Thread: La pogonotomie ou l'art d'apprendre a se raser soi-meme

Originally Posted by elbonator

Isn't this the book that Arthur Boon translated over on RazorCentral - Home of the straight razor?

Best Regards,
EL

Thanks for pointing this out. Under La pogonotomia I-IV you find an abstract of the book but not a one to one translation. The original French version has 150 pages. The author seems to dwell on the subjects considerably. I'll do a quick check of the original text and Arthur Boon's abstract and take it from there.

Originally Posted by Kees

Thanks for pointing this out. Under La pogonotomia I-IV you find an abstract of the book but not a one to one translation. The original French version has 150 pages. The author seems to dwell on the subjects considerably. I'll do a quick check of the original text and Arthur Boon's abstract and take it from there.

Very good. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Kees

Yes it was. I got about that far, however the first sentence does not make sense to me. Does it mean the black spots do not interfere with the quality?

It means that they are of the same quality as the surrounding white material usually and therefore don't impact the quality at all.

Regrouping that in the correct thread :

Perret Chapter VII (pp 75-82)

A method in order to learn how to shave oneself with a "rasoir à rabot" (plane razor) ; another method to try yourself on a wig head

As many people use the plane razor, not only to learn how to shave, but also for everyday use ; and given that this same razor differs from an ordinary razor, because you have to put on and adapt the plane to the blade ; I think it's wise to define it exactly and to teach the best way on how to set it up and how to use it with dexterity.

Attachment 198693

Figure 10 on the first illustration page, represents the wooden piece ready to receive the blade. Hold this wooden piece in you right hand, keep your thumb stuck to Y, and two or three fingers below, being caution, however, not to put your finger in front of the edge of the razor, but on the contrary a little behind, in order not to harm yourself.
In order to shave yourself, you will have to handle the razor by the middle, so that the nail joining blade and handle rests on the middle finger : hold with your ring finger and your small finger either on the handle or the scales ; press your thumb on the tang, your index being parallel below ; in this position, let the blade or the razor flow in a direct line until the end , so that the pin Q, which goes through the wood of the plane, enters the indentation R or the razors nose, and that the hook U on the tang grips on the end of the wooden piece O.

Figure 13 represents the razor once set up and in the configuration where it is ready to shave. Such kind of scales gives its name to the plane razor, reminding the woodworker's plane.

The way to use it is, for all intent and purpose, the same as an ordinary razor, explained in the previous chapter : you need to pull your skin and mow down, as we said above for ordinary razors. However, the beard cut down, that is, hairs and foam which are dirty, tend to naturally accumulate between the razor's blade and the wooden piece ; though a gutter etched in the plane's wood, as can be seen on figure g sss, strongly reduces this drawback, as it allows the grime to easily get in there, and lets it go away easily ; to that effect, one must only present the edge pointing down and do a movement akin to a whip lash, effectively and easily chasing all the grime ; then one only has to wipe the exterior of the plane on the canvas or a towel, as you would with an ordinary razor ; this way, you don't have to remove the scales from the blade every time to wipe it ; the only thing being not forgetting to do it as soon as the beard is no more, because once dry the grime tends to get thicker and does not flow as easily ; besides it keeps the wood clean and prevents rusts for appearing on the razor

The skind does not have to be as regularly stretched using a plane razor as it would be with an ordinary razor, as all the faces of the plane's wood are rounded so that when one applies the razor on his face, the part I of the plane makes a flattend bump, stretches the skin by itself and strongly facilitates the cutting action ; the razor is even softer, as the tension point is always close to the edge.

Using this instrument, someone who would only have one arm, would be able to shave easily, simply using (as stated previously) the faculties of muscles and tendons, in order to stretch the cheeks, lengthen the uper lip for the mustache, open the mouth to shave the corners, look up to stretch the throat, etc. Using this tricks one can have a good shave with one hand.

I believe that this advantage is sufficiently important in our society to create a favorable reception for this instrument.
It is quite hard to shave the whole head by yourself with an ordinary razor, particularly behind the ears and in the neck ; but the plane razor this operation can be done easily, as is doing the whole head around without any risk for harm ; besides, the ability to use both handes while just by changing the wooden piece (every razor is honed on two planes, one for the left hand, and one for the right hand, each plane being set up using the same mechanism - When these razors appeared, I used to make the plane's wood with pink ("rose ?") wood and scales using this same wood, but the color tends to get dirty and acumulates much grime in the operation, I therfore chose to craft the planes using ebony the less porous, the strongest and the blackest, which is ebony from mauritania, which is far cleaner - I even make them using tortoise now) leaves nothing to desire from the advantage of being able to shave the whole body.
To successfully and dexterously shave your head, either with a plane or an ordinary razor, your hair must be cut as short as possible, and then clean and lather your head as prescribed for the beard.

Then, take your razor in one hand, the other resting on your forehead, with the edge close to your fingers, and mow from front to back all around the forehead, the temples, and close to the ears ; once a place is shaven, move the point of tension on the shaven part, so that it always follows closely the edge of the razor, otherwise one could cut himself anytime, not with a plane razor, but with an ordinary one.
Do not neglect finding for yourself the best positions for your hand, and the different orientations of your head which help your natural skill, as it is important to shave freely and without obstruction ; most of all always pay attention to the fact that every movement must comme from your wrist.
Once the forehead is shaven (I suppose you hold your razor in your right hand) shave behind the right ear ; and to do so, bring your left hand to your ear, lay it in front, put your razor perpendicularly behind, and mow front to back, as long as your stroke can go several times (not even sure what he meant in French)

For the left side, hold you razor in the other hand, use your right hand to flatten your left ear, and follow exactly as described above for the right ear ; the left hand (I suppose) has to end the process, that is, shaving the back of your head.
In order to do that, bring your right hand behind your head, the razor below it, always close to your fingers, tilt your head forward and you will be able to shave as far down as you want.

Finally, if one wants to shave himself, whatever the type of razor, without getting hurt, use a wig head, be it wood, leather or cardboard ; powder the face with a brush (damn, it was an obsolete word with bad spelling) so that half of it is correctly powdered, that is the cheeks, the mustache, the beard and the throat ; then put this powdered head, at the right height and distance so that you can see all the face. Put yourself behing it : take your razor as demonstrated on figure 3 of the second illustration page, and remember everything that is described in the method on how to shave oneself, Chapter VI. Observe, then, every move of your hands, the tension points and razor strokes ; then exerce yourself by removing softly the powder on this head without flaying it, be it wooden or cardboard made ; always look closely at the place you are shaving, wipe your razor as if the powder you remove was grime from the beard, to accustom your hand to every movement. Repeat this exercice ten to a dozen times, and however clumsy one may be, it is certain one will easily get to train his hand to shave with dexterity and without slashing his face.

It would be wise and charitable for poor people and bad payers that barbers give this principle to their apprentices, and have them train for three to four month on wig head, before exposing a human face to the shaking hand of an apprentice and to the swiftness of a pityless edge if not driven by a wise and confident hand which could manage it.


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Proofreading my translation I see how it sounds, like baby English, or, horror, Chinese manual. I assure you that I tried to be as faithful to the original phrasing as possible. It's an old technical book, they were not as cautious on the phrasing as we are now. But then again, it's a bad practice to translate to a foreign language... A French speaking native English speaker would probably do a better job.

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If I ever get in another discussion quoting a chapter from Perret's I'll translate it at that time

Thank you for resuscitating my thread.

You are very welcome, I had great pleasure discovering this book, and I think that the advices he provides are up to par to the best "new shaver tutorials" that you can find around. The year was 1770 imagine that

Necropost here. I only recently made the effort to read this book. For those who read French, there is an amazing website that has the original scan of the book.

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bp...mie?rk=21459;2

To my surprise the book is very thorough, especially on honing and edge maintenance. The author favours coticules, although they didn’t have such a name back in 1769. Seeing the use of the term “la venette” and his admiration for coticules that are milky white and look “cracked” made me chuckle. My most prized coticule displays this feature.