Cavallo, Tiberio
A complete treatise of electricity in theory and practice
1777, London, Edward and Charles Dilly
First Edition
First edition of the author's first substantial scientific publication, and one of the most important English-language treatises on electricity of the 18th century, when discoveries about electricity (linked to figures like Franklin and Volta, and to devices such as Leyden jars, lightning rods, and electrometers) were being organized into a clearer, teachable system. Published just two years before his election as Fellow of the Royal Society in 1779, the Treatise established his reputation as the foremost English-language systematizer of electrical knowledge, thanks to its disciplined arrangement of a rapidly expanding field: electricity becoming not only a subject of wonder, but a practical, illustrated, and increasingly standardized science.
The treatise is divided into four parts, reflecting the author's conviction that the science could be presented with full rigour only by separating established fact from hypothesis, and both from practical instruction. Part I, "Fundamental Laws of Electricity," treats basic terminology, electrics and conductors, positive and negative electricity, methods of excitation, communicated electricity, the Leyden phial, atmospheric electricity, practical advantages, and a summary of principal properties. Part II, "Theory of Electricity," is expressly hypothetical, with the preface noting that this section relates "not to facts, but to opinions" and that the "great improbability of most of these hypotheses" kept it brief. Part III, "Practical Electricity," covers apparatus, machine design, components, experimental setup, attraction and repulsion, electric light, the Leyden phial, charged electrics, lightning conductors, the electrical battery, and further properties of the Leyden phial. Part IV, "New Experiments in Electricity," presents the author's contributions: the electrical kite and kite experiments, atmospheric and rain electrometers, the electrophorus, a machine for producing perpetual electricity, experiments on colours, and promiscuous experiments. The introduction traces the history from Theophrastus and amber through William Gilbert (hailed as the father of the science), Boyle, Otto von Guericke, Newton, Hawkesbee, and Stephen Grey, whose rediscovery marks the "true flourishing era." The three folding copperplates, engraved by John Lodge after drawings by T. Conde, depict machines, Leyden jars, electrometers, conductors, kite apparatus, and related instruments. The work went through three further editions in the author's lifetime, the second in 1782 and the third in three volumes between 1786 and 1795, each substantially enlarged, and remained a standard reference for both neophytes and advanced experimenters.
Cavallo's treatise tames electricity's chaos into elegant order, complete with gleaming instruments and bold ideas: Enlightenment curiosity wired into a beautifully teachable form - for the first time.
Pp. [1] f.e., xvi, viii, 412 [4], III folded plates
Contemporary light blue boards, with slight signs of wear. Uncut, very light foxing at limited leaves. Pp. 41-48 omitted in pagination, as customary. In excellent condition.
Dimensions (inches): 9 x 6 x 1 1/2
Tiberio Cavallo (1749-1809) was a Neapolitan-born physicist known for work on electrostatic instruments. He emigrated to London in 1771 intending to pursue banking and commerce, but soon abandoned mercantile life entirely for experimental natural philosophy.
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