“Journals for Reading” bulletin Citroën, 1-15 April 1963, intended for Mr. Magès

In this document

This internal Citroën bulletin lists, over 3 pages (of which 2 are digitised here), the articles from technical journals circulated from 1 to 15 April 1963. It bears the header “SOCIETE ANONYME ANDRÉ CITROËN” and a handwritten note, partially uncertain, which seems to designate “Mr. Magès” as the recipient p. 9.

Journals reviewed and subjects marked in red

Page 9 lists articles from L'Usine, Atomes, Mesures, Technique Moderne, Mécanique & Électricité, La Machine Outil, Revue Technique Automobile and Belgique Automobile. Hand-drawn red lines signal several entries for the reader's attention:

• “Advantages and disadvantages of air-cooled engines” p. 9
• “Instantaneous car consumption indicator (Fuelometer)” p. 9
• “Automatic transmissions (continued)” and “Automatic transmissions - Multi-element converters” p. 9
• “Galaxie car longitudinal elasticity suspension” and “2-stroke engines” p. 9

Note also, without any red marking indicated, an article “Compressors for DS and ID 19” in the Revue Technique Automobile of March 63 p. 9.

Page 10 continues with Carrosserie, L'Argus, Revue Automobile, S.I.A., Motor, Commercial Motor, Automobile Engineer, Hydraulic & Pneumatic, Oil Engine and Mechanical Power. Two entries are highlighted in red:

• “Hydrostatic transmission patents (Austin) — height correction suspension (Rolls Royce)” (Commercial Motor, 8.3.63) p. 10
• “Viscosity conditions of mineral oils for hydraulics” (Hydraulic & Pneumatic, February 63) p. 10

Context

This type of “journals for reading” bulletin was a common practice in large industrial companies in the 1950s-60s: a documentation unit would review the technical press and circulate, department by department, the articles deemed useful, often with handwritten annotations to guide the reading of a specific engineer.

Paul Magès, head of suspension studies at Citroën, is notoriously the inventor of the hydropneumatic suspension equipping the DS and the ID. The articles underlined in red concerning height correction suspension patents (Rolls Royce) and hydrostatic transmission (Austin), as well as the viscosity of hydraulic oils, fall directly within this field of expertise — a coherence which is, however, only established here by external cross-referencing, not by the document itself.

Archivist's perspective

This bulletin is not a technical piece in itself, but it sheds light on Paul Magès' monitoring sources: it seems that the selection in red was made specifically for him, based on his work on suspension and hydraulics p. 9-10.

The connection between the “height correction suspension” and “hydrostatic transmission” patents cited here and Magès' research on hydropneumatic devices finds an echo in other pieces in the collection, notably the handwritten note on the installation of a hydrostatic powertrain on a front axle and the calculation note on the P55 suspension, which testify to the same interest in these competing or complementary solutions.

This document thus illustrates, in an indirect but suggestive way, how a high-level engineer kept himself informed of the competition and the international technical literature in his field.