COURTOIS, BERNARD ET AL. - THE DISCOVERY OF IODINE.

Découverte d'une substance nouvelle dans le Vareck. (Annoncée par M. Clément). - Sur un nouvel acide formé avec la substance découverte par M. Courtois. - Note Sur la combinaison de l'iode avec l'oxigène; Par M. Gay-Lussac. - Lettre de M. Humphry Davy, Sur la nouvelle substance découverte par M. Courtois, dans le sel de Vareck. (4 Papers).

Paris, J. Klostermann, 1813. Contemp. hcalf. Spine gilt. A few scratches to binding. In: "Annales de Chimie, ou Recueil de Mémoires concernant la Chemie" Tome 88. - 336 pp. (the entire volume offered). Pp. 304-310, 311-318, 319-321 a. 322-329. Scattered brownspots.

First printing of this paper announcing the discovery of Iodine. Courtois found this substance, which he suspected to be a new element, while burning algae in order to obtain sodium and potassium compounds. Although Courtois discovered the element in 1811, the announcement of it was not made until two years later after he had turned it over to Charles Desormés and Nicolas Clément.

"The first publication on iodine are somewhat confusing. Courtois's research is found in a paper attributed to him (the paper offered) but actually the work of Clément.... was followed by an anonymous article (the second paper offered). Gay-Lussac. who repeated and extended Courtios's work, was responsible for this paper. Courtois himself published nothing. These two articles were immediately followed by short contributions of Gay-Lussac and Humphry Davy on the new element (third and fourth paper offered). Gay-Lussacs views (none too flattering to Davy) on the history ofthe discovery of iodine appeared in his "Mémoire sur l'iode" (1814)."(DSB III, p. 455). - Weeks "Discovery of the Elements", pp. 257-262.

The volume contains further importent papers in chemistry, Guyton de Morveau "Sur la chaux maigre", "Sur le dissolvant des pierres biliaires", an importent paper by Chevreul on animal fats "Recherches chimiques sur plusieurs corps gras, et particulierement sur leurs combinaisons avec les alcalis", Berzelius's papers "Mémoires sur la compositions des fluides animaux" (first edition in French) + Suite (first edition), Parmentier etc. etc.

Order-nr.: 43081