Michael Faraday (1792-1867)

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£ 3 000
Auction dateClassic
09.12.2020 00:00UTC +01:00
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CHRISTIE'S
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United Kingdom, London
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ID 470235
Lot 108 | Michael Faraday (1792-1867)
Michael Faraday (1792-1867)

Experimental Researches in Electricity. 1833-1834

FARADAY, Michael (1792-1867). 'Experimental Researches in Electricity', the fifth and seventh series, 2 offprints from Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. London: Richard Taylor, 1833 and 1834.



Two important offprints, one an inscribed presentation copy, on electrochemistry by 'one of the finest experimenters of all time' (PMM). Faraday’s laws of electrolysis are based on the data published here in the fifth series. In the same year, he collaborated with the polymathic wordsmith William Whewell to develop a vocabulary for the young science of electrochemistry based on ancient Greek, including words like ion, electrode, and anode still in use today. In 1834 after a brief hiatus to give his ideas time to be discussed, Faraday returned to electrochemistry with the seventh series. These two papers were a gift from the author, with the title of the fifth series inscribed 'St Georges Medical & Surgical Society / from the Author'. See PMM 308 (later book edition).



Two pamphlets, quarto (278 x 216mm). Series Five: [2], 675-710 pp.; one engraved plate (light spotting at end). Series Seven: [2], 77-122 pp.; one engraved plate (title reinforced at outer margin, some edge toning). Modern plain wrappers. Provenance: St George’s Hospital Library (presentation inscription on the title of series five from Faraday; ink stamps in both offprints on various pages including plate, some effaced).

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