Gustave Eiffel, the father of the Eiffel Tower, thanks Maurice Koechlin, an engineer on his team who designed the monument.
Cover of a document with a dedication from Gustave Eiffel to Maurice Koechlin, the engineer who designed the Eiffel Tower.
The entire original document has never been seen and we believe that Koechlin simply kept only the cover of the book, on which Eiffel made this historic dedication.
One page.
In French.
12 cm x 18.5 cm.
Paris, January 1, 1889.
Average state conservation, some moisture stains.
Unique piece.
To M. Maurice Koechlin, a souvenir from G. Eiffel, January 1, 1889.
On 2 May 1886, the Centennial Exposition Committee invited French architects and engineers to submit building designs for the upcoming World Exposition in Paris, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Despite a short deadline, there were over 100 proposals and the top prize went to the firm of Gustave Eiffel (1832 - 1923), which submitted a design proposed by one of the engineers in Gustave Eiffel's office, Maurice Koechlin.
Gustave Eiffel convinced the committee by arguing that civilizations had been building monuments out of stone for centuries, and that the only way to truly symbolize France's technological and economic progress would be to build them out of a new material: metal. Construction began in early 1887, and Eiffel worked closely with Koechlin until the project was completed.
On New Year's Day 1889, standing before their beautiful creation - the tallest structure in the world - Gustave Eiffel and Maurice Koechlin felt immense satisfaction. Deeply grateful for Koechlin's idea, Eiffel took one of the original pamphlets for the event and wrote this historic dedication to his engineer.
