italienischer Physiker, Chemiker und Meteorologe (1751-1815). Autograph letter signed. no place. 4to. 3 pp.
$ 710 / 600 €
(103523)
“Please accept my most sincere thanks for your kind attention in informing me of your trip to Paris... May I venture to ask you to purchase for me a small achromatic spyglass, 6 to 7 inches in focal length, mounted in brass or in plated copper? I would like to have it made of that new flint glass which Mr. d’Artige has recently discovered, and which, by its clarity and sharpness, is said to be superior to that of England [Louis-Gabriel d’Artigues, who in 1811 published a treatise On the Art of Manufacturing Flint Glass Suitable for Optical Use].
I have forgotten the name of the optical craftsman who makes these achromatic lenses, but it will be very easy for you to find out, as he is one of the most skilled and well known...” He also asks his correspondent to convey his regards to several French personalities, among them Jean-Baptiste Nompère de Champagny, Duke of Cadore, and Hugues-Bernard Maret, Duke of Bassano. An important Italian physicist and chemist, Marsilio Landriani (1751–1815) devoted many studies and publications to electricity, lightning, and the chemistry of gases. Building upon the experiments of Priestley, he developed a “eudiometer” for measuring the purity of air—a device which Alessandro Volta later combined with his electrophorus and air “pistol” to create an instrument capable of determining the proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere. This improved eudiometer would, in 1782, enable Lavoisier to discover the composition of water..