Voyage to Sicily. Scenes of Palermo. Visit with Giuseppe Piazzi and Niccolo Cacciatore at Palermo observatory. Names scientists JH plans to visit on Sicily.
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The Sir John Herschel Collection
The preparation of the print Calendar of the Correspondence of Sir John Herschel (Michael J. Crowe ed., David R. Dyck and James J. Kevin assoc. eds, Cambridge, England: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998, viii + 828 pp) which was funded by the National Science Foundation, took ten years. It was accomplished by a team of seventeen professors, visiting scholars, graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and staff working at the University of Notre Dame.
The first online version of Calendar was created in 2009 by Dr Marvin Bolt and Steven Lucy, working at the Webster Institute of the Adler Planetarium, and it is that data that has now been reformatted for incorporation into Ɛpsilon.
Further information about Herschel, his correspondence, and the editorial method is available online here: http://historydb.adlerplanetarium.org/herschel/?p=intro
No texts of Herschel’s letters are currently available through Ɛpsilon.
Voyage to Sicily. Scenes of Palermo. Visit with Giuseppe Piazzi and Niccolo Cacciatore at Palermo observatory. Names scientists JH plans to visit on Sicily.
Six-day mule trip to see ruins of Girgente. Servant James Child is holding up well.
Mount Etna marks furthest point of JH's journey. Travel is difficult. Both JH and servant James Child are in good health. Describes ruins of Girgente. Send future letters to Geneva or Paris. [Letter continued 3-4 July at Mount Etna:] Few lines from Casa Inglese, highest house in Europe, built by Carlo Gemmellaro for travelers. [Letter continued 5 July in Catania:] Ascent of Mount Etna.
Departure delayed by week-long feast of St. Rosalie, patron of Sicily. No vessels moving. Reviews Sicilian scenery, weather, and culture. Compares Mount Etna and Vesuvius. Describes travel across center of island with companions Count Bessa Negrini of Mantua and C. G. B. Daubeny of Oxford. [Letter continued 14 July:] Oppressive heat in Palermo. [Letter continued 18 July:] Arrival in Naples.
Lists all letters received from Slough and those sent by JH to recipients in England. News of acquaintances at home. C. G. B. Daubeny taken ill. Itinerary for return trip. Low opinion of southern Italians. English society in Naples. Describes cask of wine JH shipped to England. [P.S. 24 July:] Daubeny's illness is malaria. JH will stay with him. Grahames are not here.
Describes last leg of Sicilian tour and festival of St. Rosalie, patron of Sicily, in Palermo. [Letter continued 31 July:] C. G. B. Daubeny is recovering but not strong. JH will travel on alone. Lists letters received from England. Dinner with Lord Belvedere. Shipped case of shells and minerals to Mr. Beckwith.
Oppressive heat. Toured Rome and Florence in early morning hours only. Low regard for Romans and southerners. Glad to be in civilized Tuscany. Describes Florence. Sorry to hear of Renuel's death. Began letter in Catania to Caroline Herschel.
Mail and news of acquintances at home. Met Jack Fuller, fellow of St. John's College. Visited astronomer Giovanni Inghirami. Describes Bologna. [Letter continued 23 Aug.:] Deciding route for trip home. Describes servant James Child. Journey from Bologna to Venice. Dismal condition of University of Padua. Describes Venice. [P.S. 24 Aug.:] Shipment to Mr. Beckwith from Rome includes engravings for J. H. Nelson.
Leaving tomorrow on expedition into mountains to search for minerals. Journey from Venice to Verona. Visited Giovanni Santini in Padua.
Eight-day mineral hunting expedition in mountains, with base at Campedello. High praise for Tyrolese. [Letter continued 10 Sept. in Botzen:] Arrived safely and found servant James Child rested and waiting.
Passage through Alps. Servant James Child's adventure being lost in mountains. Religious character of Tyrolese. Describes Innsbruck.
Glad that MPH is vacationing with Mrs. Delevaux. Sorry about Charles Babbage's loss. Journey from Innsbruck. Meeting with Josef Fraunhofer. Georg von Reichenbach is dangerously ill. Met Captain Feilding and family. Itinerary for return journey via Hanover. Will visit caves of Bayreuth and J. W. A. Pfaff in Erlangen.
Terrible German roads. Missed J. W. A. Pfaff in Erlangen, where university is on vacation. Describes caves of Muggendorff near Bayreuth. Visited Mr. Lindeman and J. F. Encke in Gotha. [Letter continued 30 Sept. in Göttingen:] Found letter from Caroline Herschel with enclosure from Charles Babbage. Hopes to visit K. L. Harding and J. F. Blumenbach in Göttingen.
News of relatives and friends in Hanover. Caroline Herschel is working on catalog of nebulae. [Letter continued 7 Oct. in Minden:] News of German scientists. Suspects that JH and H. W. M. Olbers are distantly related.
Will return earlier than planned. Comments of Mrs. Moorsom's misfortune and new children born to Baldwins and Babbages. [Letter continued in Rotterdam:] Journey from Cleves [Kleve] to Rotterdam. Report of new propulsion device for sailing vessels.
Received [?]'s inquiry of 1 Feb. Lists all biographical notices pertaining to William Herschel. Comments in detail on biography and philosophy of WH in David Brewster's Edinburgh Review.
Defends William Herschel's views against charges of hostility to religion. Describes his father as 'a sincere believer in, and worshipper of, a benevolent, intelligent, and superintending Deity....","L
Comments on some ideas of J. B. Lamarck, and about large fossil remains apparently found.
Encloses differences determined through indications of portable barometer, standard, thermometer, and various other instruments.
JH will have little time for astronomy due to election as Secretary to the R.S.L.; the appointment also has forced JH to move from Slough to London.