From Alchemy to Chemistry:
Five Hundred Years of Rare and Interesting Books

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Rare Book Room Exhibit


MARCET, JANE (1769 - 1858). Conversations on Chemistry. 2nd American Edition. Hartford, Conn., 1809.

In 1799 Jane Hallimand married the Swiss chemist Alexander Marcet. She wrote the very popular Conversations on Chemistry which first appeared anonymously, her name being given first in the 13th ed. (1837). There were many American editions and by 1853 more than 160,000 copies were sold there. The book first interested Faraday in chemistry when he was binding a copy in his early days as a bookbinder's apprentice. In it two young ladies carry on conversations and perform experiments with 'Mrs. B.' It is notable that there is no account of Dalton's atomic theory in the Conversations on Chemistry; this perhaps was a reflection of Davy's prejudice against it.

Partington III, p708.


Small - 253 KB
Large - 895 KB

Small - 543 KB
Large - 817 KB

buttonbar.jpg (5301 bytes)