Item 60 - Letter from Henry Coddington

3 pp

St. Augustin - HC is 'now flourishing about in Paris'. He went to the Institut yesterday where his 'friend Biot' introduced him to, among others, Laplace, Delambre, Arago, Cuvier, Gay Lussac and Humboldt. It is a custom for the savants to have soirées one morning a week for their friends and strangers - Humboldt has offered to take HC to Laplace's tomorrow. He has gained entry into this elite circle thanks to a lady who talks Persian and brought letters of introduction to Humboldt, and through his own acquaintance with Thomas Edward Bowdich [famed for his travels into Africa] currently living in Paris.