19 & 21 October 2013 - LUGANO Estimate Price CHF
Eugenio Barsanti (1821-1864)
Felice Matteucii (1808-1887)
184
SA del Nuovo Motore Barsanti Matteucci. Azione 1 da 84 L., Firenze, approx. 1859. Nr. 994. Eugenio (Nicolò) Barsanti (1821–1864), an engineer from Pietrasanta, Tuscany invented with Felice Matteucci (1808–1887) the first version of an internal combustion engine in 1853. Their patent was granted in London on June 12, 1854, and published in London’s Morning Journal under the title “Specification of Eugenio Barsanti and Felice Matteucci, Obtaining Motive Power by the Explosion of Gasses”. Barsanti studied in a Catholic scientific-oriented institute near Lucca and became a novice in Florence in 1838. In 1841 Barsanti began teaching at the Collegio San Michele in Volterra. Here, during a lecture describing the explosion of hydrogen mixed with air, he realised the potential for using the energy of the expansion of combusting gases within a motor. Subsequently, when teaching in a college in Florence he met Felice Matteucci, a hydraulic engineer. Matteucci appreciated the idea for the engine. As Italian patent law at that time did not guarantee sufficient international copyright protection, the two patented their invention on 12th June 1854 in London. The construction of the prototype was later completed in the 1860s. The main advantage of the Barsanti-Matteucci engine was the use of the return force of the piston due to the cooling of the gas. Other approaches based on the pushing force of the explosion, like the one developed at the same time by Etienne Lenoir, were slower. The Barsanti-Matteucci engine was proven to be much more efficient, and won a silver medal from the institute of science of Lombardy. In 1856 they developed a two-cylinder 5 HP motor and two years later they built a counter-working two-piston engine. The main target was to provide mechanical energy in factories and for naval propulsion. After some searching, Barsanti and Matteucci selected the John Cockerill foundry in Seraing, Belgium to produce a four HP engine. Orders for the engine soon followed from many countries within Europe. But Barsanti died suddenly at Seraing of typhoid fever in 1864. Matteucci was left alone to lead the business. The development of the engine failed and Matteucci returned to his first occupation, hydraulics. When Nikolaus Otto patented his engine, Matteucci unsuccessfully argued that he and his partner Barsanti were the originators of this invention. EF.
2’000-2’500
185
SA delle Ferrovie Nord Milano. Azione 1 da 500 L., Milano, 1 Luglio 1895. Nr. 32698. Rich and beautiful share of this important railway. The Ferrovie Nord Milano was created in 1877 to build and operate railway lines in the Lombardy area. The railway network was developed in the North-West of Lombardy to connect Milan with Novara, Varese, Laveno, Como and Erba-Asso. In 1985, after the Company was transformed into a holding and the Lombardy Region became a shareholder of Ferrovie Nord. The Company Ferrovie Nord Milano Esercizio was set up as the operational subsidiary Company in charge of rail traffic. In 1993, Ferrovie Nord Milano acquired the right to manage the Brescia-Iseo-Edolo railway line. Today it is part of FNM Group, Ferrovienord and LeNord. EF.
150-200
63