Static electricity set

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This travelling static electricity set was made around 1790, probably by W. & S. Jones, scientific instrument makers based in London. Such sets remained popular throughout the 19th century for domestic or public instruction and entertainment.

The pine travelling box contains a Nairne-type glass cylinder electric generator, which is dismantled to fit into it. The handle and brass collectors are packed separately to prevent damage, when the lecturer travelled by coach from town to town. The set comes with a large number of accessories listed on the trade card inside the lid, including a 'thunder house', a 'magic picture' and a 'sett of bells', all of which were affected by electricity.

For the general public, the electrostatic generator produced a variety of spectacular tricks for domestic entertainment, and kits for travelling lecturers were produced from the 1790s by firms such as W. & S. Jones of London, who included them in their price lists: 'An electrical machine, with apparatus for philosophical experiments, packed in a box, the cylinder about 8 inches diameter £8 8s [£8-40]'.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-190-004-744-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  T.1986.L.6
• Date: 1828
  Around 1790
  
• Material: Static electricity set, travelling
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Static electricity set, travelling
  
• Subject:
• Who: W. and S. Jones, London (Maker)
  
• Where: England, London
  
• Event:
• Description: Travelling static electricity set, by W. and S. Jones of London, c. 1790
  
• References:
  • George Adams, Essay on Electricity, London 1799, 2nd edition edited by William Jones. 
  • See W.D. Hackmann, Electricity from Glass: the History of the Frictional Electrical Machine 1600-1850. Alphen aan den Rijn, 1978, pp.132-33. 
  • Trade catalogue for W. & S. Jones, London, 1793, p 6 
• Translations:
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