1853 – The Memorandum Deposited at the Accademia dei Georgofili
About two years into their collaboration, Barsanti and Matteucci believed that the results, obtained from their experiments on the apparatus they had developed, were satisfactory, so much so that they were already considering building a prototype motor.
Having also learned that others, albeit in a significantly different manner, had devised ways of using the same motor principle, they decided to deposit a report at the Accademia dei Georgofili to attest to their assertion, supported by the attestations of persons distinguished in science and worthy of every trust, who were informed of, and, in part, witnesses to such experiments.
The two scientists then described their studies in a Memorandum, which they deposited at the Accademia dei Georgofili in Florence on June 5, 1853, in a sealed envelope that was to be disclosed only later, upon their request. This responded to the need to demonstrate their work and the results obtained in order to claim authorship, while also protecting them from use by others.
The envelope was opened, at their request, ten years later, on September 20, 1863, to support the priority of their invention in light of the appearance of the Lenoir motor and the enormous outcry it had generated.
The memoir illustrates the experimental devices they designed and built and the results obtained. It also outlines the subsequent studies the inventors intend to undertake.
1853 - Deposit of the envelope
1863 - Request to open the envelope
1863 - Opening of the envelope
1863 - Transmission of the envelope
