One idea received
Here we find a very interesting page from the archives of the Lyon City Hall (see bibliography at the bottom of the page).
This text tries to correct commonly held misconceptions by lack of source verification by almost all those who talk about Jacquard mechanics.

A source for the Lyonnaise silk: the census of the population of Lyon from 1808 to 1812.
Here we find a very interesting page from the archives of the Lyon City Hall (see bibliography at the bottom of the page). This text tries to correct commonly held misconceptions by lack of source verification by almost all those who talk about Jacquard mechanics.
The history of Lyonnaise silk remains to be written. The funds of the Municipal Archives on the "Grande Fabrique" have not yet been exploited. The history of Lyonnaise silk in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries focuses too often on Jacquard and his legend. Evoking this character based on established facts always causes surprises. The exploitation of the registers of the census of the population of Lyons, from 1808 to 1812, gives us further proof.

The reality of the Jacquard trade
After the visit of Napoleon I to Lyons, the imperial decree of 25 Germinal an XIII (April 15, 1805) allocated a bonus of 50 francs to Jacquard, for each craft endowed with its mechanics, for six years. The Chamber of Commerce of Lyon is responsible for drawing up the list of buyers and forwarding it to the Minister of the Interior. In 1806, two lists were sent for a total of 41 mechanics and, in 1811, a list of only 16 mechanics. All historians assert that in 1812 12,000 to 18,000 Jacquard looms were in operation in Lyons, and that the use of the craft was largely abandoned.
The above-mentioned censuses contain a column of observations which contain extremely precise information on the number and type of looms, the nature of the silk fabrics, and the number and function of the silk workers. The comparison of the lists of the Chamber of Commerce and the census registers completely modifies the free statements of the Jacquard biographers. It must be noted that the word "Jacquard craft" appears nowhere. All the weavers possessing Jacquard mechanics, without exception, return to the craft to the great tire that has proved itself. This is the case of Jacques Rive, probably a relative of Jacquard, 103 Grande Côte. He acquired a first mechanics on July 16, 1806, and a second on September 10, 1806. Now, the present census of 1808 shows that it employs two lace-pullers for the two looms producing Damascus, Gold and Gourgouran being united fabrics. Weavers again employ shooters or lakeshooters. In fact, the production of a shaped fabric requires the presence of two persons: a weaver for the basic structure and a shooter for the production of the decoration. Thus, the mechanics invented by Jacquard, after that of Vaucanson, with the help of numerous collaborators, is not operational. It was the Ardèche Jean-Antoine Breton who, in 1817, invented a new machine, based on the same principles, which, however, retained the name of Jacquard. It is the one that still operates at the Croix-Rousse.

A new vision of the Lyonnaise silk factory
The exhaustive study of the Lyonnais family workshops indicates that the taffeta occupations occupy more than half of the total number of trades and that the number of trades of great shape is very reduced: 5%. The plain taffeta fabrics are made on looms working with two steps (or pedals) and a carette and, for the other armours (twill, satin, etc.), using several steps. The fabrics "small fashioned", also called "mechanics" (it is not, of course, mechanics known as Jacquard), are woven on the crafts of Verzier, Brun or Cretin. For large-scale fabrics (fabrics with decorations), the crafts are always used for large and small shovels. Finally, there are also trades called "à la Falconne" using perforated cardboard.
The type of tissues in these censuses provides precisions of great interest for the knowledge of the production of Lyons. Finally, a study of the professions working for the Lyon factory made it possible to draw up a long list comprising more than seventy activities.It would be desirable for historians to take an interest in these valuable and detailed censuses in order to establish a realistic and precise picture of the daily life of the Lyons under the First Empire.

BibliographieJean HUCHARD et Gabriel VIAL, " À propos du métier Jacquard ", dans Créer et produire des formes textiles, colloque à la faculté de philosophie de l’université Lyon 3, 13 et 14 décembre 1984, Lyon, L’Hermès, 1987, pp. 25-47.Jean HUCHARD, " Joseph Marie Jacquard ", Bulletin de la société historique, archéologique et littéraire de Lyon, T. XXIV, 1995, pp. 7-27.Jean HUCHARD, " À propos de Jacquard ", Bulletin municipal officiel, n°5104 (18/02/1996) ; n°5105 (25/02/1996) ; n°5195 (16/11/1997) ; n°5196 (23/11/1997) ; n°5219 (03/05/1998) ; n°5220 (10/05/1998) ; n°5267 (04/04/1999) ; n°5281 (11/07/1999) ; n°5309 (23/01/2000) ; n°5310 (30/01/2000) ; n°5346 (08/10/2000) ; n°5368 (11/03/2001).