Auguste Zindel records

Collection

Identifier: Col-0054

Dates

Creation: 1825-1902
Creation: Majority of material found in ( 1825-1852)

Creator

Zindel, Auguste, 1796-1882. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.

Biographical / Historical

Auguste Zindel was a 19th century chemist in Mulhouse, Alsace, with a particular interest in cloth dyeing. Born in Lyon, France on October 4, 1796, he was the son of Laurent Zindel. He married Elise Reber, daughter of Henry Reber and Elizabeth Weissbeck on April 8, 1829, and together they had three children: Aline Augustine, Octave Auguste, and Julie. By 1820, Zindel worked as a merchant in Lyon, but later moved to Mulhouse, Alsace, where from 1840-1860 he was a "commission agent of drugs" or an agent in substances used in dyeing fabrics. Zindel served as a town counsellor from 1830-1843, and again from 1848-1852. Evidence suggests that he may have been involved in the dyeing industry in Russia. He died on January 23, 1882.

Full Extent

91 Volumes

Language of Materials

French

Metadata Rights Declarations

License: This record is made available under an Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons license.

Additional Description

Arrangement

The 90 notebooks fall into nine distinct series of various lengths and overlapping dates.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Kurt L. Schwarz.

Summary

Collection consists of 90 notebooks, plus one published history of 19th century industry in Mulhouse. The notebooks contain an estimated 38,000 samples of mostly cotton, but also some wool and silk, dyed textile fabrics and notes and dye recipes that give a rather complete record of experiments in cloth dyeing over an extended period of time. The notebooks, almost completely in French, but with some German, divide themselves into a number of distinct series: 12 volumes, titled “Journal,” of dye recipes, tests, and processes for the years 1825-1836; 22 volumes supplementing the "Journal" and covering 1829-1850; 32 volumes of textile samples with dye analyses and recipes for 1837-1852—called "Brouillon;" 16 volumes of an original 17 titled "Notes et observations," 1826-1850; a one volume price index dated 1836; one volume of dye recipes, 1838-1844; 2 volumes of extracts from professional publications; 2 volumes describing experiments and tests; and 2 volumes of notes on variously dated dye recipes, 1821-1831.

As well, the collection includes the first volume of Histoire documentair de l’industrie de Mulhouse et de ses environs aux XIXme siècle. (Another copy is available in Winterthur’s printed book and periodicals collection.)