Abstract

The Cavendish Society, which lasted from 1846 to 1872, was one of a large number of Victorian subscription printing clubs which published translations, re-issued historical works or commissioned original books which were too specialized for commercial publication. The Society's book production was limited, being principally devoted to a translation of L. Gmelin, Handbook of chemistry. Reasons for its limited success are sought in the institutionalization of chemistry during the 1840s and in a divergence of interests between academic and practising chemists