started. He also wrote that he had asked for eight dedication copies on high-quality
paper. In March, Scheele wrote to Gahn that the printing had not started, but that
Swederus had bought paper for the printing. Scheele had threatened Swederus to
withdraw the manuscript and print it in Västerås instead. In an undated letter to
Gahn from 1776, Scheele is quite annoyed, and had written “a quite sharp letter” to
Swederus, who had been on a journey to England. As a result, Scheele had obtained
three sheets full of printing errors. Scheele had met Swederus, who was on his way
home from the fair in Örebro. Nordenskiöld found that there were fairs on January
19 and August 21, and assumed that it was in January that Scheele met Swederus.
However, there is a letter to Bergman dated August 30, 1776 which does not
mention the meeting with Swederus, but contains very similar wording as the
undated letter to Gahn. There are several examples were Scheele wrote letters
containing identical wording to Bergman and Gahn on the same day, so it is
probably more likely that Scheele met Swederus in August.
In the undated letter to Gahn mentioned above, Scheele wrote that he had
learned from Bergman about experiments in England: a gas had been obtained by
heating mercury oxide with a burning glass; this gas supported combustion and
respiration. Scheele was very annoyed, and blamed Swederus for the situation. In a
letter to Bergman, Scheele was worried that, once his book was printed, the readers
would suspect that he had stolen his results from Priestley. In addition, a new
obstacle could cause further delays as a Mr Mohr, who had been responsible for
handling the proofs for Swederus, was about to quit.
In a letter to Bergman dated January 25, 1777, Scheele complained that there had
been little progress: he had received another sheet full of printing errors. Actually, a
considerable number of printing errors remained in the final book. Scheele concluded that if it continued at the same speed, the book would not be published until
1780.
In May 1777, Bergman promised to write a preface for Scheele’s book, and had
borrowed the manuscript from Swederus. The preface which he wrote was signed
on July 13. In June, the printing had made progress, and both Bergman and Gahn
received printed sheets as the printing proceeded. On June 19, Gahn received seven
sheets by mail from Samuel Troilius [17]. Bergman had a complete set of pages by
June 27 [17]. On July 3, Gahn had read the whole book, but was rather sceptic to
both the theories and the disposition of the text [18]. On August 21, Swederus
passed Köping on his way to Leipzig, and handed over Scheele’s eight dedication
copies. These were presented to Bergman, Bäck, Bergius, J. G. Gahn, H. Gahn,
Schulzenheim, Wargentin and Wilcke [19]. The illustration on the title page
(Fig. 21.4) was reused from Bergman’s edition of The Chemical Lectures of H.T.
Scheffer (Fig. 11.2) published by Swederus in 1775, and was possibly engraved by
Fredrik Akrel [20], who used to work for the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
in Stockholm. The copper plate at the end of the book (Fig. 21.5) may also have
been engraved by Akrel [21].
Based on the fact that the book was published soon after Bergman finished the
preface, earlier biographies have blamed Bergman for the delay of Scheele’s book,
claiming that Bergman had delayed the preface for 2 years. This is wrong, and from
284
21 The Discovery of Oxygen
paper. In March, Scheele wrote to Gahn that the printing had not started, but that
Swederus had bought paper for the printing. Scheele had threatened Swederus to
withdraw the manuscript and print it in Västerås instead. In an undated letter to
Gahn from 1776, Scheele is quite annoyed, and had written “a quite sharp letter” to
Swederus, who had been on a journey to England. As a result, Scheele had obtained
three sheets full of printing errors. Scheele had met Swederus, who was on his way
home from the fair in Örebro. Nordenskiöld found that there were fairs on January
19 and August 21, and assumed that it was in January that Scheele met Swederus.
However, there is a letter to Bergman dated August 30, 1776 which does not
mention the meeting with Swederus, but contains very similar wording as the
undated letter to Gahn. There are several examples were Scheele wrote letters
containing identical wording to Bergman and Gahn on the same day, so it is
probably more likely that Scheele met Swederus in August.
In the undated letter to Gahn mentioned above, Scheele wrote that he had
learned from Bergman about experiments in England: a gas had been obtained by
heating mercury oxide with a burning glass; this gas supported combustion and
respiration. Scheele was very annoyed, and blamed Swederus for the situation. In a
letter to Bergman, Scheele was worried that, once his book was printed, the readers
would suspect that he had stolen his results from Priestley. In addition, a new
obstacle could cause further delays as a Mr Mohr, who had been responsible for
handling the proofs for Swederus, was about to quit.
In a letter to Bergman dated January 25, 1777, Scheele complained that there had
been little progress: he had received another sheet full of printing errors. Actually, a
considerable number of printing errors remained in the final book. Scheele concluded that if it continued at the same speed, the book would not be published until
1780.
In May 1777, Bergman promised to write a preface for Scheele’s book, and had
borrowed the manuscript from Swederus. The preface which he wrote was signed
on July 13. In June, the printing had made progress, and both Bergman and Gahn
received printed sheets as the printing proceeded. On June 19, Gahn received seven
sheets by mail from Samuel Troilius [17]. Bergman had a complete set of pages by
June 27 [17]. On July 3, Gahn had read the whole book, but was rather sceptic to
both the theories and the disposition of the text [18]. On August 21, Swederus
passed Köping on his way to Leipzig, and handed over Scheele’s eight dedication
copies. These were presented to Bergman, Bäck, Bergius, J. G. Gahn, H. Gahn,
Schulzenheim, Wargentin and Wilcke [19]. The illustration on the title page
(Fig. 21.4) was reused from Bergman’s edition of The Chemical Lectures of H.T.
Scheffer (Fig. 11.2) published by Swederus in 1775, and was possibly engraved by
Fredrik Akrel [20], who used to work for the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
in Stockholm. The copper plate at the end of the book (Fig. 21.5) may also have
been engraved by Akrel [21].
Based on the fact that the book was published soon after Bergman finished the
preface, earlier biographies have blamed Bergman for the delay of Scheele’s book,
claiming that Bergman had delayed the preface for 2 years. This is wrong, and from
284
21 The Discovery of Oxygen