Edward Solly (1819–1886) was an English chemist and antiquary.

Life

He was born in London on 11 October 1819, the son of Edward Solly the merchant and collector. The Sollys were a

nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

family, and the philosopher Thomas Solly was a cousin. He studied chemistry in Berlin. in 1838 Solly was appointed chemist to the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

. In the same year he was elected a member of the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

. He was appointed lecturer in chemistry at the Royal Institution in 1841, where he associated with

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

, and he was elected an honorary member of the Royal Agricultural Society in 1842. On 19 January 1843 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

, and in 1845 he became professor of chemistry at

Addiscombe College The East India Company Military Seminary was a British military academy at Addiscombe, Surrey, in what is now the London Borough of Croydon. It opened in 1809 and closed in 1861. Its purpose was to train young officers to serve in the East India ...

. In 1845 and 1846, as honorary professor to the Horticultural Society, Solly conducted a series of experiments on the supposed influence of electricity on vegetable growth. From 1849 he was associated with the Gresham Life Assurance Society, of which he remained a director until his death. He was one of the promoters of the

Great Exhibition of 1851 The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

, and acted as a juror; and from 9 June 1852 to 4 May 1853 he was secretary to the Society of Arts. Solly died at his residence, Camden House, Sutton, Surrey, on 2 April 1886.

Works

In 1836, at the age of 17, Solly published a paper ''On the conducting power of iodine, &c., for electricity''.''Phil. Mag''. viii. p. 130. He went on to publish numerous papers on the chemistry of plants and on agriculture, and a book on ''Rural Chemistry'' (1843; 3rd ed. 1850). A syllabus of his lectures on chemistry appeared in 1849. As a genealogical and literary scholar Solly published in ''

Notes and Queries ''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inne ...

'', ''The Bibliographer'', ''The Antiquary'', and other periodicals. In 1879 he edited ''Hereditary Titles of Honour'' for the Index Society, of which he was treasurer.

Legacy

Solly collected a large library, which was rich in eighteenth-century literature; it was sold at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

, London, in November 1886. He presented to the National Gallery, London an anonymous picture called ''A Venetian Painter''.

Family

Solly married Alice Sarah Wayland on 13 September 1851, and left five daughters.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Solly, Edward 1819 births 1886 deaths English chemists English antiquarians Fellows of the Royal Society