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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Letter, from Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to Robert Hooke, dated at Delft

Reference number: EL/L1/52

Date: 05 April 1680

Description

Signed autograph
Observations of the testicles and spermatozoids of a rat; hopes to examine the semen of mussels; observations of organisms in the gills of oysters; observations of organisms in the sap of vines
Two ink figures: one of sperm and one of a testicle of a rat in a jar of water
EL/H3/73 for Robert Hooke's partial translation
Transcribed and translated in 'Alle de brieven van Antoni van Leeuwenhoek', edited, illustrated and annotated by Committee of Dutch Scientists, vol 3, p 201
English extract printed in 'Philosophical Transactions', vol 17, no 196, p 593

Reference number
EL/L1/52
Earliest possible date
05 April 1680
Page extent
5 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 Robert Hooke, dated at Delft, 05 April 1680, EL/L1/52, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/el_l1_52/letter-from-antoni-van-leeuwenhoek-to-robert-hooke-dated-at-delft, accessed on 25 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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