Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
The Collection of Victor Niederhoffer part II
Auction: September 19, 2019 11:00:00 AM EDT
[London]: Royal Institution, November 5, 1865. 1 1/3pp. Autograph letter to one folded sheet. Small 8vo. With some light creasing along old folds, moderate horizontal crease traversing Faraday’s signature. To S(amuel) H(unter) Christie [secretary of the Royal Society], “I send you a paper from [Christian Friedrich] Schönbein which he wishes the R.I. to have if they think it interesting. I rather think the Chemists may think well of it. I have one also to send you on my own part but it is not quite ready - a day would finish it if I had to write only but I am writing & working too. You remember the fish I spoke of as having caught but not yet landed it. I have brought a good lump to shore & think you will like it. It is a mixture of electricity, magnetism & light - but I will say no more about it except that you shall very soon have it.” The paper to which Faraday refers as a fish not yet landed was published later in November of 1865 as “The Magnetism of Light and the Illumination of the Lines of Electric Force.” About two months prior, Faraday had performed an experiment which allowed him to infer the effect of magnetism on light. This work formed the basis of James Clark-Maxwell’s field theory, which in tern led to the quantum theory of Max Plank and Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. Einstein kept photos of Faraday, Maxwell, & Isaac Newton on his desk.
Christian Friedrich Schönbein (1799-1868), German-Swiss chemist, who developed the fuel cell. His correspondence with Faraday was published as The Letters of Faraday & Schönbein, London, 1899.
Samuel Hunter Christie (1784-1865), British mathematician and physicist.
Michael Faraday (1791-1867), British scientist, considered one of the most influential scientists in history.