19th Century Scientific Discoveries

Engravings depict 19th-century figures in scientific settings, showcasing early experiments, bookbinding techniques, and innovations in physics and engineering.

Lyon Playfair, Scottish chemist and politician, 1882. Artist: Anon

Engraving depicting a maid dusting items. Dated 19th century

The process of magnetism Date: 1863

MICHAEL FARADAY

The Rat-Catchers of the Sewers. Rat catchers were vital to keeping down the rat population in the London sewers. The rat catcher is using a candle with a simple wind shield to give him enough light to carry out his work. Engraving from 'London Labour and the London Poor' by Henry Mayhew (London, 1861).

Sometimes known as a GLASS HARMONICA : glasses, filled with liquid to different depths, emit different notes when struck, giving a sound somewhat like a xylophone. Date: 1880

Illustration showing Benjamin FRANKLIN (1706-90), perfecting his experiment to prove the electrical nature of thunderstorms

The tip. The captain sighting the horizon using a sextant. From Travel Diaries, vintage engraving, 1884-85.

An engraving depicting James Watt (1736-1819) experimenting with steam from the tea kettle. Dated 19th century

An apothecary mixing medicines with a pestle and mortar in his laboratory. Date: 1827

The chronographic recording apparatus A night at the observatory, vol. 11, no. 526, p. 56, 1862-01-23. Additional, The Royal Observatory, Greenwich., 1862-01-23. Astronomical instruments, Astronomers, Wood engravings

Chemical laboratory, working desk, illustration from Meyers Lexicon, 1897

Joseph Fraunhofer presents his spectrometer, vintage engraved illustration. From the Universe and Humanity, 1910.

Application of cold to industry. Raoul Pictect system. Cool rom for meat. Chicago (United States). Engraving. La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana (The Spanish and American Illustration), 1883.

JOSEPH MAZZINI IN HIS STUDY AT BROMPTON, 1872 engraving

An anatomist, "Mr Le Professeur C...", dissecting a cadaver laid out on a trestle table, while a seated man looks on. Etching by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1869.

First experiments with tobacco in a village school, historical engraving, 1869

ROBERT KOCH German bacteriologist at work in his laboratory Date: 1843 - 1910

Spain, Madrid. Fire in four buildings in Quintana street (Argu¨elles district), on the night of August 31 August, 1881. Life drawing by Daniel Perea. Engraving by Bernardo Rico (1825-1894). La Ilustracion Espan~ola y Americana, 1881.

Michael Faraday (1791-1867), scientist, lecturing at the Royal Institution, London, on his discoveries in magnetism and light.

Old illustration from the nineteenth century of Adventures of a cricket by Ernest Charles Auguste Candèze (1827-1898) Belgian doctor and entomologist. Old 19th century engraved illustration from El Mundo Ilustrado 1879

Engraving showing the engine room of the of the Pneumatic Letter and Parcel Conveyance, Battersea, London. This was part of an experimental setup to test the design of a pneumatic conveyance tube and related engines over a quarter of a mile of irregular ground. The company's intention was to link London's Post offices and railway stations with a network of underground pneumatic tubes. Date: 1861

Apparatus for the administation of laughing gas (nitrous oxide) developed in England. From 'La Nature', Paris, 1874.

Engraving depicting a stereoscope. A stereoscope is a device for viewing a stereoscopic pair of separate images, depicting left-eye and right-eye views of the same scene, as a single three-dimensional image. Dated 19th Century

Engraving depicting John Wesley (1703-1791) an Anglican cleric, theologian, and co-founder of Methodism, watching an electrical experiment. Dated 18th Century

Engraving depicting Dr Ludolph setting fire to a spoon of alcohol by means of sparks generated by the charge from a glass-globe electrical machine.

A tooth-drawer is extracting a tooth from a tense seated patient, the room is scattered with objects pertaining to academia. Line engraving by A. Kesler after Gianni after G. Dou.

A laboratory as found in Pompeii. Museum of antiquity, 1882. Engraving. Later colouration.

Tarjetón genérico para publicidad de un establecimiento de artículos de óptica y astronomía. Grabado alemán de 1880.

A cartoon commenting on the use of tobacco as a greenhouse fumigant. Dated 19th century

Engraving depicting a portable reading lamp for railway and other travellers. An incandescent bulb was placed in front of a highly polished parabolic reflector and was powered by four accumulator cells contained in a wooden box.

Elisha Gray's telephone, as described in his patent caveat of 14th February 1876. The Speaking Telephone, New York, 1879 .

First article, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1852.

Death in the dissecting room. Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827. Combe, William, 1742-1823. Drawings. 1815 - 1816. Spencer Collection. Dance of Death, Death, Skeletons, Dissections

Illustration depicting an inflatable lifebelt built in three compartments. This particular lifebelt was used by Mr Lloyd to cross the Solent. Dated 19th Century

Medicine, Anatomy, Surgery, A surgeon shows a gentleman his practice, The room contains a human skeleton, decorated figures, rows of glasses and a variety of medical instruments, c. 1700, Historic, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original

Fantasmagorie, page 383. Technical illustrations, Illustrations. 1859. Science, Industry and Business Library: General Collection. Physics, Projectors, Magic tricks, Theater audiences

Encyclopedie. Edited by Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond D'Alembert. Published, 1770. Plate 377. Printing. Presses. Colored.

Illustration of Edison's recording apparatus in use. The apparatus was used for making recordings on a wax disc, showing the clockwork mechanism housed in the stand under the disc. Dated 19th Century

Humphry Davy (1778-1829) English chemist. Artist's impression of Davy testing his miner's safety lamp. From Edwin Hodder 'Heroes of Britain', London c1880. Wood engraving.

Woman using a treadle-powered sewing machine. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1885

Portrait of Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor (1805-1870) a French photographic inventor and photographer. Dated 19th Century

Holzschnitzer, Holzschneider, Mann in seiner Werkstatt, Historisch, digitale Reproduktion einer Originalvorlage aus dem 19. Jahrhundert

A sketch of medical students preparing medicines at St Thomas's Hospital. Date: 1886

Wine tasting of the councilmen, historic wood engraving, about 1897

French Illustration showing production of matches using dangerous and inflammable materials; France 1906

Astronomy: telescopic and photographic equipment, set up to record the shadow of the moon. Wood engraving.

Francis Huber (1750-c1831) the blind Swiss naturalist, studied the habits of bees with the aid of his servant. Here the servant is acting as his employer's eyes and watching the bees. Engraving from 'Scenes of Industry' (London, 1830).

An engraving depicting the making of Indian Ink: made from a lamp-black obtained by burning pine wood, lard and oil, and perfume. The mixture was made into a paste and formed into small blocks. Dated 19th century

Pierre Eugène Marcellin Berthelot (1827-1907) was a French chemist and politician noted for the Thomsen-Berthelot principle of thermochemistry. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1893

Skeleton of Death in a quack doctor's apothecary shop, wearing an apron mixing poison in a mortar and pestle. The workshop decorated with jars, phials, sieve, surgical saw and syringe. Great Allows to Deal in Quack Medicine. Handcoloured wood engraving after an illustration by Thomas Rowlandson from W. H. Harrisons The Humourist, a Companion for the Christmas Fireside, Rudolph Ackermann, 19 Strand, London, 1831.

'The Machinist using the mechanical power of the lever to operate a screw press. Hand-coloured woodcut from ''The Book of English Trades'', London, 1823.'

A geographer by Van der Meer of Delft, vintage engraving. A geographer by Van der Meer of Delft, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1876. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10679812

Mathematician, Jan Gillisz. van Vliet, 1628 - 1637 print A man in a dark study migration writes with a writing spring in a book. An open book and a globe for him. Leiden paper etching / engraving mathematics (+ scholar, scientist (at work)). sphere, globe ~ stereometry. book - MM - book open. quill

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931). American inventor and businessman. Portrait. Watercolor by the Spanish illustrator Francisco Fonollosa (late 20th century).

Watch maker in apron seated at his bench making metal gears. Handcoloured woodcut engraving from The Book of English Trades and Library of the Useful Arts, Phillips, London, 1818.

Museum Wormianum, added illustrated t.-p.. Worm, Ole, 1588-1654. Illustrations, Frontispieces. 1655. Rare Book Division. Natural history, Galleries & museums, Copenhagen (Denmark), Museum Wormianum, Curiosities & wonders, Specimens

Discovery of the principle of the telescope, 17th century (1863). Artist: Unknown

Marquis de Condorcet, eminent scientist and philosopher

Richard Owen (1804-1892) British naturalist, at the age of 52. Coined term 'Dinosaur' (1841). Opposed Darwin and evolution. From 'The Strand Magazine', London, 1891. Engraving

Portrait of Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor (1805-1870) a French photographic inventor and photographer. Dated 19th Century

LAVOISIER, Marie Anne Pierrette (1758-1836). Antoine Lavoisier and his Experiments into Respiration. end 18th c. Facsimile. Engraving.

Paris Mint: Testing weight of gold pieces. Wood engraving 1892

Illustration, astronomy

Acoustics: an electrically-powered ? Edison-type phonograph demonstrated at an exhibition in Paris?. Wood engraving.

Skiopticon image from the Department of Photography at the Royal Institute of Technology. Use by Professor Helmer Bäckström as lecture material. Bäckström was Sweden's first professor in photography at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm 1948-1958.e. Reynaud's projection practices. For more info see: Bäckström, Helmer. Photographic manual. Other revised edition. Nature and Culture. Stockholm. 1948. p. 1254.

'The First Lecture in Experimental Philosophy' A chemist demonstrates his work to colleagues. Date: 1748

Workshop torch, vintage engraving. Workshop torch, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1861. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10678134

Pischijk. A doctor is at work behind a table on which books, including a botanical work. He holds a urinal against the light. Behind him a room screen on which a printed stick (map).

EDISON, Thomas Alva (1847-1931). United States scientist and inventor. Edison at his laboratory. Oil on canvas.

Demonstration of Pernini's planetarium in London, 1880.

Watercolor showing a candle founder creating candles, highlighting tools, molten wax, and figure posture.

Mann mit einer Camera lucida vom Physiker William Hyde Wollaston, ein Zeicheninstrument, im Jahre 1860, Historisch, digital restaurierte Reproduktion ...

An engraving depicting a man using a bulls-eye lamp to read the thermometer on a winter's night. Dated 19th century

A cartoon commenting on vivisection. Charles Darwin wrote a letter to the Times, on 23 June, advocating vivisection. Vivisection is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. Dated 19th century

The French chemist Michel Eugene Chevreul (1786-1889) in his laboratory at the Paris Natural History Museum. France. Europe. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1889

Illustration showing Experiment carried out at Edison laboratory at Orange, under the supervision of Harold P. Brown on the use of electricity to kill a horse, and ultimately as a mode of execution. 1889. The man crouching is about to complete the circuit with a hammer. Horse 590kg was killed by 700 volts after 25 seconds.

John Bennett Lawes, English agriculturalist, 1882. Lawes (1814-1900) began experimental farming on his estate at Rothamstead, Hertfordshire in 1843 founded the now famous Rothamsted Experimental Research Station. He used artificial fertilisers and in 1

'Our Natural Advantages', 1888. Artist: Unknown

An artist's impression of the Benjamin Franklin's (1706-1790) investigation of the electrical nature of lightning in September 1752. Franklin and his assistant are flying a kite in a thunderstorm and Franklin are drawing a spark off the kite string. Dated 19th century

Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) Italian physiologist, c1762. Galvani discovered anmial electricity, voltaic or galvanic electricity, when investigating contraction of muscles in legs of dead frogs as shown in this illustration. From 'Le Journal de la Jeunesse', (Paris, 1880). Engraving.

Harvey demonstrating circulation of the blood to the College of Physicians, c1628. William Harvey (1578-1657), English physician, published his famous 'De motu cordis' ('Anatomical Exercise on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals'), in 1628. In this work he was the first to use scientific method to explain a biological problem. From 'Vies des Savants Illustres', Louis Figuier, (Paris 1870).

'Newton Investigating Light', c1879. Artist: Unknown

Cartoon depicting men commenting on being vaccinated against cowpox. One man claims that the serum was given to him directly from the cow. Dated 19th century

Cartoon created soon after the announcement of Wilhelm Röntgen's discovery of X-rays. Wilhelm Röntgen (1845-1923) a German/Dutch mechanical engineer and physicist. Dated 19th Century

Experimental astronomy about the passage of Venus Claverroom / Madret / Ch. Baude. Experimental astronomy about the passage of Venus. 1816. Press wood.

Print Room of the Imperial Library, The Aumoniere of Den Bosch, vintage engraving. Print Room of the Imperial Library, The Aumoniere of Den Bosch, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1867. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10678329

Engraving depicting a coiled spring mattress, demonstrating its lightness compared with a feather or a feather and spring mattress of a similar size. Its manufactures also recommended it as "it does not harbour vermin or dirt".

Young James Watt (1736-1819)inventor of the steam engine, staring at a steam kettle. Engraving. Nuestro Siglo, 1883. Spanish edition.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) English scientist and mathematician. 'Newton Investigating Light'. Engraving after picture by J A Houston published c1879

The unfortunate! exclaimed Zach Fren, vintage engraved illustration. Jules Verne Mistress Branican, 1891.

Engraving depicting a meteor shower. Dated 19th Century

Portrait of Arnold Marcel, The mathematician, physicist and maker of magnifying glasses Arnold Marcel. He is sitting in his workshop, surrounded by various mathematical instruments, measuring instruments, spectacle maker, optician, Arnold Marcel, Aert Schouman, The Hague (possibly), 1748, paper, h 221 mm × w 179 mm

Woman medical student dissecting the leg of a cadaver at the Medicine College for Women in 1870. The New York Medical College was founded by Elizabeth Blackwell and her physician sister Emily in 1868. Wood engraving from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, April 1870.

Viens voir P'ospér! un monsieur qui prend la foudre avec du verre frotté - ...la science qui fait le tonnerre de Dieu! - O vicissitudes divines! Franklin a tiré Jupiter en bouteille ,. Paul Gavarni (1804-1866). Lithographs and Other Works

Hans Christian Oersted (Copenhagen Rudkobing, 1777-1851). Danish physicist and chemist. Oersted discovers electromagnetism. Colored engraving.

A chemist in a smock and skull cap pouring a liquid from a bottle. The shelf and table contain vials, a mortar, funnels and botanical drawings. The arm of a skeleton reaches down from the upper right corner and embraces the portrait of a young woman, Historic, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original

Double view, experiments performed by Robert Houdin in 1847, France. Europe. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1884

Women of Normandy, France, in a kitchen, 1818. They wear elaborate tall lace headdresses. Handcoloured copperplate engraving from Mary Anne Vennings A Geographical Present being Descriptions of the Principal Countries of the World, Darton, Harvey and Darton, London, 1818. Venning wrote educational books on geography, conchology and mineralogy in the early 19th century.

Anonymous artist depicted a grinder using watercolor, showing the figure, posture, and grinding tool.

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) Naturalist and director of Kew Gardens; depicted here in his office at Kew

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