Mr l’abbé Moigno 2 rue d’Erfurt, Eglise St. Germain des Prés. Demande du cliché inséré dans le Philosophical Magazine.
Mon cher Mr Tyndall
J’espère que vous avez reçu les livraisons de ma nouvelle Revue Les Mondes, et que vous en êtes satisfait. J’espère aussi que vous aurez bien voulu lire mon prologue et que cette lecture vous aura rendu favorable à ma cause. Le bon droit était de mon côté et je crois pouvoir compter sur la sympathie de tous. Au Cosmos j’étais esclave, dans Les Mondes je serai roi. Dans le Cosmos je n’avais pas de place, j’en aurai beaucoup dans Les Mondes. Vous pouvez donc compter que je me ferai bien mieux encore l’écho de vos admirables découvertes et de vos 10 belles leçons. Ma traduction de la fameuse leçon sur La Force a eu un succès immense. Que sera-ce dans Les Mondes. La prochaine livraison contiendrait le résumé de votre dernière leçon, si je ne croyais pas nécessaire de le montrer plus haut et je viens vous en demander les moyens. Ne pourriez vous pas obtenir pour moi de la direction du Philosophical Magazine un exemplaire du bois ou du cliché qui représente la mise en expérience de vos recherches sur la radiation à travers les gaz. Je ferais bien graver cette planche, mais cela couterait très cher, et au début d’un nouveau journal on est bien pauvre. J’ai demandé le même bienfait à Mr Miller pour les figures de la lecture sur l’analyse spectrale, et il me l’a accordée. Ma traduction de son mémoire a fait beaucoup de bruit. Vous ne me refuserez pas non plus le bon vu cliché que j’attends avec impatience pour vous consacrer de longues pages, et de belles pages.
Rappelez au souvenir de l’illustre Faraday et de tous mes amis la pauvre victime de la science dont le zèle n’est nullement ralenti, qui se sent plus jeune que jamais, et qui va commencer une nouvelle et grande campagne à la gloire de la science et des savants. Faites pour moi je vous en conjure un généreux apostolat, obtenez qu’on me suive dans mon nouveau journal, implorez pour moi des abonnements. Je suis déjà très satisfait de la manière dont on répond à mon appel, obtenez aussi que toutes les publications de Royal Institution me parviennent le plus rapidement possibles.
A vous d’estime et d’affection vives et sincères | Votre dévoué serviteur | 6 mars 1863 | 2 rue d’Erfurt l’abbé F. Moigno | Église St. Germain des Prés.
Father Moigno 2 Erfurt Street, Abbey of St.-Germain-des-Prés. A request for the image that appeared in the Philosophical Magazine.
My dear Mr Tyndall,
I hope that you received the deliveries of my new Review Les Mondes,1 and that you are satisfied. I also hope that you would kindly read my prologue,2 and that reading it will convince you to side with me. Legitimacy was on my side and I think that I can count on sympathy from everyone. In the Cosmos I was a slave, in Les Mondes I will be king. In the Cosmos there was no place for me, but in Les Mondes there will be. So you can be sure that I will be better able to disseminate your admirable discoveries and your 10 fine lessons.3 My translation of the famous lesson on Force4 was an immense success. How much better will it be in Les Mondes. The next delivery would contain the summary of your last lesson,5 and if I did not deem it necessary to mention it before, I am now asking you to make it possible. Could you not obtain for me, from the directors of the Philosophical Magazine, a copy of the woodblock or image that represents the experiment of your research on radiation through gases? I would have it engraved myself, but it would be very expensive, and at the start of a new journal one is rather poor. I asked the same favour of Mr Miller6 for the figures of the lecture on spectral analysis7 and he granted it. My translation of his article made quite a stir. Surely you would not refuse me the good image that I am eagerly awaiting in order to dedicate many excellent pages to you.
Remind the illustrious Faraday and all my friends of the poor victim of science, whose zeal has not faded, who feels younger than ever, and who will begin a grand new campaign for the glory of science and scientists. I beseech you to proselytize for me, encourage people to follow my new journal, implore people to subscribe. I am already very satisfied with the responses that my appeal has. Please also ensure that all the publications of the Royal Institution reach me as quickly as possible.
Truly yours with deep and sincere affection and esteem. | Your devoted servant | March 6th 1863 | 2 Erfurt Street Father F. Moigno | Abbey of St.-Germain-des-Prés.
RI MS JT/1/M/105
my new Review Les Mondes: in 1862, Moigno left his post as editor of Cosmos and in 1863 he founded a new journal, Les Mondes.
my prologue: F. N. M. Moigno, ‘Science Pratique et Science Pure’, Les Mondes 1 (1863): pp. 1–7.
your 10 fine lessons: possibly a reference to Tyndall’s series of lectures on heat at the RI in 1862, though Moigno would be incorrect in stating ‘10’ as the series was twelve lectures, which were then published as Heat as a Mode of Motion in 1863 (see letter 1920, n. 4). Indeed, Moigno had some of Tyndall’s work on heat published as J. Tyndall, ‘La chaleur considérée comme une forme de mouvement’, Les Mondes, 3 (1863), pp. 32–42, 66–9, 97–102, 318–24. Moigno’s French translation of the entire book appeared as J. Tyndall, La chaleur considérée come un mode de mouvement, trans. F. Moigno (Paris: Étienne Giraud, 1864).
My translation of the famous lesson on Force: Moigno’s translation of Tyndall’s lecture ‘On Force’, given at the RI on 6 June 1862 (see J. Tyndall, ‘On Force’, Roy. Inst. Proc., 3 (1862), pp. 527–36), appeared as J. Tyndall, ‘Sur la force’, Cosmos, 21 (1862), pp. 245–8.
summary of your last lesson: J. Tyndall, ‘Exposé de quelques recherches sur la chaleur rayonnante’, Les Mondes, 2 (1863), pp. 389–94. This was based on: J. Tyndall, ‘On the Absorption and Radiation of Heat by Gaseous Matter. Second Memoir’, Phil. Trans., 152 (1862), pp. 59–98; and its republication as: J. Tyndall, ‘On the Absorption and Radiation of Heat by Gaseous Matter.—Second Memoir’, Phil. Mag., 24 (1862), pp. 270–87, 337–50, 422–36. The image that Moigno was probably referring to, which showed Tyndall’s experimental apparatus, appeared on p. 91 of the Phil. Trans. and p. 429 of the Phil. Mag.
Mr Miller: William Allen Miller (1817–70), an English chemist and MD who held the chair of Chemistry at King’s College London and was treasurer of the RS from 1861–70 (ODNB).
lecture on spectral analysis: W. A. Miller, ‘On the Photographic Transparency of various Bodies, and on the Photographic Effects of Metallic and other Spectra obtained by means of the Electric Spark’, Phil. Trans., 152 (1862), pp. 861–87. Moigno published a summary of this, without any figures, as W. A. Miller, ‘Découveries récentes relatives au spectre lumineaux’, Les Mondes, 1 (1863), pp. 293–6.
Please cite as “Tyndall1978,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on