KUPFFER, les mesures et les poids de l'empire de Russie, 1841

First edition.
Adolph Theodor Kupffer (1799-1865) was a Baltic German physical chemist and therefore subject of the Russian Empire. He proposed establishing a single system of weights and measures in Russia, whose system, still of medieval inspiration, was then very heterogeneous. Kupffer's unified system will be adopted by an imperial decree of Nicholas I in 1835. He explains the modalities in this publication in 1841. Although these works are written in French, the French decimal metric system seems to him to be mathematically logical. , too revolutionary for Russia. He preferred to draw inspiration from the London Commission of Weights and Measures and defined the standards of weight (the pound), length (the Sagène) and volume (the védro) based on English measurements. A Russian Sagène is thus worth six English feet. The basic standards are made of copper and platinum. The Kupffer system remained in use in Russia until the end of the 19th century, before the country finally adopted the metric system.
Very complete set of atlas of 12 plates which completes the text.