Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1789 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 folder
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born Gloucestershire 1754; died London 1793
William Austin was a polymath. He initially studied botany at Oxford, graduating in 1776, and then medicine gaining his MD in 1783. However he also studied, and sometimes lectured in Hebrew, Arabic, Mathematics and Chemistry being elected professor in1785. In 1786 he moved from Oxford to London, building a lucrative medical practice while continuing his chemical studies. He was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, published papers for the Royal Society on ‘Heavy inflammable air’ and theorised (incorrectly) on the origin of kidney stones and hardening of the arteries.
Source: DNB
D.W.
Repository
Archival history
Manuscript appears to be part of a paper Austin presented to the Royal Society of London in 1789.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Unknown how it came to be at RBGE. Has been suggested that it may have been sent to Daniel Rutherford?
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Paper on 'Experiments on the Analysis of Heavy Inflammable Air' (1789) published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London in 1780 - (right click, open link in new tab) https://archive.org/details/jstor-106830 - there is a copy of the paper in the packet alongside the handwritten manuscript, possibly written by Austin himself. Manuscript is incomplete, 8 pages along, finishing on page 56 of the article. There is also a copy of Austin's entry in the Dictionary of National Biography in the packet.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/
Conditions governing reproduction
Permission required from RBGE.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
8 handwritten single sided pages, each 130x210mm