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• 2011 Presentation of "Niepce, correspondances et papiers" online
• 2010, David Niépce's Objects :
A bit of family history...
Among the Niépce family, Nicéphore is well-known, as is Abel Niépce of Saint Victor, who was born at Saint-Cyr and became the military governor at the Palais du Louvre. He first followed Nicéphore's photographic work and then invented the first process on glass (Albumine).
Last but not least, there is David Niépce, whose name is carried by the Collège de Sennecey.
Who was David Niépce?
David François Etienne Pierre Laurent Niépce was born into a royalist family in Chalon on 12 September 1781. A student at the Ecole des Oratoriens de Chalon, he and a couple friends preferred to play truants to serious studies. Due to his lively, strong and righteous personality, David quickly became the leader of their group – a character trait which marked the most important dates of his career.
During the French Revolution, David Niépce was declared “a good patriot and republican”, followed by a decisive first meeting with the then sergeant Bonaparte, which was to considerably influence his life.
Enrolled in the voluntary republican army at Givry, he thus participated in all major Napoleonic wars: Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena, the Prussian campaigns, Silesia, Poland.
Named adjutant to the King of Westphalia (Napoleon's brother), David leaves the army to serve in this position until 1812, when – as colonel general he participates in Napoleon's terrible campaign in Russia. Only after the emperor's exile in Elba is he reunited with his wife, the baroness of Zandt, and their six children.
In 1852, just after the 1848 Revolution, David Niépce is elected into the General Council of Saône-et-Loire. For 17 years, until his death in 1869, Sennecey and its canton thus benefit from his will to progress – mostly with regard to public education, in particular the conditions for teachers and students. This is why the General Council decides on 9 September 1988 to give his name to the Collège de Sennecey le Grand.
Polishers for Daguerrotypes (1840), perfectly preserved
Colonel David Niépce – frequently commuting between Sennecey le Grand and Paris – also played a decisive role in the history of the invention of photography, being the link between Nicéphore and Charles Chevalier, the Paris-based optician. Chevalier not only introduced Daguerre to Nicéphore, but also was the supplier to Petiot Groffier, whose laboratory – the world's oldest – is already on view in the Niépce House.
David and Nicéphore Niépce, who were cousins, had a very close relationship to each other. Nicéphore liked to stay in Sennecey, where the entire family met during his visits.
In the attic of the family house in Sennecey – thoroughly searched this year (2010) – we thus managed to find David Niépce's library, objects belonging to his cabinet of curiosities, as well as photo accessories, clearly showing his growing interest in photography since 1839, when he started to follow Nicéphore's work.
The Niépce House in Sennecey today is a beautifully renovated guest house, which allows those interested in history to stay in the very same surroundings Nicéphore and his family enjoyed during their reunions.
The collection belonging to David Niépce will be shown for the first time during the National Heritage Days 2010 (free entry for the inhabitants of Saint-Loup).
• 2009 :
- The entire Petiot-Groffier lab in the House of Nicéphore Niépce on the occasion of the National Heritage Days.
 
© Photos : Meriem Souissi/Le JSL
- Conference-Debate-Exhibitions in Dubai at the Alliance Française
• 2008: The Bicentennial of the Invention of the Pyreolophore by the Niépce Brothers:
At initiative of Manuel Bonnet, and with Jean-Louis Bruley's technical supervising, Spéos and Maison Nicéphore Niépce have decided to celebrate the bicentennial of the Pyreolophore by rebuilding it as it was originally. It is the first internal combustion engine ever, which was invented and patented by the Niépce brothers in 1807.
10 years later, they were the first in the world to make an engine work with fuel injection system.
A celebration took place at the occasion of the “Journées du Patrimoine” (National Heritage Days) 2008, in the very place of the invention…in the House of Nicéphore Niépce !
> See the exhibition
 
They participated to the reconstitution of the Pyréolophore:
From right to left, Jean-Louis Bruley, Olivier Pironneau from the Académie des Sciences, and his wife:
• 2007: First presentation of the world's oldest photographic lab (1840-1855)
• 2006: Daguerre’s Phosphorescent Images:
In 1827, during Niépce’s stay in Paris, Daguerre shows him how he plans to capture the images taken by a camera obscura. Once the image is projected inside the camera, the luminal energy is absorbed by a layer of phosphorescent powder and reflected as a light emission. Unfortunately, the resulting phosphorescent image inside of the camera obscura cannot be permanently fixed but fades progressively.
In December 1829, Daguerre visits Saint Loup de Varennes to sign the agreement that links his work to Niépce’s. He brings along some yellow phosphorescent powder.
The National Heritage Days 2006 were dedicated to Daguerre’s four stays in Niépce’s House Le Gras in Saint Loup de Varennes:
1) In December 1829, Daguerre and Niépce sign their collaborative agreement; Daguerre receives Niépce’s “Notice sur l’Héliographie” (i.e. his “Note on Heliography”).
2) In June 1830, Daguerre for the first time brings along the residue of distilled lavender essence
3) In summer 1832, the two partners invent the physautotype
4) In November 1832, the two partners try to improve the process of the physautotype
On the National Heritage Days 2006, the visitors at Niépce’s House could assist at the development of images on phosphorescent powder that were exposed inside a camera obscura during their stay. On leaving the house, they could admire the phosphorescent images recalling those taken by Niépce and Daguerre in December 1829, at the very same place.
For the details on the production of phosphorescent images, see “Niépce, l’invention de la photographie” (i.e. “Niépce, the invention of photography”).
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• 2005: The Reconstruction of Nicéphore Niépce’s Velocipede:
Adding an adjustable saddle and a guiding wheel, Nicéphore Niépce aimed at perfecting this new means of transportation, which - as its name indicates - allowed its users to walk very fast on foot.
The Niépce House decided to build an exact copy of the existing original (exhibited in the Musée Niépce at Châlon). The newly built velocipede - the work of Bernard Wala, artisan carpenter in Saint-Loup de Varennes - can now be seen and tested by the visitors during their stay at Niépce’s House.
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• 2004: "La Table Servie" ("the set table") by Nicéphore Niépce:
Since J.L. Marignier’s research published in 1999, one knows that the image of the “Table Servie” – whose origins were uncertain – had indeed been taken by Nicéphore Niépce. The researcher’s investigation shows that the image had been a physautotype and was one of Niépce’s last works.
In 2004, J.L. Marignier and M. Lourseau tried to find objects similar to the ones used by Niépce, so as to reconstruct the “Table Servie”.
Once the image had been digitized, it was used to determine the dimensions of the different objects and the table itself. Knife, spoon, glass, cup, bowl, bottle, vase, coffee pot of similar size, form and color were collected at various antiques shops and second-hand markets. When the objects were eventually set on the table, the image reappeared in three dimensions.
J.L. Marignier and M. Lourseau – specialists of the photographic process of the physautotype, which they were the first to rediscover in 1992 – decided to photograph the table with the very same process invented by Niépce and Daguerre in the House at Gras during the summer of 1832.
At the end of August 2004, the reconstructed table was set up in Niépce’s garden in front of a camera obscura, into which had been placed a silver plate coated by a white layer of distilled lavender essence. Four hours later, the plate – in contact with the vapors of petroleum – let appear an image highly similar to the one taken by Niépce.
Original (CNAM)
Reconstitution
The reconstructed “Table Servie” and the physautoype taken are permanently exhibited on the first floor of Niépce’s House.
J.L. Marignier’s investigations are published in “Niépce, l’invention de la photographie” and “Niépce, Correspondance et papiers”, as well as in articles published in “Le Photographe” and “Réponses Photo” in 2004.
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• 2003: Isatis, Giraumont, Asclepias:
During the National Heritage Days 2003, the visitors were invited to discover in the garden, opposite to the house, a range of plants that are illustrating some of Niépce’s botanical research (cf. other inventions).
The yellow color of isatis tinctoria (“dyer’s woad”) illuminates the flower garden. Jean-Louis Marignier and Michèle Lourseau collected their blossoms after bloom and managed to extract some milligrams of the famous blue color, which was used to color fabrics.
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The giraumont, also known as the “turkish bonnet” (a cucurbit), shows a magnificent color similar to those of gourds: our thanks go to Christine Mahé for her advice on the plantation of the giraumont and to the delicious meals she offered, based on giraumont starch.
Eventually, the syria asclepias (cotton-wool plant): our thanks go to Michel Cambornac of the Laboratoires Yves Rocher (Ethno-botanical and Agronomical Department) for providing us with asclepias seeds.
Thus, for the first time since Niépce’s time, isatis, giraumont and asclepias have been planted again at “Le Gras”.
• 2002: The Opening of the House as a Museum:
Each year, the National Heritage Days are the occasion for Niépce’s House to present the novelties that are later exhibited on a permanent basis.
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The Daguerreotype:
Within the framework of research on the origins of photography, one of Daguerre’s first views of Paris was presented: the very image that allowed him to get the official acknowledgement of the invention of the daguerreotype by the Académie des Sciences.
Daguerre offered this daguerreotype to Arago, the perpetual secretary of the Académie des Sciences and a representative of the Pyrénées Orientales, who then donated it to the Musée Hyacynthe Rigaud in Perpignan, where it is still located.
We are much obliged to Madame Marie-Claude Valaison, head curator at the Musée Hyacynthe Rigaud, who lent the Niépce House this daguerreotype for the National Heritage Days.
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The Reconstruction of the Pyreolophore:
The pyreolophore, the first internal combustion engine, was invented by Nicéphore Niépce and his brother.
Its reconstruction was organized at the Lycée Nicéphore Niépce in Chalon-sur-Saône (teachers: Alain Baudet, Jean-Louis Bruley, Jean-Jacques Mutiaux, Yannick Plumet, Roland Boyat, Jean Vallet, Marc Lavigne).
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For the first time since Niépce’s own experiments, a small boat equipped with a pyreolophore made a few turns on the pond located on Niépce’s estate.
Eventually, visitors were invited to watch the film “Le Gras: The Restoration of Niépce’s House” and the CD-ROM on the pyreolophore reconstructed by the staff of the Lycée Nicéphore Niépce.
The Edition of Niépce’s Correspondance:
During the National Heritage Days 2002, J.L. Marignier presented the computer database he had created on Niépce’s correspondence, whose search engine allows to answer all sorts of questions for which the computer selects the corresponding letters.
Besides operating as an archive, this database permits research from criteria such as individual words, dates, authors, recipients (of letters), key words, and the present owner of the document (private collection, public archives etc.), with the possibility of using several criteria at once. This powerful tool will soon be available to researchers.
The resulting book "Niépce, Correspondance et Papiers", by Manuel Bonnet and Jean-Louis Marignier, was eventually published in December 2003 by Editions Maison Nicéphore Niépce with the collaboration of Spéos.
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