An Account of several Experiments in Electricity: In a Letter to Mr. Benjamin Wilson, F.R.S.

Several studies of the effect of temperature on the electrical properties of materials were performed by Edward Delaval and are described in this paper.

The item, first read before the Royal Society on December 17, 1761, is a First Edition, extracted and disbound from The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 52, For the Years 1761 & 1762, pages 353-356. This volume was published in 1763. The pages of the paper are tanned, but the text is clear and easily read. The item is in good condition.

The illustrations accompanying this description show the first page and one other page of the paper.

Benjamin Wilson (June 21, 1721 – June 6, 1788) was an English painter, printmaker and scientist (natural philosopher). As a scientist he opposed Benjamin Franklin's theory of positive and negative electricity. Instead, Wilson supported Isaac Newton's gravitational-optical ether, which he supposed to differ in density around bodies in accordance with their degrees of electrification. Wilson also opposed Franklin's theory of pointed lightning rods, holding that blunt conductors performed better than pointed ones. [Wikipedia]

Edward Hussey Delaval (born 1729; died 14 August 1814) was a scholar and scientist. He shared the 1766 Copley Medal where he was cited for his research on metals and glass. His interest in glass included its use in music. His performances on musical glasses became well-known, and may have inspired Benjamin Franklin's glass harmonica. [Wikipedia]