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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Letter, from Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to the Royal Society, dated at Delft

Reference number: EL/L1/79

Date: 22 January 1686

Description

Signed letter
Experiments using cinnabar (mercury sulphide); experiments with gunpowder; experiments with saltpetre (potassium nitrate); concerning the lengths of cannons; experiments with crab's eyes (lime contained in the stomach wall of crayfish)
Original figures now no longer exist
English translation see EL/L1/80
Transcribed and translated in 'Alle de brieven van Antoni van Leeuwenhoek', edited, illustrated and annotated by Committee of Dutch Scientists, vol 5, p 355
Translated extract printed in 'Philosophical Transactions', vol 17, no 200, p 754

Reference number
EL/L1/79
Earliest possible date
22 January 1686
Page extent
12 pages
Format
Manuscript
Also available on Early Modern Letters Online
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Creator name

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek

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Citation

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Letter, from Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to the Royal Society, dated at Delft, 22 January 1686, EL/L1/79, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/el_l1_79/letter-from-antoni-van-leeuwenhoek-to-the-royal-society-dated-at-delft, accessed on 19 January 2025

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  • Early Letters

    Dates: 1613-1740

    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.

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