$540
Estimate: $600 - $900
Auction: June 25 at 11:00 AM ET
Faraday, Michael
Autograph Letter, signed
(London): Royal Institution, August 22, 1834. One sheet folded to make four pages, 7 1/4 x 4 9/16 in. (184 x 116 mm). Two-page autograph letter, signed by Michael Faraday to a J. Leeson, “My dear Sir When in Ireland I told Col Colby that I thought if essential some Prussian Blue could be purchased i.e. Prussian Blue unmixed with aluminum & other matter. I was thinking of you at the time. Will you favour me by a note saying whether you could make it for him or not? It is to be used for mixing with the ink and in printing the plates of the Government Trust survey. I am My Dear Sir Very Truly Yours M Faraday.” Later pencil sketches resembling electromagnetic fields(?) on both sides, moderate foxing, 2 x 1 ½ in. chip to bottom right of second page.
Famed English scientist Michael Faraday (1791-1867) writes to a J. Leeson Esq attempting to procure Prussian Blue pigment for Col. Thomas F. Colby (1784-1852), an officer of the Royal Engineers and geographic surveyor.
Prussian Blue was created in the early 18th century, and is considered the first modern synthetic pigment. Its cheap and nontoxic properties made it very popular to use in oil paints, and a variety of printing methods. Faraday frequently demonstrated the process of its synthetization at many of his Royal Institute lectures, as shown in an 1816 painting titled Prussian Blue by English artist Thomas Phillips, depicting a young Faraday and his colleague William T. Brande.