Letters concerning Electricity; in which the latest Discoveries upon this Subject, and the Consequences which may be deduced from them, are examined.

Mr. Watson, in this translation of the treatise, presents a thorough summary of the Abbe Nollet's most recent work which "…contains 262 pages in 12mo, exclusive of the preface, and four copper plates, representing seventeen figures…" Most of the work appears to be directed towards electricity in the clouds, lightning, thunder and the protection of structures from lightning damage.

The item, first read before the Royal Society on May 17, 1753, is a First Edition, extracted and disbound from The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 48, For the Year 1753, pages 201-216. This volume of the transactions was published in London in 1754. The pages of the paper are tanned, but the text is clear and easily read. The item is in good condition.

The illustrations accompanying this description show the first page and one other page of the paper.

William Watson, FRS (3 April 1715 – 10 May 1787) was an English physician and scientist who was born and died in London. His early work was in botany, and he helped to introduce the work of Carolus Linnaeus into England. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1741 and vice president in 1772. [Wikipedia]

Jean-Antoine Nollet (19 November 1700 – 25 April 1770) was a French clergyman and physicist. As a priest, he was also known as Abbé Nollet. Nollet was particularly interested in the new science of electricity, which he explored with the help of Du Fay and Réaumur. He joined the Royal Society of London in 1734 and later became the first professor of experimental physics at the University of Paris. He is reputed to have given the name to the Leyden jar after it was invented by Pieter van Musschenbroek. [Wikipedia]