Documents

Correspondents

The correspondence of Giovanni Battista Amici makes up a sizeable part of the Fondo Amici of the Estense Library of Modena. There are about 3,900 letters from more than 1,000 correspondents. To this must be added draft copies which Amici carefully kept of his own letters, thus allowing us in most cases to reconstruct exhaustively the exchange even when the originals cannot be located. As for the reliability of the documents, each time a comparison has been possible the draft copies have been in essential conformity with the letters sent.

What follows is a partial list of some of Amici’s correspondents with some information about each.

More detailed information can be found in A. Meschiari, Le carte del “Fondo Giovanni Battista Amici” e della “Raccolta Amici Grossi” nella Biblioteca Estense di Modena < The papers of the “Giovanni Battista Amici Fund” and of the “Amici Grossi Collection” in the Estense Library in Modena >, “Nuncius”, 1-2001.

Airy George Biddel (English Astronomer)
Aldini Giovanni (Professor of Physics at the University of Bologna)
Alessandrini Antonio (Professor of Comparative Anatomy at the University of Bologna)
Antinori Vincenzo (Director of the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History, Florence)
Antonelli Giovanni (Director of the Ximeniano Observatory, Florence)
Arago François (French physicist, astronomer and mathematician)
Araldi Michele (Physiologist and Mathematician of Modena, Secretary of the National Institute)
Letters from correspondents Arcangeli Carlo (Professor of Physiology and General Pathology of the University of Pisa)
Assalini Paolo (Physician and Surgeon, Napoli)
Babbage Charles (English Mathematician)
Baccelli Liberato (Professor of Experimental Physics, Bologna)
Balsamo Crivelli Giuseppe (Botanist and Zoologist, Pavia)
Bandieri Bonaventura (Machinist for the Royal House of Naples)
Barbieri Paolo (Professor of the High School and Director of the Botanical Gardens, Mantova)
Bardi Girolamo (Director of the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History, Florence)
Bassi Agostino (Naturalist and Biologist, Lodi)
Bassi Carlo (Milan patrician, naturalist and philanthropist)
Bellani Angelo (Physicist and Chemist. One of “i Quaranta”, as the forty most important members of the Italian Society of Sciences were called)
Belli Giuseppe (Professor of Physics, Milan and Pavia. One of “i Quaranta”)
Bertoloni Antonio (Professor of Botany, Bologna)
Bianchi Giuseppe (Astronomer, Director of the Observatory of Modena)
Biela Wilhelm von (Bohemian noble, captain, astronomer)
Biot Jean-Baptiste (French Physicist, Chemist, Mathematician and Astronomer)
Bonaparte Luigi Luciano (Prince of Canino and Musignano)
Bonelli Franco Andrea (Director of the Natural History Museum of Turin)
Bourgogne Joseph (Preparer of microscopic test-objects, Paris)
Brébisson Louis Alphonse de (French Naturalist)
Brongniart Adolphe (French Botanist and Geologist)
Bufalini Maurizio (Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital, Florence)
Buron (French Optician, Paris)
Signature of Edmund Hartnack Cacciatore Niccolò (Astronomer, Director of the Observatory of Palermo)
Calamai Luigi (Wax Modeller for the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History, Florence)
Capocci Ernesto (Director of the Astronomic Observatory, Capodimonte)
Carlini Francesco (Astronomer from Brera)
Cassiani Ingoni Giovanni Battista (Professor of Physics, Parma)
Caturegli Pietro (Director of the Astronomical Observatory, Bologna)
Cesaris Angelo Giovanni (Astronomer from Brera)
Chevalier Vincent e Charles (French Opticians, Paris)
Chiotti Filippo (Secretary of the Internal Minister of the Italian Reign)
Ciccolini Lodovico (Professor of Astronomy, Bologna)
Cooper Edward (Irish Astronomer)
Corridi Filippo (Professor of Arithmetic and Geometry at the University of Pisa)
Cuthbert John (English Optician, London)
Portrait of George Biddel Airy De Filippi Filippo (Director of the Zoological Museum, Turin)
De Jussieu Adrien (French Botanist, member of the Institute)
De la Rive Auguste (Genevan Physicist, Director of the “Bibliothèque Universelle”)
De Notaris Giuseppe (Professor of Botany and Director of the Botanical Gardens of Genoa)
Della Rovere Vittorio (Jesuit, Professor at the S. Rocco College, Parma)
Demidoff Anatolij (Prince, son of the Russian Ambassador Nikolaj)
Donati Giovanni Battista (Astronomer, Amici’s assistant at the Royal Museum, Florence)
Donders Frans Cornelis (Dutch Physiologist and Ophthalmologist, Utrecht)
Du Bois-Reymond Emile (German Physiologist, Berlin)
Duboscq Jules (French optician, student of and successor to Soleil, Paris)
Ehrenberg Christian Gottfried (German Physician, Naturalist and Micrographer, Berlin)
Ellis John Alexander (English Philologist and Mathematician)
Faraday Michael (English Chemist and Physicist, London)
Feil Charles (Producer of optical glass, successor to Guinand, Paris)
Fizeau Armand Hippolyte Louis (French Physicist, Paris)
Fossombroni Vittorio (Mathematician, Economist, Engineer and Statesman)
Fraunhofer Joseph (German Optician and Physicist, Munich)
Gabbrielli Salvadore (Physician and Professor at the University of Siena)
Gaddi Paolo (Professor of General and Descriptive Anatomy at the University of Modena)
Signature of J.F.W. Herschel Gasparrini Guglielmo (Professor of Botany, Naples and Pavia)
Giorgini Gaetano (Professor of Mathematics, Pisa, Hydraulic Engineer and Statesman)
Gould Benjamin Apthorp (American Astronomer)
Govi Gilberto (Physics Professor at the Universities of Florence, Turin and Naples)
Guinand (Producers of Optical Glass, Brenets and Paris)
Harting Pieter (Professor of Microscopic Anatomy and Vegetable Physiology at the University of Utrecht)
Hartnack Edmund (German Physicist and Optician, successor to Oberhaeuser, Paris)
Herschel John Frederik William (English Physicist and Astronomer)
Hofmeister Wilhelm (German Botanist, Leipzig)
Horner Johann Kaspar (Swiss Astronomer)
Inghirami Giovanni (Director of the Ximeniano Observatory, Florence)
Lambl Wilhelm Dusan (Bohemian Physician, Prague)
Letters from correspondents Lambruschini Raffaello (Pedagogue, Priest, Agronomist)
Le Baillif Alexandre C. M. (French Physicist)
Lehmann Karl Gotthelf (Professor of Physiological Chemistry, Leipzig)
Lenoir George André (Chemist and Producer of scientific instruments, Vienna)
Lerebours Nicolas Marie Paymal (French Optician, Paris)
Lister Joseph Jackson (English Optician)
Littrow Karl Ludwig von (Director of the Astronomical Observatory, Vienna)
Lombardi Antonio (Librarian of the Estense Library and Secretary of the Italian Society of Sciences)
Manganotti Antonio (Pharmacist and Professor of Natural Sciences, Verona)
Matteucci Carlo (Physicist, Physiologist, Chemist, Professor and Minister)
Melloni Macedonio (Physicist, Professor at the University of Parma, political exile)
Minghetti Marco (Statesman, related to Amici)
Mirbel Charles-François Brisseau (French Botanist at the Jardin du Roi, Paris)
Mohl Hugo (Professor of Botany at the University of Tübingen)
Montagne Jean François Camille (French Botanist, Paris)
Monticelli Teodoro (Abbé and Naturalist, Secretary of the Academy of Sciences of Naples)
Signature of Jan Evangelista Purkyne Moscati Pietro (Count, Physician, Senator and Minister, Milan)
Mossotti Ottaviano Fabrizio (Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Pisa)
Nachet Camille Sébastien (French Optician)
Nobili Leopoldo (Physicist, Professor at the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History of Florence)
Oberhaeuser Georges (German Mechanic and Optician, Paris)
Oken Lorenz (Swiss Naturalist and Philosopher of Nature, Zurich)
Orioli Francesco (Professor of Physics at the University of Bologna)
Pacini Filippo (Professor of Topographic and Microscopic Anatomy, Florence and Pisa)
Pacinotti Luigi (Professor of Physics and Experimental Mechanics at the University of Pisa)
Palermo Francesco (Palatino Librarian and son in law of Amici)
Panizza Bartolomeo (Professor of Anatomy at the University of Pavia)
Parlatore Filippo (Professor of Botany and Vegetable Physiology at the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History, Florence)
1827 letter addressed to Amici in London Pasini Lodovico (Geologist, Secretary of the Institute of Sciences, Letters and Arts, Venice )
Passerini Carlo (Curator at the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History, Florence)
Piazzi Giuseppe (Astronomer, Palermo and Naples)
Pictet Marc-Auguste (Physicist and Genevan political figure)
Plana Giovanni (Professor of Mathematics and Astronomer, Director Observatory of Turin)
Porro Ignazio (Major in the Military Engineers)
Purkyne Johannes Evangelista (Professor of Physiology, Prague)
Quetelet Adolphe (Statistician and Astronomer, Director of the Observatory of Brussels)
Ramirez di Montalvo Antonio (President of the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence)
Rangoni Luigi (Minister of Economy and Public Education, Modena and President of the Italian Society of Sciences)
Regnoli Giorgio (Professor of the Surgical Clinic at the University of Pisa)
Ricasoli Bettino (Baron, landowner and Statesman)
Riccardi Geminiano (Professor of Mathematics in Modena and Secretary of the Academy of the Sciences)
Ridolfi Cosimo (Marquis, Professor of Agricultural Sciences and political figure)
Robinson Thomas Romney (Irish Physicist and Astronomer, Director of the Observatory of Armagh)
Ruffini Paolo (Mathematician, Rector of the University of Modena)
Rutherfurd Lewis Morris (American Astronomer, New York)
Sacco Luigi (Physician, promoter of the Jenner vaccine, Milan)
Signature of W.H.Fox Talbot Salvagnoli Antonio (Medical Inspector of the Tuscan Maremma Regions, Empoli)
Santini Giovanni (Astronomer, Director of the Observatory of Padua)
Savi Gaetano (Professor of Botany at the University of Pisa and Director of the Botanical Gardens)
Savi Paolo (Son of Gaetano, Professor of Natural History at the University of Pisa)
Savi Pietro (Brother of Paolo, Professor of Botany at the University of Pisa)
Scaccia Girolamo (Architect and Chief Engineer of the Pope)
Schleiden Mathias Jakob (German Botanist, Professor in Jena)
Schouw Joachim Frederik (Professor of Botany at the University of Copenhagen)
Secchi Angelo (Astronomer, Director of the Observatory of the Collegio Romano)
Senarmont Henri de (Director of Studies at the École Nationale des Mines, Paris)
Smyth William Henry (English Captain, Foreign Secretary of the Astronomical Society of London)
Soleil Jean Baptiste François (French instrument maker)
Somerville Mary (Writer of Science, Physics, Astronomy matters)
Spandri Gaetano (Physicist, Astronomer and Meteorologist, Verona)
Portrait of Angelo Secchi Taddei Gioacchino (Chemistry Professor at the S.M.N. Hospital, Florence)
Talbot William Henry Fox (English Physicist, Chemist and Mathematician, photography pioneer)
Targioni Tozzetti Antonio (Professor of Botany, Medicine and Chemistry at the S.M.N. Hospital, Florence)
Tenore Michele (Professor of Botany and Director of the Botanical Gardens of Naples)
Tomaselli Giovanni Battista (Abbé and Professor of Physics at the University of Modena)
Topping Charles Morgan (Preparer of microscopic test-objects, London)
Tortolini Barnaba (Mathematician, founder of the “Annali di scienze matematiche e fisiche”)
Trotti Giovanni Battista (Barnabite Priest, Professor of Mathematics and Physics, Bologna)
Vaccari Luigi (Minister of the Interior for the Italian Reign, Milan)
Valz Benjamin (French Astronomer, Director of the Observatory of Marseilles)
Vieusseux Giovanni Pietro (Director of the Gabinetto scientifico letterario, Florence)
Visconti Ferdinando (Colonel, Director of the Royal Topographic Office of Naples)
Leather briefcase which probably belonged to Amici Vlacovic Paolo (Professor of Anatomy at the University of Padua)
Volpicelli Paolo (Professor of Physics in Rome and Secretary of the Academy of the Lincei)
Vorsselman de Heer Pieter Otto Coenraad (Dutch Physicist)
Webb Philippe Barker (English Botanist, Paris)
Zach Franz Xaver von (Baron, Astronomer of Gotha)
Zantedeschi Francesco (Abbé and Professor of Physics, Venice and Padua)
Zuccari Federigo (Director of the Astronomical Observatory of S. Gaudioso, Naples)

Published Correspondence

Saverio Scolari, Lettere d’illustri italiani per la prima volta pubblicate, Nistri, Pisa 1877 (letter of Giovanni Battista Amici to Gaetano Savi of 10 Decembre 1833); Carlo Bonacini, La fondazione dell’Osservatorio di Modena attraverso al carteggio di Giambattista Amici, in Nel Primo Centenario dalla fondazione dell’Osservatorio 1827-1927, Modena 1927; Gino Arrighi, Lettere di G. B. Amici nelle Biblioteche di Forlì e di Lugo, “Physis”, 1-1965; Clelia Pighetti , Di alcune lettere di Giovambattista Amici, “Atti della Fondazione Giorgio Ronchi”, 1-1970; Clelia Pighetti Bonati, Di alcune lettere di Giambattista Amici - II, “Atti della Fondazione Giorgio Ronchi”, 6-1973; Pericle Di Pietro, Due lettere inedite di G.B. Amici, (to Spada Pelagi Adele and to G. Bardi), “Atti e Memorie della Deputazione di Storia patria per le antiche Province modenesi”, Series XI, vol. XII-1990; Macedonio Melloni, Carteggio (1819-1854), ed. Edvige Schettino, “Archivio della Corrispondenza degli Scienziati Italiani” (n.10), Olschki, Florence 1994; Ferdinando Visconti, Carteggio (1818-1847), ed. Vladimiro Valerio, “Archivio della Corrispondenza degli Scienziati Italiani” (n.12), Olschki, Florence 1995; Romano Gatto, Il cannocchiale Amici dell’Osservatorio astronomico di Capodimonte e la corrispondenza Amici-Zuccari, “Nuncius”, 2-1996; Alberto Meschiari, Corrispondenza di G. B. Amici con A. von Humboldt, L. Oken, M. Faraday, E. du Bois-Reymond, “Atti della Fondazione Giorgio Ronchi”, 4-1997; Id., Corrispondenza di G. B. Amici con scienziati europei (letters < some only partial> with J. Fraunhofer, O. F. Mossotti, J. F. W. Herschel, J. E. Purkyne, H. Mohl, M. J. Schleiden, W. Hofmeister), “Giornale critico della filosofia italiana”, Sept.-Dec. 1997; Id., Corrispondenza di G. B. Amici con Giuseppe Bianchi, Leopoldo Nobili, Enrico e Macedonio Melloni, “Atti della Fondazione Giorgio Ronchi”, 6-1998; Id., Corrispondenza di G. B. Amici con Carlo Matteucci e Angelo Secchi, “Nuncius”, 1-1999; Id., Corrispondenza di G. B. Amici con Ottaviano Fabrizio Mossotti, “Atti della Fondazione Giorgio Ronchi”, 5-1999; Id., Corrispondenza di G. B. Amici con Giovanni Plana, “Nuncius”, 1-2000; Id., Corrispondenza di G. B. Amici con ottici e meccanici (Buron, Chevalier, Duboscq, Ertel, Fraunhofer, Guinand e Feil, Hartnack, Lerebours, Merz, Nachet, Oberhaeuser), “Atti della Fondazione Giorgio Ronchi”, 4/5-2000; Id., Esperienze sulla forza visiva fatte nel 1847 e corrispondenza e appunti sui test-objects, “Atti della Fondazione Giorgio Ronchi”, 2-2001; Id., Corrispondenza di Giovanni Battista Amici con Francesco Carlini, publication of the Istituto di Fisica generale applicata at the University of Milan, 2001; Id., Fisici e astronomi nella Corrispondenza di Giovanni Battista Amici. Sul circolo di riflessione a prismi nella spedizione antartica di James Clark Ross, “Atti del XX Congresso nazionale di Storia della Fisica e dell’Astronomia”, CUEN, Naples 2001; Id., Corrispondenza di Giovanni Battista Amici con Franz Xaver von Zach, “Nuncius”, 1-2002; Id., Microscopi Amici ritrovati. I microscopi di Bettino Ricasoli, Antonio Targioni Tozzetti, Filippo Pacini e corrispondenza, “Atti della Fondazione Giorgio Ronchi”, 6-2002; Id., Giovanni Battista Amici e il Reale Officio Topografico di Napoli. Corrispondenza con i Colonnelli Visconti, de Sauget, Melorio, “Physis”, 1-2002; Id., Corrispondenza di Giovanni Battista Amici con William Henry Fox Talbot, “Nuncius”, 1-2003.