In celebration of this year’s World Book Day, we wanted to share a special book in the Bowood collection: our copy of Joseph Priestley’s Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air. It was published in six volumes, this first one in 1774.
This book is important to us as it was at Bowood on the 1st of August 1774 that Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen in the Laboratory. Priestley had been in the employment of Lord Shelburne (1737-1805), the future 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, since 1773.
Priestley worked as Lord Shelburne’s librarian and overseer of his son’s education, though really, he became a literary companion and friend. To give an idea of Priestley’s extensive knowledge and interests, in his lifetime, he would publish more than 150 books and pamphlets on a range of subjects, from grammar and science to religion and politics. He did offer advice on the schooling of Lord Shelburne’s two sons and catalogue his books and papers, but really, his duties were minimal so that he could spend time on his scientific experiments.
Much of scientific experimentation during this period took place in the home: for Priestley, either in his own or his patron’s. Pieces of equipment could be bought from special instrument-makers, but existing household objects – made of metal, glass and ceramics – were put to use too. It meant that experimentation fell within the bounds of sensible household management, and reflecting contemporary values of sustainability and repairability that we would recognise today.
This period – the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries – was known as the Enlightenment. It was a time in which everyone was interested in making new knowledge, testing old ideas and understanding how the world worked. Most importantly, it was a time in which people at all levels of society were engaging in enquiry and experimentation, thus thrift, simplicity and adaptability were key.
In this book, Priestley describes the equipment he used so that others might repeat the experiments, build upon knowledge and discover things for themselves. He was transparent about his processes, warned about some of the difficulty in executing his experiments, but never gatekeeping about how to do so.
He wrote in the preface to this book:
“In this work, as well as in all my other philosophical writings, I have made it a rule not to conceal the real views with which I have made experiments; because though, by following a contrary maxim, I might have acquired a character of greater sagacity, I think that two very good ends are answered by the method that I have adopted. For it both tends to make a narrative of a course of experiments more interesting, and likewise encourages other adventurers in experimental philosophy; shewing them that, by pursuing even false lights, real and important truths may be discovered, and that in seeking one thing we often find another.”
The book includes these two beautiful illustrations of his equipment set up whilst he was working in the Laboratory at Bowood. Though he did order many specialist pieces, his equipment included items such as a beer glass, corks and other reusable items that many people could find in the home.
Considering this book is 250 years old, its condition is great: apart from a delicate front cover, the pages are pristine, with two large diagrams of Priestley’s set up in his Laboratory folding out for viewers to peruse. We are so glad that this book is still here, and that we can look at it in the space in which these experiments took place.
Priestley had Lord Shelburne’s patronage for seven years. During that time, he isolated and identified ammonia, sulphur dioxide, oxygen, nitrous oxide and nitrogen dioxide and published extensively. Priestley wrote that he hoped the world would know the debt scientific advancement owed to Lord Shelburne.
A great start to this was the dedication of this book “with the greatest gratitude and respect” to his friend and patron.
