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[Diagrams of various electrical phenomena and title page of Experiments and observations on electricity] – Vintage Wall Art

[Diagrams of various electrical phenomena and title page of Experiments and observations on electricity], [published 1774] — antique engraving
[Diagrams of various electrical phenomena and title page of Experiments and observations on electricity], [published 1774]. Antique engraving from the Presidents collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

This antique engraving of [Diagrams of various electrical phenomena and title page of Experiments and observations on electricity] brings a moment of history to your wall. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.

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[Diagrams of various electrical phenomena and title page of Experiments and observations on electricity]

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This engraving pairs a title page with diagrams of electrical experiments, drawn from the 1774 London edition of Benjamin Franklin's Experiments and observations on electricity. Franklin's work had first appeared in English in the 1750s, and by 1774 his account of lightning, Leyden jar charges, and the electrical fluid had made him one of the best-known natural philosophers in Europe. The London printer F. Newbery issued this edition, so the plates reached readers who had no direct access to Franklin's Philadelphia workshop. The figures show apparatus of the kind used in those demonstrations, and they are worth studying for how carefully they set out a method meant to be repeated.

Created / published[published 1774]
Medium1 print : engraving.
GenreScientific illustrations 1770-1780.Title pages 1770-1780.Engravings 1770-1780.
NotesFrontispiece and title page in: Experiments and observations of electricity / Benjamin Franklin. London : Printed for F. Newbery, 1774. Published in: The tradition of science / Leonard C. Bruno. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1987, p. 278.
SubjectsScientific equipment--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--1770-1780. Experiments--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--1770-1780. Electricity--1770-1780.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,002 px · prints to 5 × 3 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-166375

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