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The title for this new topic isn't mine: it was the name of a book first published in 1964 by engineer Paul Deville's widow, Jeanne-Paul Deville, who wrote that small book so that the memory of her husband and his works may not be lost to history. Interestingly, the first edition indicated Maurice Victor as the book's author, but the name had disappeared in the 1967 reprint.In the book, Jeanne Deville depicts Paul, whom she married in 1938, as "a charming boy with an ever open, smiling face" but also "a great engineer, ever curious, always working. I wasn't jealous of his passion for aviation because I shared it." After Deville's passing, many were astonished to learn of the importance and scope of his work, since he was a modest, quiet individual; and even for those who knew him and dug into his notes for the creation of the book, many aspect of his career, spanning four decades and dozens of aircraft designed and built under his supervision, were ignored.
So, why "58 prototypes"? Because it appears that Deville himself, at some point, kept a record of his various projects, and allocated a number to them. However, those numbers were lost to history, and only a few of the latter ones have survived. "Do not torment yourself trying to retrace those fifty-eight prototypes," said Léon Bathiat of the Vieilles Tiges association to Jeanne-Paul. "He did a lot more! And besides, his professional conscience made him unable to sign or even attribute to himself whatever was not his, I can testify to it." It would appear that Paul Deville cared little for the past, in fact, and prefered to look to the future. When asked about some older airplanes he had studied, he would reply kindly and with modesty: "Oh! You know, we cooked up so many of those zincs [colloquial term for a plane in French] that I don't recall all their numbers."Jeanne Deville's book, therefore, does not provide any list as such. It does give an account of most of the planes that Paul Deville worked on, but with no guarantee that it is exhaustive, and no real possibility to allocate any of the 58 numbers. Small photos are provided for some aircraft, but no three-view arrangements or plans of any kind, there are a few inaccuracies too, so we're far from a Docavia-type volume! Still, it is to my knowledge the only book ever written on the subject of Paul Deville, and by the person who knew him best. I'm attaching the book's contents page.
Below is a list of aircraft I've reconstructed from the book (adding the 1935 racer, which was omitted). A vast majority, but not all, were designed by Deville. As you can clearly see here, despite very short work periods at Clément-Bayard, Breguet Aeronautical and Dewoitine, the bulk of his work was done at Caudron and Salmson.
| Clément-Bayard AR.I (1911) | Caudron C.51 (1921) | Caudron C.168 (1928) | SALMSON YEARS |
| Breguet (1912) * | Caudron C.57 (1921) | Caudron C.181 (1929) | Salmson D.1 T3 (1933) |
| FIRST CAUDRON ERA | Caudron C.59 (1921) | Caudron C.187 (1929) | Salmson D.2 T3 Phrygane (1934) |
| Caudron G.6 (1915) | Caudron C.60 (1921) | Caudron C.191 (1929) | Salmson D.2 P3 Phrygane (1934) |
| Caudron 02 (1917) | Caudron C.61 (1921) | Caudron C.192 (1929) | Salmson D.4 S2 (1934) |
| Caudron R.10 (1917) | Caudron C.65 (1922) | Caudron C.193 (1929) | Salmson D.4 T4 Phrygane-Major (1935) |
| Caudron R.11 (1917) | Caudron C.67 (1922) | Caudron C.220 (1929) | Salmson Co1 (1935) |
| Caudron C.21 (1917) | Caudron C.68 (1922) | Caudron C.221 (1929) | Salmson D.5 Exp2 (1935) |
| Caudron C.21 bis (1917) | Caudron C.74 (1922) | Caudron C.230 (1929) | Salmson D.3 T2 Phryganet (1936) |
| Caudron C.22 (1917) | Caudron C.77 (1923) | Caudron C.232 (1929) | Salmson D.6 T2 Cricri (1936) |
| Caudron R.12 (1917) | Caudron C.81 (1923) | Caudron C.233 (1929) | Salmson D.6.3 T2 Cricri (1948) |
| Caudron R.14 (1918) | Caudron C.82 (1923) | Caudron C.240 (1929) | Salmson D.7 T2 Cricri-Major (1949) |
| Caudron C.23 (1918) | Caudron C.83 (1923) | Caudron C.251 (1929) | DV.8 > Salmson D.8 T4 Phrygane-Major (1943) |
| Caudron C.23 bis (1919) | Caudron C.91 (1923) | Caudron C.270 (1930) | Salmson D.55 T2 (1945) |
| Caudron C.25 (1919) | Dewoitine D.14 (1924) | Caudron C.272 Luciole (1930) | Salmson D.56 Et2 Lycène (1947?) |
| Caudron C.27 (1919) | SECOND CAUDRON ERA | Caudron C.273 Luciole (1930) | Salmson D.57 Phryganet (1950) |
| Caudron C.31 (1919) | Caudron C.109 (1928) | Caudron C.275 Luciole (1930) | Salmson D.21 T4 Phrygane (1949) |
| Caudron C.33 (1920) | Caudron C.110 (1928) | Caudron C.280 Phalène (1931) | Salmson D.221 T4 Super Phrygane (1951) |
| Caudron C.39 (1920) | Caudron C.117 (1928) | Caudron C.282 Phalène (1931) | Salmson D.4 T4 (?) Hyper-Phrygane (1954) |
| Caudron C.43 (1920) | Caudron C.127 (1928) | Caudron C.286 Phalène (1932) | (* built in England for official British competition) |
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