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COLLECTION — Volume: 1 Identifier: MS Fr 331

France. Comité de l'instruction publique papers concerning the establishment of the metric system

Overview

Letters and manuscripts concerning the establishment of the metric system in France and the measurement of the arc of the meridian.

Dates

  • Creation: 1792-1796

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in French.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.

Extent

.1 linear feet (1 volume)

Contains letters and manuscripts discussing the introduction and regulation of the new metric system in France, as well as autograph letters from Pierre Francois André Méchain and Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, reporting their respective progress on measuring the arc of the meridian.

Biographical / Historical

France adopted the metric system in 1795 and supported research concerning the valid survey of the arc of the meridian to assist in the measurement of the earth's curvature.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically

Physical Location

f

Immediate Source of Acquisition

51M-99F. Purchased with the Degrand fund from E. Weil, 28 Litchfield Way, London NW 11 England; received: 1951 November 30 and December 3.

Title
France. Comité de l'instruction publique. France. Comité de l'instruction publique papers concerning the establishment of the metric system, 1792-1796: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01215

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

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