The Correspondence of Humphry Davy and his Circle
Call
for documents
Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829) was the
foremost British chemist of his day. Born in Penzance, Cornwall, he rose to
prominence at the Pneumatic Institute in Bristol, before moving to the Royal
Institution in London, and eventually became President of the Royal Society.
His major contributions to science include the physiological effects of nitrous
oxide (laughing gas), the discovery of potassium and sodium, the development of
electro-chemistry, the miners’ safety lamp, the electro-chemical
protection of the copper sheeting of Royal Navy vessels, the conservation of
the Herculaneum papyri and seeking to improve the quality of optical glass. As
a friend of Coleridge, Southey and Wordsworth, Davy was also a Romantic poet
and was almost certainly the chemist whom Mary Shelley had in mind when she
described the teacher of Victor Frankenstein.
A team of Davy scholars is now planning to
publish an edition of letters of Davy and his circle including his wife Jane
Davy (nče Kerr, olim Apreece, 1780–1855) and his brother John Davy
(1790–1868). Although the Royal Institution holds the vast majority of
Davy letters, we have so far located Davy material in about fifty archives
including the British Library, Wellcome, Bodleian, Brtistol City Archives,
American Philosophical Society, the Northumberland Record Office and other
North-East archives. We would be very interested to hear of any Davy letters or
related material by or about him located in other archives or in private
possession.
The team comprises Professor Sharon Ruston (University
of Salford), Professor Frank James (Royal Institution), Professor Tim Fulford
(Nottingham Trent University), Professor Jan Golinski (University of New
Hampshire) and Professor David Knight (University of Durham).
Please contact Professor Sharon Ruston at [log in to unmask]. Your assistance will be greatly
appreciated.
_______________________________________________________________________________
New:
Volume
5 of Faraday's correspondence has now been published. Further details from
http://www.theiet.org/publishing/books/history/faraday-correspondence-vol5.cfm
Frank A.J.L. James
Professor of
the History of Science
The Royal Institution,
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London,
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England.
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E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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