On the Liquefaction and Solidification of Bodies Generally Existing as Gases.

inscribed presentation offprint

The rare offprint, with presentation inscription at the head of the title page, 'Rev. Dr. Robinson, from the author'.

As early as the 1823 Faraday had done important work showing that gases such as chlorine and carbon dioxide could be liquified by exposing them to high pressure and low temperatures, a major contribution to modern theories of the nature of matter. Here he returns to the subject, experimenting with substances such as ethylene (olefiant gas), hydriodic acid, cyanogen, and nitrous oxide.

The recipient of this copy, astronomer the Rev. Thomas Romney Robinson (1793-1882) was a child prodigy who enrolled in Trinity College, Dublin at age twelve, becoming a fellow in 1814. In 1823 he was appointed astronomy at Armagh Observatory, where he established a rigourous routine of positional observations' with 'a determination unusual in observatories of the time, and quite exceptional in one so small, isolated, and poorly situated for observing'. He 'published a great many papers on a wide range of topics across physics and astronomy. He was in great demand as an erudite and entertaining public speaker on scientific subjects, having made his name at the early meetings of the BAAS' (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). Robinson was president of the Royal Irish Academy, a fellow of the Royal Society, and received honorary degrees from Dublin, Oxford, and Cambridge.

13-leaf offprint, author's presentation inscription to the title, ownership inscription to the upper wrapper, horizontal crease from folding throughout, contents faintly toned in the margins; original plan wrappers bound with string, wrappers rubbed and partially tanned and spotted, old repair to cracked spine, very good condition.

Norman Library of Science and Medicine 760.