Dom Bédos de Celles

François Lamathe Bédos de Celles de Salelles, known as Dom Bédos de Celles, (24 January 1709 – 25 November 1779) was a Benedictine monk best known for being a master pipe organ builder.

He was born in Caux, Hérault, near Béziers, France. He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences at Bordeaux and correspondent of the Academy at Paris in 1758.

As a recognized organ-builder, he was called upon to carry out repairs and appraise and advise other organ-builders in many locations across France.

In 1760 he published "La Gnomonique pratique ou l’Art de tracer les cadrans solaires" under the patronage of the Jean-Paul Grandjean de Fouchy, Secretary of the Academy of Sciences and an authority in gnomonics and sundials.

In 1766-78 he published his treatise L'art du facteur d'orgues (The Art of the Organ-Builder). This monumental opus contains great historical detail about eighteenth-century organ building, and is still referred to by modern organ-builders.

He is buried in the former Abbey (now Basilica) of Saint-Denis.

Bibliography

• Dom François Bédos de Celles, L'art du facteur d'orgues (facsimile edition). Kassel / New York, Bärenreiter, 1963-65

• Ferguson, Charles, The Organ-Builder. Translation of Dom François Bédos de Celles' L'art du facteur d'orgues. Raleigh, NC: Sunbury Press, 1977

External links

• Extraits de L'art du facteur d'orgues (in French)
• Dom Bedos (in French)

Persondata
Name	Bedos de Celles, Dom
Alternative names
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Date of birth	24 January 1709
Place of birth
Date of death	25 November 1779
Place of death