Magellan

1777 · réf. 56912 — 'MILESTONE IN THE EARLY LITERATURE OF GAS ANALYSIS' first edition tall 8vo. 2 title ii editor's 'advertisement' v-viii 471pp frontispiece plate advertisement leaf a cancel . bound after PRIESTLEY Joseph A Familiar Introduction to the Study of Electricity. The Third Edition.London: Printed for J. Johnson tall 8vo. 4 half-title & title 5-85 3 advt.pp. 5 plates 4 folding The two items bound together in contemporary calf spine paneled by gilt highlighted raised bands russet morocco title label the first plate in the Priestley cropped by the binder at the fold and thus missing the right-hand half else a nice copy. Very neat contemporary signature on title "Edw. Roche". Magalhaes: ESTC t74551 Dictionary Scientific Biography Vol. 9 p.5-6The leaf following the title page pages i-ii is a cancel: 'Advertisement of the editor relating to the use of the simple glass machines for making mineral waters'. The pagination picks up a p.v and the book is complete thus. Magellan Aveiro Portugal 1722- 1790 took to science while an Augustinian monk in Coimbra but he later left the order and moved to England and later Protestantism. Although he "produced no scientific work of serious consequence . He is known for his a wide circle of scientific acquaintances and for acting as an intermediary in disseminating new information. . He was a fellow of the Royal Society and a member of several European academies of science. . He wrote more about scientific instruments than about any other subject" D.S.B. This book is the first edition of "an important milestone in the early literature of gas analysis. . an account of his researches on gases addressed to his friend Joseph Priestley. The glass apparatus for impregnating water with fixed air carbon dioxide is described in detail. Newly improved by 'Mr. Parker' the apparatus was superior to that used by Priestley and described by him in 1772. Carbon dioxide was prepared by dissolving marble calcium carbonate in dilute sulphuric acid. Magellan also describes three new types of eudiometer he had designed; these and the apparatus for making carbonated waters are illustrated in the frontispiece" Neville II p.125. Further editions followed in 1779 and 1783.Priestley: ESTC t35302 Crook Priestly Bibliography S/473 To illustrate this work Priestly used plates nos. 2367 and 8 from his The History and present state of electricity and "it was not thought necessary to change the numbers of them" preface. Printed for W. Parker .. and sold by J. Johnson .. and W. Brown hardcover