Anthony Panizzi to Faraday   1 February 1856

British Museum | Feby 1st. 1856

My Dear Sir

I am directed by the Trustees of the British Museum to request that you will be so good as to assist their architect, Mr. Smirke, in choosing the best substratum on which to lay the gold which is to be applied to ribs, mouldings and other parts of the cupola over the new Reading Room.

The Trustees would also feel obliged if you would mention to Mr Smirke the quality of gold-leaf which in your opinion ought to be preferred and the thickness of metal which would be desirable so that the gilding might be finished in a superior and lasting manner1.

Believe me, My Dear Sir, | Yours faithfully | A. Panizzi

Professor Faraday | &c &c &c

1
This seems to have been the initial stimulus for Faraday’s extensive experimentation on the transmission of light through gold which he began the following day. Faraday, Diary,2 February 1856, 7: 14243-90. See James (1985), 152-4, Tweney (2002, 2006) and Tweney et al.(2002, 2005).

Bibliography

JAMES, Frank A.J.L. (1985): “'The Optical Mode of Investigation': Light and Matter in Faraday's Natural Philosophy” in Gooding and James (1985), 137-61.

Please cite as “Faraday3082,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday3082