3V Joseph Priestley EXPERIMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS ON DIFFERENT KINDS OF AIR 1790 Antique Chemistry Physics Science Natural History Discovery Of Oxygen Folding Engraved Plates Leather Binding

Title: Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air, and Other Branches of Natural Philosophy, Connected with the Subject.
Author: Joseph Priestley - Joseph Priestley was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works. He is usually credited with the discovery of oxygen, having isolated it in its gaseous state, although Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Antoine Lavoisier also have a claim to the discovery.

During his lifetime, Priestley's considerable scientific reputation rested on his invention of soda water, his writings on electricity, and his discovery of several "airs" (gases), the most famous being what Priestley dubbed "dephlogisticated air" (oxygen). However, Priestley's determination to defend phlogiston theory and to reject what would become the chemical revolution eventually left him isolated within the scientific community.

Priestley's science was integral to his theology, and he consistently tried to fuse Enlightenment rationalism with Christian theism. In his metaphysical texts, Priestley attempted to combine theism, materialism, and determinism, a project that has been called "audacious and original". He believed that a proper understanding of the natural world would promote human progress and eventually bring about the Christian Millennium. Priestley, who strongly believed in the free and open exchange of ideas, advocated toleration and equal rights for religious Dissenters, which also led him to help found Unitarianism in England. The controversial nature of Priestley's publications combined with his outspoken support of the French Revolution aroused public and governmental suspicion; he was eventually forced to flee, in 1791, first to London, and then to the United States, after a mob burned down his home and church. He spent the last ten years of his life living in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.

A scholar and teacher throughout his life, Priestley also made significant contributions to pedagogy, including the publication of a seminal work on English grammar, books on history, and he prepared some of the most influential early timelines. These educational writings were some of Priestley's most popular works. It was his metaphysical works, however, that had the most lasting influence: leading philosophers including Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Herbert Spencer credit them among the primary sources for utilitarianism.
Publisher: Printed by Thomas Pearson
City: Birmingham
Year: 1790
Binding Style: Hardcover
Number of Volumes: 3 Full Set: Yes
Width: 5.5" Height: 8.75"
Book Details: First published in six volumes from 1774-1786, Priestley's "Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air" collects writings on Priestley's most important scientific works. The experiments detailed in this work helped to repudiate the theory of four elements. "Experiments and Observations" outlined several discoveries: "nitrous air" (nitric oxide, NO); "vapor of spirit of salt", later called "acid air" or "marine acid air" (anhydrous hydrochloric acid, HCl); "alkaline air" (ammonia, NH3); "diminished" or "dephlogisticated nitrous air" (nitrous oxide, N2O); and, most famously, "dephlogisticated air" (oxygen, O2) as well as experimental findings that showed plants revitalised enclosed volumes of air, a discovery that would eventually lead to the discovery of photosynthesis (courtesy of Wikipedia).

This 1790 Birmingham printing of "Experiments and Observations" is in three volumes, bound and re-backed in full red leather. The covers are adorned with gilt borders, and the spines with gilt lettering and decoration. The volumes are adorned with marbled endpapers, and each volume contains three folding engraved plates.
Condition / Notes: These striking volumes present well with some external age/wear, concentrated at the extremities. The front hinges of Volumes I and II are cracked, with the front board effectively detached. Volumes I and II show bookplates to the front paste-downs, and Volume III shows a bookplate to the rear paste-down. Volume III displays a previous owner's signature to the front flyleaf. The interiors are largely clean and bright, with scattered foxing and some occasional penciled marginalia. The plates present well with some foxing.

Volume I: This volume has been collated and appears complete. The three folding plates include the frontispiece. There is a handwritten chemical analysis tipped-in between pages 344-345. There are pencil markings to margins.

Volume II: This volume has been collated and appears complete. It contains three folding plates. There is a vertical tape repair to margin of page 105/106 that does not affect text. There are pencil markings to margins. This volume contains the following mis-numbered pages: 331 unnumbered, 375 as 575, 410 as 310, 432 as 43.

Volume III: This volume has been collated and appears complete. It contains three folding plates. There is some foxing/discoloration to beginning of book. This volume contains the following mis-numbered pages: 231 as 131, 281 as 218, 509 as 409, (in index) 570 as 750. The beginning page of Books IX (247), X (395), and XII (533) are unnumbered while the beginning page of Book XI is numbered (508).

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