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Rare Books

Rare book: The Electric Telegraph Popularised by Dionysius Lardner

Published in this edition in 1855, The Electric Telegraph Popularised is a work of popular science by the Irish scientific writer Dionysius Lardner. At this time the telegraph had only recently come into widespread use and it was less than... Continue Reading →

Rare book: Opera omnia, in unum proxime post illius mortem collecta : Accessit index locupletissimus by Girolamo Fracastoro

Opera Omnia is the collected works, published posthumously in 1574, of the Italian poet and scientist Girolamo Fracastoro. The book is part of the collection of Silvanus P. Thompson purchased in 1917 by the IET. Thompson was an avid collector... Continue Reading →

Rare books: Geometria and Opera philosophica by René Descartes

This is a guest blog on René Descartes and some of his works we hold by A-Level student Phoebe Carnell who joined us for her work experience in the IET Library and Archives. Opera philosophica, 1685. A collection of 3... Continue Reading →

Rare books: Recherches Physiques sur le Feu and Recherches Physiques sur L’Électricité

The IET Library holds two books by the physician, politician, revolutionary and scientist Jean-Paul Marat. Recherches Physiques sur le Feu (1780) and Recherches Physiques sur L'Électricité (1782) are part of the collection of Silvanus P. Thompson purchased in 1917 by... Continue Reading →

‘The science of the judgments of the stars’: an early manuscript from the IET’s rare book collection

By Anne Locker, Library and Archives Manager The Hand List of the Library of Magnetic and Electrical Books in the Possession of Silvanus Phillips Thompson is the earliest record we have of the S P Thompson Library, acquired by the... Continue Reading →

Thunder and lightning

By Anne Locker What connects meteorology, the siege of Paris and the first air mail deliveries? A book in the IET Library’s S P Thompson Study Collection, Thunder and Lightning by Wilfrid de Fonvielle. Thunder and Lightning (1868) The original... Continue Reading →

Rare book: Isolario

Isolario, Book of Islands, is the best-known work of Venetian cartographer and miniaturist Benedetto Bordone. It was originally printed in Venice in 1528 by Nicolo Zappino, but the edition held by the IET is from a later printing in 1534.... Continue Reading →

Methodus Geometrica – a real work of art

With the arts gaining importance in the teaching of STEM subjects (now abbreviated to STEAM) it is prudent to remember that historically visual art worked alongside and complimented many scientific compositions. The teaching of the arts in STEM subjects has... Continue Reading →

Rare book: Recueil de curiositez rares et nouvelles des plus admirables effets de la nature et de l’art

The image above is from the title page of Recueil de curiositez rares et nouvelles des plus admirables effets de la nature et de l’art published in 1685. It was published in English as Modern curiosities of art and nature.... Continue Reading →

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