[fol. 246] Rome 9 Oct. 1829 Sr Acknowledging your favour of ye 30 Aug. last past just as you supposed the first parcell of Books deliverd to Mr Green had been duely transmitted to me by his correspondent of Leghorne, as in a former of mine I have had the honour to acquaint you; now I am in expectation of those newly deliverd to said Mr Green by Dr Rutty as a gracious present to me from the Royall Society, for which I earnestly entreat you to render acceptable my most respectfull anticipated thanks to them. I have been very glad to understand that the experiments repeated by Mr Desaguliers have succeeded according to expectation, so that Rizzetti will have the shame of a blundering fellow as the experiments made at Bologna, whereof I have given you an account, had already made him appear, & having occasion to write to severall Professors to convey Dr Ruttys letters it shall be known speedily all over this part of the World that Sr Isaac Newton’s glory is highly vindicated. Where Dr Valisnieri acquainted me he had sent to Florence two copies of his last works de Corpi marini che sopra i monti si trocano, one for the society, & one for the secretary, I have orderd them to be sent to Mr Green’s correspondent at Leghorne directed to you hoping he will take care of them, & have added these unto a dissertation of Monsigr Fouquet, formerly a Jesuit, now a Bishop, upon the Chronology of the China Empire, which he has done at my request/ having been a long time in the Mission there/ whereas one day talking with him on that subject I told him it was ridiculous it was they appeared to be Antidiluvians, & that nobody yet had truely rectified this fabulous fancie of those people: accordingly he has succeeded wonderfully well in the matter as you will be able to judge upon perusing the said dissertation, & is about publishing a great Cronological Table to be hung upon a Wall of a Chamber, with the Cicles of the Empire from its foundation to ye present times with ye Aera Christiana therein to be found as far as it goeth, & thence upwards the times of the Romans &c. Butt being in low circumstances & finding no Mecanate to carry tim through his undertaking I have advised him to do it by subscription, & we have calculated that for every subscription importing seventeen, or eighteen shillings according to ye exchange hither a subscriber will have seven or perhapps eight Tables for his share, wherefore as you are a great Patron of all manner of Learning I presume you will be so compleasant as to be a subscriber your self, & procure the concurrence of others to promote so curious, & usefull a work, [fol. 247] and [it] shall be my care to have the Proprietors duely satisfied in there expectation that will be readily fulfilled. I have another great work at hand, for which I have formed a society at Florence, being the Printing of all the Musaeum Medicieu… the name of Musaeum Florentinum, the present G. Duke having granted me leave upon the condition, whereas he ought to do it at his own charge for his honours, & of his Ancestors, however I hope it iwll be done in a few years time being now upon sending thither the best designers & engravers I could pick up here & others I have of ye last coming from Paris, & the first thing to come out will be all the Painters own Pictures, then the statues, after that the most famous pictures, the Jools, the Medals Intaglio’s and Cammeo’s, whereupon Senr Buonarroti, & several; other good Antiquaries shall make disputations. If the fund of the ye society will not do, we shall recurr to subscriptions, which in time you shall know. I hear Monsgr Bianchini is lately returnd to Albans, where I intend to visit him in a few days, & shall endeavour to hasten him about ye new mapp of Venus. I Remaine your most Obedient servant Thomas Dereham I take the liberty to enclose to you ye answers unto ye letters you have sent me.
Sir Thomas Dereham (c. 1678-1739) was a British expatriate and Roman Catholic who lived in Italy. He had a close association with the Royal Society (https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27dereham%27%29).
