ROMAS, (JACQUES) DE. - INVENTING THE ELECTRICAL KITE BEFORE FRANKLIN ?

Mémoire, ou aprés donné un moyen aisé pour élever fort haut, & à peu de frais, un corps Electrisable isolé, on rapporte des observations frappantes, qui provent que plus le corps isolé est élevé au dessus de la terre, plus le feu de l'Électricitè est abondant.

(Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1755). 4to. Extract from "Mémoires fe Mathematique et de Physique, Présentés à l'Academie des Sciences par divers Savans", Tome II. Pp. 393-407. With titlepage to vol. II. Clean and fine.

Firs appearance of the paper in which De Romas describes his invention of the electrical kite.

"De Romas, who independently of Franklin hit on the electrical kite, seems to have proposed an experiment much like that of Marly in 1750 or 1751. He fiercely defended his independence against Priestly's insinuation that he merely improved upon Franklin's demonstrations...In fact de Romas drew his inspiration from the Bordeaux prize question of 1749 which, in turn, derived from Nollet's speculations."(Heilbron "Electricity in the 17th and 18th Centuries", p. 351).

Order-nr.: 45002