Wrote Letter L-581 of 1722-11-20 to James Jurin about the miscroscopic structure of diamonds and rock crystal

Date: 
November 20, 1722
Standard reference information
L-number: 
L-581
Collected Letters volume: 
19

In keeping with Jurin’s request in Letter L-575 of 26 May 1722 (dated 15 May 1722 O.S.), in this volume, Leeuwenhoek had this letter translated from Dutch into Latin before he signed and sent it. The translator was probably Hendrick van Rijn, who earlier translated the Send-Brieven (1719) into Latin. His translation was read at the 20 December 1722 O.S. meeting of the Royal Society, Journal Book Original, vol. 13, p. 234, so no contemporary English translation was made.

The Latin title in Philosophical Transactions translates to: “On the particles and structure of diamonds. Letter of Anthony Leeuwenhoek, R. S. Soc. to Jacob Jurin, M.D.R.S. Secret.”

For Van Rijn as Leeuwenhoek’s translator, see the Preface, Collected Letters, vol. 18, n. 1. Van Rijn was a bookseller at the Bagijnhof in Delft.