John FergusonFRSE LLD (23 January 1837 – 2 November 1916)[1] was a Scottish
chemist and bibliographer. He is noted for the early
alchemy and chemistry bibliography Bibliotheca chemica.[2] He was generally nicknamed Soda Ferguson. The Ferguson Collection, a collection of 7,500 books and manuscripts from his personal library is held by the
University of Glasgow.[3]
Life
Ferguson was born on 24 January 1838 in
Alloa,
Scotland, the son of Elizabeth Donaldson and Adam Ferguson. He moved at an early age to
Glasgow and attended
Glasgow High School.[4]
Recent Inquiries Into the Early History of Chemistry (1879)[7]
The first history of chemistry (1886)[8] Describes
Robert Duval as the first historian of chemistry.
Some early treatises on technological chemistry (1888) [9]
Bibliotheca chemica: a catalogue of the alchemical, chemical and pharmaceutical books in the collection of the late James Young of Kelly and Durris (1906) in 2 vols.[10][11]
Books of secrets. A paper read before the Bibliographical Society, 21 April 1913 (1914) [12]