Two centuries later, when the French geometer Michel Chasles (1793-1880) wrote his still standards history of geometry, there was no means of estimating the value of Desargues’ work. Six years later, however, in 1845, Chasles happened upon a manuscript copy of the treatise, made by Desargues’ pupil, Philippe de la Hire (1640-1718), and since that time the work has been regarded as one of the classics in the early development of authentic projective geometry.