{{short description|American chemist (1823-1897)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Mathew Carey Lea | image = Mathew Carey Lea (1823–1897).png | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1823|08|18}} | birth_place = [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1897|03|15|1823|08|18}} | death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | burial_place = [[Laurel Hill Cemetery]], Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | education = | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = Chemist, lawyer | relatives = [[Isaac Lea]] (father)<br/>[[Frances Anne Carey]] (mother)<br/>[[Henry Charles Lea]] (brother)<br/>[[Henry Charles Carey]] (uncle)<br/>[[Mathew Carey|Matthew Carey]] (grandfather) | spouse = {{Plainlist| * {{Marriage|Elizabeth Jaudon|July 14, 1852|March 19, 1881|end=d.}} * Eva Lovering }} | children = | signature = Signature of Mathew Carey Lea (1823–1897).png }}
'''Mathew Carey Lea''' (August 18, 1823 – March 15, 1897) was an American [[chemist]] known for his research on the chemical and physical properties of [[silver halide]] salts and their usage in photography. He pioneered early work in [[mechanochemistry]] and developed Carey Lea Silver, a [[Photochemistry|photochemical]] still in use today.
==Early life and education== Lea was born in [[Philadelphia]] on August 16, 1823.{{sfn|Barker|1903|p=157}} His father, [[Isaac Lea]] was a [[publisher]], [[Conchology|conchologist]] and geologist. His grandfather was [[Mathew Carey]], the Irish-American publisher and economist.<ref name=Cansler>{{cite web |last1=Cansler |first1=Clay |last2=Turner |first2=Roger |title=Matthew Carey Lea and the Origins of Mechanochemistry |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/matthew-carey-lea-and-the-origins-of-mechanochemistry |website=www.sciencehistory.org |date=December 14, 2021 |publisher=Science History Institute |access-date=6 October 2022}}</ref>
He received his education through private tutors including the mathematician [[Eugenius Nulty]].<ref name=Robson>{{cite book |last1=Robson |first1=Charles |title=The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Pennsylvania of the Nineteenth Century |date=1874 |publisher=Galaxy Publishing Company |location=Philadelphia |page=13 |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalency00robs/page/12 |access-date=19 September 2022}}</ref> Lea received a [[Classical education movement|classical education]] including the [[trivium]] (grammar, logic and rhetoric), [[quadrivium]] (arithmetic, geometry, music and celestial navigation). classical languages and history. Nulty immersed Lea in a single subject for long periods to encourage its complete mastery.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=Edward Sculley |title=Henry Charles Lea - A Biography |date=1931 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia |page=43 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030698529&view=1up&seq=9 |access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref> Lea also received instruction in the Booth & Boy private chemical laboratory.<ref name="Whitcomb">{{cite journal|last=Whitcomb|first=David|title=Mathew Carey Lea: Chemist, Photographic Scientist |volume=24 |issue=4 |url=http://www.chemheritage.org/pubs/ch-v24n4-articles/feature_careylea.html|journal=Chemical Heritage Magazine |publisher=[[Chemical Heritage Foundation]]|date=Winter 2006–2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821125944/http://www.chemheritage.org/pubs/ch-v24n4-articles/feature_careylea.html|archivedate=August 21, 2008}}</ref>
On July 14, 1852, Lea married Elizabeth Jaudon (1827-1881), sister of his brother, [[Henry Charles Lea]]'s wife. Elizabeth had earlier married merchant William Bakewell, but Blakewell had died in Cincinnati in 1850, leaving her with a young daughter.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/accountofjaudonf00sell|page=[https://archive.org/details/accountofjaudonf00sell/page/10 10]|quote=jaudon philadelphia.|title=An Account of the Jaudon Family|first=Edwin Jaquett|last=Sellers|date=10 August 1890|publisher=J.B. Lippincott|accessdate=10 August 2017|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The couple had a son, George Henry Lea (1853–1915), who helped in the family publishing business. After Elizabeth's death, Carey Lea married Eva Lovering, daughter of Harvard Professor [[Joseph Lovering]], but they had no children.{{sfn|Barker|1903|p=203}}
==Career== Lea became interested in photography and in 1840, created a series of images of his father's plant and shells collection that was displayed at the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref name=Cansler/>
Lea read the law under the tutelage of prominent attorney [[William M. Meredith]], and in 1847 was admitted to the [[Pennsylvania Bar]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/at250/history/ep.pdf|title=Henry Charles Lea and the Libraries within a Library|first=Edward |last=Peters|website=Library.upenn.edu|accessdate=2017-08-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052900/http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/at250/history/ep.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}</ref> The highly successful family publishing firm published some legal books.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=36F9yDts_xoC&pg=PA46 |first=M. H. |last=Hoeflich |title=Legal Publishing in Antebellum America |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9781139488051 |page=46 at note 74 |date=2010-04-26 |access-date=2021-12-15 |via=Google Books}}</ref> However, Lea was sickly, and left the practice of law to travel to Europe and other places for his health, as well as to pursue his scientific avocation.{{sfn|Barker|1903|p=158}}
Lea worked in the laboratory of Professor [[James C. Booth]], and constructed a laboratory in his home in Philadelphia's [[Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia|Chestnut Hill]] neighborhood. In 1841, the ''[[American Journal of Science|American Journal of Science and Arts]]'' published his first paper at his father's request, "On the First, or Southern Coal Field of Pennsylvania" and that publisher would ultimately publish approximately 100 more.{{sfn|Barker|1903|pp=158-159}} In July 1864, he published two papers concerning aspects of [[platinum]].{{sfn|Barker|1903|p=160}}
Lea devoted himself chiefly to the chemistry of [[photography]], to which he made a number of important contributions.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/rbm/mss/lea/leabio.html | title = Henry Charles Lea Papers - Biographical Sketch | accessdate = 2010-12-01 | date = 2003-01-31 | work = Penn Special Collections | publisher = University of Pennsylvania:Rare Book & Manuscripts}}</ref> He was recognized as an authority on the chemical and physical attributes of [[silver halide]] salts and their usage in photography.{{sfn|Barker|1903|p=174}} He also published 300 technical articles and correspondences in the [[British Journal of Photography]],{{sfn|Barker|1903|p=159}} as well as a book on photography entitled, ''A Manual of Photography: Intended as a Text Book for Beginners and a Book of Reference for Advanced Photographers''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/amanualphotogra00leagoog|title=A manual of photography: intended as a text book for beginners and a book of reference for advanced photographers|first=M. Carey (Mathew Carey)|last=Lea|date=10 August 1871|publisher=Philadelphia, Printed for the author|accessdate=10 August 2017|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> His publications include numerous papers on the [[photosynthesis|chemical action of light]]. He is also known for his development of '''Carey Lea Silver''', a photochemical, still in use today.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=moM9AQAAIAAJ|title=Scientific American|date=1887-07-09|publisher=Munn & Company|pages=17|language=en}}</ref>
Due to the loss of an eye during an experiment with [[picric acid]], and his constantly ill condition, Lea spent most of his time in solitude. As a result, few chemists knew Lea personally, his only interaction with the science community was the publication of his studies.<ref name=Cansler/>
He was not associated with any universities.<ref name=Takacs>{{cite journal |last1=Takacs |first1=Lazlo |title=M. Carey Lea, The Father of Mechanochemistry |journal=Bull. Hist. Chem. |date=2003 |volume=28 |issue=1 |page=28 |url=http://acshist.scs.illinois.edu/bulletin_open_access/v28-1/v28-1%20p26-34.pdf |access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref> In 1848, he joined the [[Franklin Institute]] and took a special interest in the chemistry section. In 1895, he was elected to the [[National Academy of Sciences]].{{sfn|Barker|1903|p=203}}
==Death and legacy== Lea died on March 15, 1897, at his Chestnut Hill home from complications of a prostate cancer operation.{{sfn|Barker|1903|p=203}} He was interred at [[Laurel Hill Cemetery]] in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Matthew Carey Lea |url=https://remembermyjourney.com/memorials/matthew-carey-lea?id=vJpewxAq |website=remembermyjourney.com |publisher=webCemeteries |access-date=3 January 2025}}</ref> He ordered his notebooks destroyed, and they were, which has complicated research into his work.<ref name=Takacs/> Along with other charitable bequests, Lea bequeathed his books and scientific apparatus to the Franklin Institute, plus funds to allow the institution to continue to purchase books and periodicals.{{sfn|Barker|1903|p=203}}
His contributions to mechanical chemistry exceed the contributions to photography for which he received acclaim in his lifetime.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Takacs |first1=Lazlo |title=M. Carey Lea, The Father of Mechanochemistry |journal=Bull. Hist. Chem. |date=2003 |volume=28 |issue=1 |page=33 |url=http://acshist.scs.illinois.edu/bulletin_open_access/v28-1/v28-1%20p26-34.pdf |access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref>
==Publications== *''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/The%20American%20Journal%20of%20Science/xIBIAQAAMAAJ On the First, or Southern Coal Field of Pennsylvania]'', The American Journal of Science, Volume 40, pages 370–374, 1841 *''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/A%20Manual%20of%20Photography/AtU3AQAAIAAJ A Manual of Photography: Intended as a Text Book for Beginners and a Book of Reference for Advanced Photographers]'', Benerman & Wilson, Philadelphia, 1868
==Citations== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== * {{cite book | last = Barker | first = George F. | year = 1903 | title = Biographical Memoir of Matthew Carey Lea, 1823-1897 | publisher = National Academy of Sciences | url = http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/lea-matthew-c.pdf }}
==External links== * {{NIE|title=Lea, Mathew Carey|page=40}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lea, Mathew Carey}} [[Category:1823 births]] [[Category:1897 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century American chemists]] [[Category:19th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:19th-century American male writers]] [[Category:19th-century American photographers]] [[Category:American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law]] [[Category:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)]] [[Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Franklin Institute]] [[Category:Lawyers from Philadelphia]] [[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:Pioneers of photography]] [[Category:Scientists from Philadelphia]] [[Category:Writers from Philadelphia]] [[Category:American scientists with disabilities]] [[Category:American lawyers with disabilities]] [[Category:American writers with disabilities]] [[Category:Photographers with disabilities]] [[Category:American artists with disabilities]] [[Category:19th-century American science writers]]