Petrus Jacobus Kipp (1808 - 1864)

Field(s) of interest: Scientific instruments | chemistry
Gender: male

Born: Utrecht, 05-03-1808
Died: Delft, 03-02-1864

Biography:
Instrument maker, chemist and apothecary. In 1830, Petrus Jacobus Kipp started a pharmacy in Delft, on the Oude Delft. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, in Delft as in other cities, there was a surplus of pharmacists. Many decided to combine their work with other activities. Thus, in 1830, Kipp started a trade in scientific instruments and chemicals. At first his chemicals business was the most profitable one, but after publishing a catalogue of instruments imported from Germany and France, in 1850, his sales of instruments increased importantly. Kipp was a member of several learned societies, including the Nederlandsche Maatschappij ter bevordering der Pharmacie, the Koninklijk Instituut van Ingenieurs, and the Bataafs Genootschap van Proefondervindelijke Wijsbegeerte in Haarlem and Rotterdam. In 1840, Kipp was elected into the medical council of the city of Delft and he translated German chemistry books into Dutch for the Polytechnische Hogeschool (now Delft Technical University). In 1860, he designed Kipp's apparatus, a device for the preparation of small volumes of gasses. It was widely used in chemical laboratories and for demonstrations at schools, into the second half of the twentieth century. After Kipp's death in 1864, he was succeeded by his two sons, Antonius Johannes and Wilhelmus Arnoldus. Instruments sold with his sons are signed '& Zonen'. Several (binocular) telescopes and sextants with is name are on record.

Collections: Museum Boerhaave, Leiden (oldest example of his apparatus); Scheepvaartmuseum, Amsterdam; Noordelijk Scheepvaartmuseum, Groningen, Nationaal Baggermuseum, Dordrecht.

Occupations:
Instrument maker: 1830 - 1864 (Delft)

Sources:
Kipp & Zonen: Geschiedenis Kipp & Zonen 1830-1965. (Delft 1965).

Mörzer Bruyns, W.F.J. 'Alphabetical list of Dutch instrument makers compiled by W.F.J. Mörzer Bruyns'. (Amsterdam 1986).

Snelders, H.A.M. 'De Delftse apotheker en chemicus Petrus Johannes Kipp (1808-1864)', in: Scientiarum historia : driemaandelijks tijdschrift voor de geschiedenis van de geneeskunde, wiskunde en natuurwetenschappen 12 (1970).

Rooseboom, M. Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der instrumentmakerskunst in de noordelijke Nederlanden. (Leiden 1950).

De fundatien der Vrijvrouwe van Renswoude, gevestigd te Utrecht, Delft en 's-Gravenhage 1756-1856. (Delft 1856).

Mörzer Bruyns, W.F.J. 'The Macneil all-weather sextant', in: Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society 39 (1993).

Snelders, H.A.M. 'Het gasontwikkelingsapparaat van Kipp (1844)', in: Chemie & Techniek Revue 21, no.18 (1966).

Griffioen, B.K.P. 'P.J. Kipp, meer dan een apotheker', in: Delfia Batavorum, year book 10 (2000).

Mörzer Bruyns, W.F.J. 'Lijst van instrumenten in de verzameling van het Nederlandsch Historisch Scheepvaart Museum, Amsterdam'. (Amsterdam 1971).

Database Maritiem Digitaal