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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.
Has received a letter from the Astronomical Society secretary. Worries AR may have offended JH and requests guidance. Describes performance of his telescope.
Proposes to send telescope to JH to have a new lens made. Desires JH's opinion of the telescope's utility. Is hesitant to join Astronomical Society.
Thinks his telescope was not well executed. Would be pleased if James South tried another. Advises how to improve performance of telescope.
Anxious to hear the opinion of his telescope. Notices best resolution with a 3.5-inch aperture. Also, distinctness is best with correcting lenses in certain diametric position.
Discusses further adjustments for the telescope. If JH returns to England soon, AR will come to Slough with the telescope.
Sent some Edinburgh ale to the Herschels. Will not patent telescope. Discusses Giovanni Santini's article on telescopes in the Quarterly Journal.
Pleased that JH enjoyed the ale. Asks whether comets could be portions of the luminous atmosphere surrounding the sun.
Sending more ale. Abandoning AR's theory of comets coming from solar volcanoes, although he thinks it is somewhat consistent with observed phenomena of solar spots.
Discusses the ale he sent. Hopes his hypothesis of the origin of the solar system did not offend JH.
Has no intentions of making solar volcano theory public. Offers one more possibility for its validity. Pleased that Caroline Herschel is well and remembers him.
Apologizes for delaying in getting ale to the Herschels. A new cask is being sent.
Discusses problem with transporting the ale JH wanted. Wishes him a safe journey to the Cape of Good Hope.