Two sections of willow wood, microscopic images
                                Date
                            
                            
                                12 January 1680
                            
                            
                        
                            
                            
                            
                                Creator
                            
                            
                                Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632 - 1723, Dutch) , Naturalist
                            
                            
                        
                            
                            
                            
                                Object type
                            
                            
                            
                        
                            
                            
                            
                                Archive reference number
                            
                            
                            
                        
                            
                            
                            
                                Manuscript page number
                            
                            
                                p25
                            
                            
                        
                            
                            
                            
                                Material
                            
                            
                            
                        
                            
                            
                            
                                Dimensions
                            
                            
                                height (page): 393mm
width (page): 245mm
                            
                        
                            
                            
                            width (page): 245mm
                                Subject
                            
                            
                            
                        
                            
                            
                            
                                Description
                            
                            
                                Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to Robert Hooke.
Two drawings of the vessels in willow wood. F represents the real size of the object.
From his letter Leeuwenhoek seems to assume that he has drawn the figures in red chalk himself.
                            
                            
                        
                            
                            
                            Two drawings of the vessels in willow wood. F represents the real size of the object.
From his letter Leeuwenhoek seems to assume that he has drawn the figures in red chalk himself.
                                Transcription
                            
                            
                                WIlligen Hout
Transcribed by the Making Visible project
                            
                        
                            
                            
                            Transcribed by the Making Visible project
                                Object history
                            
                            
                                'Though not at all a great draughtsman, I have put the aspect of the wood to paper in red chalk to the best of my ability. I had a copy made in black chalk by another man, but when I tried to print it, I made the paper a little too wet and thus mostly spoiled it. Though the copy was very accurate, I yet send you enclosed my red-chalk drawing, because the little vessels figured' (Alle de brieven van Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, ed. by a committee of Dutch scientists, 17 vols [ongoing] (Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger, 1939- ), III (1948), 144-87 (letter 54) (p. 165)).
Microscopic observation of several wood barks, in Antoni Leeuwenhoek, ‘Several woods and their vessels’, Phil. Trans. vol. 13, no. 148 (June 1683), pp. 197-208, refs to figures throughout.
The entire letter with all the images was also printed in Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Ontledingen en Ontdekkingen, van het Eyken, Olm, Boeken, Willegen, Elsen, Mauritius-Ebben, Palmen-hout, ende stroo. Van de Dierkens in de Hommen van Baars, Braassem, Voorn ende Zeelt (Leiden: Cornelis Boutesteyn, 1686), pp. 17-32.
                            
                        
                            
                            
                            Microscopic observation of several wood barks, in Antoni Leeuwenhoek, ‘Several woods and their vessels’, Phil. Trans. vol. 13, no. 148 (June 1683), pp. 197-208, refs to figures throughout.
The entire letter with all the images was also printed in Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Ontledingen en Ontdekkingen, van het Eyken, Olm, Boeken, Willegen, Elsen, Mauritius-Ebben, Palmen-hout, ende stroo. Van de Dierkens in de Hommen van Baars, Braassem, Voorn ende Zeelt (Leiden: Cornelis Boutesteyn, 1686), pp. 17-32.
                                Related fellows
                            
                            
                                Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632 - 1723, Dutch) , Naturalist
Robert Hooke (1635 - 1703, British) , Natural philosopher
Martin Lister (1639 - 1712, British) , Physician
Henry Oldenburg (1612 - 1677, German) , Scientific correspondent
Robert Hooke (1635 - 1703, British) , Natural Philosopher
                            
                        
                            
                            
                            Robert Hooke (1635 - 1703, British) , Natural philosopher
Martin Lister (1639 - 1712, British) , Physician
Henry Oldenburg (1612 - 1677, German) , Scientific correspondent
Robert Hooke (1635 - 1703, British) , Natural Philosopher
                                Associated place