Papers on electricity

The records in this grouping are enclosed in covering sheets with a pencilled number of the old group numbering system. They detail Cavendish's experiments with electricity in the rough period 1760-1785 including the development of his general theory of electricity and his work on the torpedo, a type of electric fish. They are written by Cavendish unless otherwise stated. Any page numbers written by Cavendish usually use a capital letter (with some exceptions).

Cavendish was little known in his lifetime for his work in the field of electricity. Subsequent examination of his papers after his death revealed the extent of his researches and theories, including the assertation of Ohm's and Coulomb's Laws. These papers were given to Sir William Snow Harris in early 1850s by William Cavendish, then Earl of Burlington, to discuss whether the electrical research had ever been published and whether they were of benefit to the scientific community. Snow Harris produced an extensive commentary on the papers (held by the Royal Society, MM/16/125). When James Clerk Maxwell edited Cavendish's electrical papers in the 1870s, he quoted from Snow Harris as well as describing the papers himself (pp. xli-xliii of Maxwell, James Clerk, "The Electrical Researches of the Honourable Henry Cavendish F.R.S." (1879; Cambridge, Cambridge University Press)).

Maxwell reviewed and published the manuscripts in the following order:

HY/1/14/2 Index (part of Maxwell's contents)
HY/1/4 Preliminary Propositions
HY/1/5 Appendix to above
HY/1/18 Thoughts concerning electricity
HY/1/17 Notes to above
HY/1/7/1 Draft of book
HY/1/9 Draft of book
HY/1/10 Draft of book
HY/1/8 Draft of book
HY/1/12 1771 Experiments
HY/1/13/1 1772 Experiments
HY/1/14/1 1773 Experiments (partially published)
HY/1/20/2 Measures
HY/1/13/2 Measures
HY/1/20/1 Experiments relative to torpedo
HY/1/19/1
HY/1/19/4
HY/1/19/3
HY/1/16
HY/1/19/2

This order of publication was repeated in the republication of Maxwell's work by Thorpe 1921 Vol. I.

The following are not published: HY/1/1, HY/1/2, HY/1/3, HY/1/6, HY/1/7/2-4, HY/1/11, HY/1/14/3, HY/1/17/2, HY/1/9/5, HY/1/19/5-6 and HY/1/20/3.