Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 54 9 Dec 2020
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Commemorative Medals, The Royal Institution, The Highly Important Member's silver ticket or pass named to Sir Humphry Davy round silver ticket or pass, to Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829), chemist and inventor, ROYAL INSTITUTION 1819, rev. naming in engraved italics in 3 lines, Sir H. Davy, Bart. LL.D F.R.S. (Lond.) F.R.S. (Edin). M.R.S.A., 32mm (Withers 2680), very fine
*ex A. H. Baldwin vault
Humphry Davy is perhaps best remembered for his discovery of 'laughing gas' and for the miner's safety lamp but his discoveries were multitude. For much of his early career in London he worked as an assistant to Michael Faraday. He was born in Cornwall and worked in Bristol before moving to London in 1801 to work at the Royal Institution as Assistant Lecturer, being promoted to Professor of Chemistry the following year. His positions at the Institution included Director of the Laboratory, 1801-1825; Professor of Chemistry, 1802-1812 (a post he retired from following his marriage to Jane Apreece, a wealthy widow); Honorary Professor, 1813-1823. In 1812 Davy was knighted, the first person to be knighted by the Prince Regent, and was made a baronet in January 1819. He was a short-lived President of the Royal Society. Whilst at the Institution his achievements included the isolation of potassium and sodium (1807); the isolation of barium and calcium, the isolation of strontium and the discovery of magnesium (1808); the discovery of boron (1809); and the declaration of chlorine as an element rather than a compound (1810). He worked again with Faraday on the miner's safety lamp (1815) – it was in use early in 1816. In the 1820s he advised the Admiralty on protection of ships' bottoms and on improving optical glass. He died in Geneva whilst touring the Continent.
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (located at 21 Albermarle Street, London), was founded in March 1799 in a meeting instigated by Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count von Rumford, and held by the leading British scientists of the age at the Soho Square house of the President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks. It was to be an organization devoted to the "diffusing the knowledge, and facilitating the general introduction, of useful mechanical inventions and improvements; and for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life". Simply put, the aim of the Institution was to introduce new technologies and expand and facilitate scientific education and research for the benefit of the general public. George Finch, Earl of Winchilsea, was elected President in June and it was through his influence with King George III that the Institution received its Royal Charter in 1800. In 1810 the Royal Institution was converted from a private organisation owned by a small number of Proprietors to a public institution by an Act of Parliament.
(500-800 GBP)
*ex A. H. Baldwin vault
Humphry Davy is perhaps best remembered for his discovery of 'laughing gas' and for the miner's safety lamp but his discoveries were multitude. For much of his early career in London he worked as an assistant to Michael Faraday. He was born in Cornwall and worked in Bristol before moving to London in 1801 to work at the Royal Institution as Assistant Lecturer, being promoted to Professor of Chemistry the following year. His positions at the Institution included Director of the Laboratory, 1801-1825; Professor of Chemistry, 1802-1812 (a post he retired from following his marriage to Jane Apreece, a wealthy widow); Honorary Professor, 1813-1823. In 1812 Davy was knighted, the first person to be knighted by the Prince Regent, and was made a baronet in January 1819. He was a short-lived President of the Royal Society. Whilst at the Institution his achievements included the isolation of potassium and sodium (1807); the isolation of barium and calcium, the isolation of strontium and the discovery of magnesium (1808); the discovery of boron (1809); and the declaration of chlorine as an element rather than a compound (1810). He worked again with Faraday on the miner's safety lamp (1815) – it was in use early in 1816. In the 1820s he advised the Admiralty on protection of ships' bottoms and on improving optical glass. He died in Geneva whilst touring the Continent.
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (located at 21 Albermarle Street, London), was founded in March 1799 in a meeting instigated by Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count von Rumford, and held by the leading British scientists of the age at the Soho Square house of the President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks. It was to be an organization devoted to the "diffusing the knowledge, and facilitating the general introduction, of useful mechanical inventions and improvements; and for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life". Simply put, the aim of the Institution was to introduce new technologies and expand and facilitate scientific education and research for the benefit of the general public. George Finch, Earl of Winchilsea, was elected President in June and it was through his influence with King George III that the Institution received its Royal Charter in 1800. In 1810 the Royal Institution was converted from a private organisation owned by a small number of Proprietors to a public institution by an Act of Parliament.
(500-800 GBP)