Description
Description: In this wonderful four page letter, addressed to John Marcel, Wollaston recounts in great detail the politically and emotionally charged election of the President of the Royal Society in 1820.
William Hyde Wollaston and his friend John Marcel, who had retired to Geneva, were scientific collaborators and friends for about two decades. They often consulted and recommended each other, shared experiments and details about new discoveries. Wollaston also kept his friend abreast about the intrigues in the scientific community. This historical letter addresses nepotism in the early 19th-century science community leading up to Sir Humphry Davy’s contentious nomination and subsequent selection as the President of the Royal Society. The Banksians (an elite group of followers of Sir Joseph Banks, the former autocratic President who was in favor of natural history and had groomed Davies Gilbert to succeed him) thought Davy would favor specialized science and the “Cambridge Network,” of reformers, thought that Davy would not support rising mathematicians, astronomers and geologists. The alternative candidates were Davies Gilbert, Prince Leopold, Lord Spencer, the Duke of Somerset, and the much-favored Wollaston; all declined. Humphry Davy eventually became President on 30 Nov,1820. Wollaston served briefly in the interim between Bank’s death and Davy’s appointment. His writing is at times long-winded, laced with dry humor.
This letter, written as a stampless cover, has a postal cancellation which appears to be Feb. 20, 1820. Wollaston recounts as he says with “egotistical detail” the chain of events surrounding the 1820 Royal Society Presidential elections. Having been urged to consider the position of Presidency by John Marcet, his brother Francis Wollaston, and (Sir William) Blake, “repeatedly till at last I felt it, right gravely to consider whether if attained it could contribute to my happiness, & fit that I should answer Blake decidedly that he & others might know how to act in case of a demise. I did consider & I did decide & answer in the negative–Blake thought me right & was satisfied- -Poor Sir Joseph was evidently weakening and shortly after tendered his resignation in favor of Gilbert . . but then at the request of the council he retracted really swayed by fear of Royalty (Sir Joseph Banks died on 19 June 1820). Next in the order of events was the return of Davy, professedly to support Lord Spencer against Prince Leopold & D. Gilbert, tho in reality most eager to start himself. Princ L. withdrew. Lord Spencer declined–so that the names entered for the sweepstakes previous to the death of Sir Jos were Gilbert, Davy & the Duke of Somerset. When the vacancy actually took place, some of my overzealous friends would try to force me forward. . . . Davy expressed himself as severely hurt by the activity of my friends which he represents as hostility to himself. . .” Wollaston is persuaded briefly to submit to his friends’ wishes but decides “to withdraw at once from an odious contest, rather than subject myself even for one year to all the ties of a troublesome station. . . . I have taken it for the present but Davy will succeed in November.”
Wollaston finds Jacob Perkin’s experiments on compressibility of water and air noteworthy enough to include details in the rest of the letter. (Perkins fashioned a steam engine and invented a means for the free circulation of water in boilers).
This autograph letter signed (with initials: “WHW”) is written on a 16” x 10” sheet of ivory wove paper folded into a cover and addressed to “Mons le Docteur Marcet a ́ Genéve”.
William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828), English scientist, was trained as a medical doctor who abandoned medicine to become a chemist and physicist. His skill was best demonstrated in his important investigations on platinum metals–discoveries of palladium and rhodium; he also developed a way to process platinum into malleable ingots. He built the first spectrometer in 1802 and coined the term bicarbonate. He also improved on John Dalton’s atomic theory. Mineralogists called upon him to determine the chemical composition of new minerals. Wollastonite was named in his honor for his contributions to crystallography. Fearful of competing interests, he was secretive about his work and, therefore, lesser known than Dalton or Humphry Davy. Wollaston was the godfather of William Blake’s son, Henry Wallaston Blake.
Sir Humphry Davy (1820-27) was a British chemist, a poet, and inventor of the miner’s safety lamp…Davy lamp. He became one of the greatest exponents of scientific methods in the early 19th century. His study of electricity/electrolysis led to the isolation of many minerals such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, and barium from their compounds. He was the President of the Royal Society from 1820-27. His nomination took place at a time the Society was a club for gentlemen interested in natural philosophy and history over specialized science.
Davies Gilbert (1767-1839) was a British engineer, author and politician. He served as the President of the Royal Society 1827-1830. Although he promoted scientific inquiries, he was opposed to mass education of the laboring classes.
Dr John Marcet (1770-1822) was popularly known as the fever doctor and was an accomplished British-Genevan chemist. He was physician at Guy’s Hospital between 1804-1819. He supported Edward Jenner in encouraging universal inoculation against smallpox. His medical publications include how to procure vaccines (with Jenner), studied the beneficial qualities of mineral water, accounts of hydrophobia, nephritis, alkali in blood, and “calculous disorders,” etc. His chemical papers were concerned with the use of nitrate as a test for arsenic, beneficial qualities of mineral water, etc.
Item #A01780
Condition: Has a ½” circular loss in the left lower margin with no loss of text. Another ½” circular tear in the middle-left of page three caused by opening the letter’s red-wax seal . The word “brag” on page three is missing the letters “a” and “g.” Rest of the text is unaffected and easily readable. Generally in good condition.
