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.
Wonders if JH has received AQ's letters and works sent to the Cape. Sends more. Has been doing meteorological observations. Will send some if JH wishes. Mural circle and transit instrument finally in place. Problems with equatorial; therefore missed Halley's Comet.
Alphonse de Candolle would like some information on the region where JH is now residing [at the Cape]. Has read about JH's voyage and his work on the constellations. Gives his own recent astronomical observations.
Botanical and meteorological queries. Sends meteorological observations.
Note of thanks to JH for interceding on AS's behalf.
Sending him the Calculus of Functions, which he may retain, and also some maps of the stars published by Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. The R.A.S. is preparing a picture of Francis Baily and has added JH's name to the subscription list. Supposes he has fixed a date for his return. Regarding 'Warren's jet blacking.'
P.S. Has received her letter regarding travel home via Rio and will endeavor to find out the answers and send letters of recommendation later; is now in Paris. Hopes to send a copy of a small book he has written. Hoped to include something from D. F. J. Arago but it has not arrived yet. The French are unpunctual.
Encloses a queer pamphlet, which may amuse him, but it has put D. F. J. Arago and others into a towering passion. The public tends to forget one's existence if too long away from London, so hopes that JH will bear this in mind.
Has been busy correcting proofs of a little book to be printed by Cadell in Edinburgh which has occasioned the delay. Observed the eclipse at the Observatory with D. F. J. Arago. Comments on the work of Arago. French science and literature at a low ebb.
Enclosing some letters of introduction for Rio. Advises him to be there in the winter. Makes a duplicate set of his observations in case the ship sinks.
Outlines the election of J. D. Forbes and attributes his success to JH's letter. Regarding the work of Thomas Henderson. Pity JH has to waste time doing his own reductions. Paris observations. Saw the comet in Valparaiso. Magnitude of stars compared to the moon. Hopes he liked his own recent book. Pleased the sextant is of use.
Dr. Andrew Smith arrived yesterday in the Bay and landed in the evening; has not seen Smith himself yet.
Just arrived home from the meeting (which was convened to arrange landing of articles from the Expedition) and found JH's note. Is unable to return to England yet for various reasons. Sure Capt. Frederick Warren will be pleased to take any message to England for JH.
Reports that JH has been looking at Halley's Comet 'every night.'
Has recently been too ill to write. Sent portraits of William Herschel to Wilhelm Struve, Heinrich Schumacher, Karl Gauss, Friedrich Bessel, and others.
The Academy has received JH's 'Instructions for making ... meteorological observations in South Africa. Thanks him for this.
Has sent copies of various star catalogues. Regarding the Brisbane Catalogue and its accuracy. R.A.S. has awarded JH its medal. J. J. Littrow and the appearance of the comet.
Regarding the Brisbane Catalogue. JH's discoveries relating to the moon. The James South lawsuit still hangs on. Is about to depart for Scotland. W. S. Stratford has finished his ephemeris of Halley's Comet.
Regarding his own observations of the recent solar eclipse. Is sending G. B. Airy's report on Alexander von Humboldt's letter on magnetic observations.
Further regarding the phenomenon of the shooting stars in America in November. Operation on Frederick Augustus (Duke of Sussex). Is preparing a paper on the recent solar eclipse.
Has received the Royal medal from the R.S.L. on JH's behalf. Shooting star phenomenon seen in France and Scotland. The Americans are preparing an expedition to the South Pole. Has constructed two pendulums.