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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Letter, from Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to Henry Oldenburg, dated at Delft

Reference number: EL/L1/1

Date: 15 August 1673

Description

Signed autograph
Sends figures of the anatomy of the bee and gives an account of its sting; an account of the structure and growth of wood and the motions of fluids in wood; concerning the food and digestion of a louse; about the compression of air (with figures of tubes in the margins). For summary see 'The correspondence of Henry Oldenburg', ed and trans by A Rupert Hall & Marie Boas Hall, vol 10, p 114
Transcribed and translated in 'Alle de brieven van Antoni van Leeuwenhoek', edited, illustrated and annotated by Committee of Dutch Scientists, part 1, p 40
English translation of Leeuwenhoek's letter on the compression of air printed in 'Philosophical Transactions', vol 9, no 102, p 21

Reference number
EL/L1/1
Earliest possible date
15 August 1673
Page extent
7 pages
Format
Manuscript
Also available on Early Modern Letters Online
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Creator names

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek

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Antoni van Leeuwenhoek

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Citation

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Letter, from Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to Henry Oldenburg, dated at Delft, 15 August 1673, EL/L1/1, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/el_l1_1/letter-from-antoni-van-leeuwenhoek-to-henry-oldenburg-dated-at-delft, accessed on 18 June 2025

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  • Early Letters

    The archival collection known as 'Early Letters' is composed of original manuscript letters sent to, or collected by, the Royal Society from English and foreign correspondents.

    Dates: 1613 - 1740

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