GAY-LUSSAC, (JOSEPH). - THE CLASSIC PAPER ON IODINE.

Mémoire sur l'iode. Lu à l'Institut royal, le 1er. août 1814.

Paris, Chez Crochard, 1814. Contemp. hcalf. Spine gilt. Top of spine with wear. A few scratches to binding. In: "Annales de Chimie, ou Recueil de Mémoires concernant la Chemie" Tome 91. - 336 pp. a. 1 engraved plate.(the entire volume offered). Gay-Lussac's paper: pp. 5-160. Some scattered brownspots.

First printing of Gay-Lussac's classic paper on Iodine, (discovered 1811 by J.C. Courtois), in which he showed that the new substance was an element analogous of chlorine and in which he named the substance Iode, from the Greek ioeides, meaning "violet colored".
Gay-Lussac's and Davy's rechearches on iodine were carried out simultaneously, which makes it difficult to assaign priority. Gay-Lussac was annoyed at Davy's introsion. His work, however, is considered as a model of experimental research. (Leicester & Klickstein "A Source Book of Chemistry", p. 293).

"Gay-Lussac's major publication on iodine was not ready to be read to the Institute until August 1814, by which time not only Davy but Vaquelin had explored the subject fairly extensively. Gay-Lussac, however, deserves full credit for his detailled study of hydrogen iodide, which he found to have a 50 percent hydrogen content by volume. He contrasted its thermal decomposition with the stability of hydrogen chloride. By the action of chlorine and iodine, he pepared, independently of Davy and at about the same time, iodine monochloride and trichloride. After further carefull study of the properties of iodine, he prepared and examined a number of iodides and iodates. He prepared for the first time ethyl iodide by distilling together concentrated hydriodic acid with absolute alcohol. The close analogy that he emphasized between chlorine and iodine led him to further investigation of the former, and he discovered chloric acid by the action of sulfuric acid on a solution of barium chlorate."(DSB V, pp. 322-23). - Parkinson "Breakthroughs", 1814 C. - Duveen p. 237.

The volume contains other importent chemical papers, A. Séguin: "Premier-Second Mémoire sur le Quinquina", pp.273-284 a. 304-317 and 3 other papers by him (one together with Lavoisier), by Guyton-Morveau, Payssé, Colin etc.

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