Scope and Contents
The Sir Charles Blagden Papers contain scientific and travel notes, correspondence, and printed material documenting aspects of the life and scientific work of Sir Charles Blagden. These include observations on travel in England and on the continent in the 1780s; memoranda on scientific experiments and observations, including notes by Lavoisier; letters to his brother, John Blagden Hale; and proof sheets of Philosophical Transactions for 1789.
Dates
- 1616 - 1861
- Majority of material found within 1770 - 1800
Creator
Language of Materials
In English, with a small amount of French and Latin.
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Sir Charles Blagden Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Bequest of James Marshall Osborn, 1976.
Arrangement
Organized into four series. I. Travel Records and Observations, 1772-1788. II. Scientific and Personal Papers, 1616-1861. III. Correspondence, 1785-1799. IV. Documents Related to the Royal Society of London, 1780-1792.
Extent
3.34 Linear Feet (8 boxes)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The Sir Charles Blagden Papers contain scientific and travel notes, correspondence, and printed material documenting aspects of the life and scientific work of Sir Charles Blagden. These include observations on travel in England and on the continent in the 1780s; memoranda on scientific experiments and observations, including notes by Lavoisier; letters to his brother, John Blagden Hale; and proof sheets of Philosophical Transactions for 1789.
Sir Charles Blagden (1748-1820)
Sir Charles Blagden was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1748. He received his M.D. from the University of Edinburgh in 1768. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1772, where he met and became friends with Joseph Banks. After serving as a surgeon in the British Army during the American revolution, Blagden returned to London, where by early 1783 he had become an assistant to the eccentric scientist Henry Cavendish. Blagden assisted Cavendish until 1789, and Cavendish provided him with a life annuity; he later bequeathed Blagden 15,000 pounds.
Blagden was elected one of the secretaries of the Royal Society in 1784, and remained loyal to its president Joseph Banks throughout the many controversies of the following decade. He visited continental Europe annually until the French Revolution and was elected a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences in 1789; his friends included Antoine Lavoisier, Georges Cuvier, and Claude Louis Berthollet.
Blagden was involved in the "water controversy" that began in 1783. This was a dispute among Lavoisier, Cavendish, and James Watt over who was the first to discover that water is a compound; as Cavendish's assistant and secretary of the Royal Society, Blagden played a central role in the still-unsettled contest. The most important of Blagden's own discoveries was published in 1788. His demonstration that the freezing point of a solution decreases in direct proportion to the concentration of the solution is known as "Blagden's law."
Although Blagden courted Lavoisier's widow and Count Rumsford's daughter, among others, he remained unmarried. He died of apoplexy at the home of his friend Berthollet, near Paris, in March of 1820, and was buried in the cemetery of Père Lachaise.
Blagden was elected one of the secretaries of the Royal Society in 1784, and remained loyal to its president Joseph Banks throughout the many controversies of the following decade. He visited continental Europe annually until the French Revolution and was elected a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences in 1789; his friends included Antoine Lavoisier, Georges Cuvier, and Claude Louis Berthollet.
Blagden was involved in the "water controversy" that began in 1783. This was a dispute among Lavoisier, Cavendish, and James Watt over who was the first to discover that water is a compound; as Cavendish's assistant and secretary of the Royal Society, Blagden played a central role in the still-unsettled contest. The most important of Blagden's own discoveries was published in 1788. His demonstration that the freezing point of a solution decreases in direct proportion to the concentration of the solution is known as "Blagden's law."
Although Blagden courted Lavoisier's widow and Count Rumsford's daughter, among others, he remained unmarried. He died of apoplexy at the home of his friend Berthollet, near Paris, in March of 1820, and was buried in the cemetery of Père Lachaise.
Processing Information
This collection was arranged and partially cataloged by library staff in the 1970s. That arrangement has been preserved, and the folder titles appearing in the contents list below are those provided by the staff at that time. Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from a dealer description and from individual catalog cards.
- Banks, Joseph, 1743-1820
- Blagden, Charles, Sir, 1748-1820
- France -- Description and travel
- Great Britain -- Description and travel
- Great Britain -- Intellectual life -- 18th century
- Hale, John Blagden
- Hale, Richard Blagden
- Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent, 1743-1794
- Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
- Roy, William, 1726-1790
- Royal Society (Great Britain)
- Science -- Great Britain
- Science -- Societies, etc.
- Scientists -- Great Britain
- Title
- Guide to the Sir Charles Blagden Papers
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- by Diane J. Ducharme and Olivia Hillmer
- Date
- July 2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.