‘The most wonderful piece of machinery the world can boast of:’ The water‐works at Marly, 1680–1830

This article presents the changes in the perception of the famous pumping apparatus at Marly. Constructed in 1680–88 to deliver water to the fountains of the royal palaces, its complicated mechanism and the extraordinary costs involved were at first hailed as symbols for the absolutist splendour of Louis XIV. In the early 18th century, the machine entered the technical compendia of Bélidor, Leupold and Desaguliers, and subsequently became a preferred object for projectors and inventors of all kinds, among them James Watt and Matthew Boulton. During the French Revolution, a new ‘pastoral’ discourse on machines emerged, leading the inventor Trouville to propose his ‘natural hydraulics’ to replace the Marly machine. As an answer, engineers like Carnot and Prony developed a new general theory of machines, which led to an industrial conception of machines. The evaluation of technical devices in terms of efficiency meant that the apparatus at Marly was now perceived as a supreme waste of power.