Charpentier (1891) on the size-weight illusion

This paper offers background for an English translation of an article origi nally published in 1891 by Augustin Charpentier (1852-1916), as well as a s ummary of it. The article is frequently described as providing the first ex perimental evidence for the size-weight illusion. A comparison of experimen ts on the judged heaviness of lifted weights carried out by Weber (1834) an d by Charpentier (1891) supports the view that Charpentier's work deserves priority; review of other experimental studies on the size-weight illusion in the 1890s suggests that the idea that the illusion depended on "disappoi nted expectations," especially with respect to speed of lift, became domina nt almost immediately following the publication of Charpentier's paper The fate of this and other ideas, including ''motor energy," in 20th-century re search on the illusion is briefly described.