Nature Series: Popular Lectures and Addresses, Volume I, Constitution of Matter

Fine presentation copy inscribed by Lord Kelvin on the title page to his devoted sister: ‘Elizabeth King. 24 Hamilton Terrace from her brother W.T. March 2/ 89’. Very smart green publisher’s cloth binding with dark green coated endpapers, clean fresh text throughout, pp460 plus 2 pages of adverts at the end, illustrated throughout. Elizabeth Thomson King (1818-1896) wrote a memoir of her famous brother which was published after his death. When he gave her this presentation copy she was living at Hamilton Terrace in Marylebone in north London. William Thomson (1824-1907) was a giant of nineteenth century science who did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics as well as unifying the discipline of physics. He served as Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years. A later owner, Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald’s daughter Ishbel Peterkin has added her own ownership inscription to the title page in 1972.