 weights and use springs only to speed up the swings..no timing device...I couldn't work out the two directional movement yet but I feel I have a good knowledge of the unidirectional wheel...Bessler really was very genuine, after all...

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  21. Suresh,..yes I now know his secret and I can definitely have a working wheel soon.I now know what he meant when he said,"If you can't work out how to lift one pound with 4 ounces then your work will be in vain."
    Don't bother with the bi-idierectional wheel, it just complicates the job.Besides Bessler only did it to prove a point.If you want a reverse direction just take the drive from the rear.

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  22. Thanks..Trevor...that means we are going to have a good future after the wheel arrives...
    Are you employing any timing device???Andre sir had insisted that timing would be a nightmare..

    I feel that once you are very sure you must make the big announcement...you have been struggling since very long, aren't you??? Our world deserves the wheel now...

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  23. I have got to the point where it simply moves itself. Timing is not critical,it works by simple placement of weights at the correct point,it times itself.
    Things have progressed past the need for centrifugal force or the need for oscilation or swinging of weights,so there is no need for precise timing or critical positioning of weights,just as Bessler said,thank goodness.

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  24. Really, it's very nice to hear such things from you Trevor...I think you are so much on the right track....I also understand that just some prime pruning is reqd..your progress is highly appreciable...it is indeed being proved that gravity can be used or converted..as insisted by JC sir...

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  25. Trevor, that's great and very exiting to hear! You sure make me extremely curious to your design. Is it, indeed, as simple as the Landgraf said it is? If it is truly simple, we must have overlooked quite a few things all these years, me included. Can't wait to hear more about it!

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  26. Andre Sir..yes..I too agree...it has been overlooked, of course...Bessler was correct, The Landgrave was also very much right...it is extremely simple...about 8 weights actively participate and provide the drive..or the motive power...the arrangement of the lever-weight is such...the lever-weight designing is also unique..
    gravity keeps pulling them down...one by one comes down and completes the circle around the axle...the weight on the right side lifts the one on the left...seesaw action...unceasing movement..

    Trevor is on the right track…

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  27. Yes indeed it is very simple,so simple I could kick myself.I did brush over the principle a year ago but I missed it because I did not include one vital property in physics which made it possible,so I shelved it.
    What I can say at this stage is that every thing that happens in the wheel is caused by gravity,the drive and the priming.
    Stick to Besslers clues and stick to the poem.Don't listen to anyone else because that can cause a mental block.

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  28. You are being very exact, Trevor...simplicity is the name of the game...just simple bessler's clues and the poem is all that is reqd..and the karl's statement...

    We actually get misguided most of the time... very pathetically sometimes...

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  29. Trevor !

    Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.

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  30. What can I say,...if it wasn't for the sceptics victory would not be as sweet.
    It's amazing how the sub-consciuos mind can tell you you have the answer before it even materialises.

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  31. I agree with you Trevor...we do get intuitions, too about the forthcoming events...so far the updates given by you from time to time are fantastic and match with Bessler's simple clues...But ultimately it is the destiny that decides who will achieve what...we should work hard and believe in destiny...Even though Bessler came up with the wheel he couldn't live to enjoy it's fruit...

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  32. ante victoriam ne canas triumphum

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  33. I am not very sure what the above quote means..but all I can make out is that Trevor's description of bessler's clues is far better than anyone else's. It could also mean that he is much more closer to the truth than anyone else at the moment..He needs to be encouraged and supported..

    But, frankly speaking, let me also share this with you that I have a feeling that Trevor is also stuck somewhere..otherwise,what could be the reason for the delay..

    The internal mechanism is so simple that once someone gets wind of it he won't need any further ideas or help and will straightaway get to the point..Note the word 'artful arrangement' by Karl..it really has to beautiful inside..

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  34. Revelation comes in a flash,but to build a conception takes a little longer.

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  35. Agreed Trevor but how long...we are all very anxious...you are near the truth which I can understand....we have waited too long...nearly 300 years and now amazed at your progress...I could tell you about mine but actually I am too busy with my job and haven't even thought of when to start the wheel work..

    Atleast, keep explaining little bit about bessler's simple clues...others working on it could get some guidance...many are off the right course and that includes the eminent ones...

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  36. Is Suresh and Trevor same person ? :D

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  37. Nope!Any person however naive,if they are positive,inspire hope to those who wanting it.

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  38. What makes anon think we are one and the same? It's just like mindedness, dear..bessler followers need to be like minded and that is important...Because the bessler wheel design is one and the same...there is only one success design....

    This is the fist and the basic requirement that needs to be understood in this great quest...

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  39. Please don't resort to fisticuffs on my behalf,I'm not worth it.

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The True Story of Bessler’s Perpetual Motion Machine.

On  6th June, 1712, in Germany, Johann Bessler (also known by his pseudonym, Orffyreus) announced that after many years of failure, he had s...