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Observations from Captain Cook's last voyage.

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Table of rough calculations of observations; these include records of the time by the watch, the apparent time, and the altitude of the sun and moon. Many entries are checked and marked 'done' or 'correct'.

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Captain Cook's journal of his voyage to the South Seas, including observations of variation of the compass and observations for chronometer rates.

Scope and Contents Minutes of Board of Longitude meetings regarding, among other matters, discussions on John Harrison's first marine chronometer (H1); the purchase of new instruments for work on the longitude and latitude of the coasts of Britain; improvements to the reflecting telescope; Tobias Mayer's lunar motion tables; the trial of John Harrison's chronometers; errors in the tables of the satellites; Schutz's machine for finding longitude; Chistopher Irwin's marine chair; the use of lunar observations...

Scope and Contents Minutes of Board of Longitude meetings regarding, among other matters, the rates of various chronometers; Charles Hutton's tables of products, powers and roots of natural numbers; the voyages of HMS 'Resolution' and HMS 'Discovery' and the examination of their log books; John Arnold's improvements to his watches; a suitable site for the Board of Longitude's instruments after the burning of the cupola of the Greenwich Hospital where they had been kept; improvements to reflecting telescopes;...

Scope and Contents Correspondence between the Hydrographer of the Navy, Sir Frank Dyson and Lieutenant-Commander R.T. Gould on the following subjects:1. The Astronomer Royal's permission for Gould to see the Board of Longitude papers.2. The preparation of Gould's book 'The Marine Chronometer'.3. The cleaning and repair of Harrison 1, 2, 3 and 4 by Gould, including a list of notebooks and papers relating to the Harrison chronometers which Gould presented to the National Maritime...

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Correspondence regarding instruments not belonging to the Royal Greenwich Observatory, including letters concerning Captain Cook's telescope.

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Correspondence regarding the James Cook Sub-committee, including correspondence with Sir Harold Hartley of the Central Electricity Generating Board; correspondence with D.C. Martin of the Royal Society; extracts from the Royal Society records of the James Cook expeditions; a paper by Sir Richard Woolley titled 'Captain Cook and the Transit of Venus of 1769'; and correspondence with T.G. Mercer of St Albans.

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Daily record of the time by the watch or timekeeper [Kendall’s K1] between 10 December 1779 and 8 September 1780, signed by William Bayly, John Gore and James Burney (or occasionally John Rickman). It includes a note by Bayly on first receiving the watch in June 1776 [RGO 14/61/4: 1r], occasional remarks concerning when it was carried on shore or stoppages, and a brief note on 4 September 1780 of ‘a fire in the cabin’ [RGO 14/61/4: 4v].

Scope and Contents Draft copies of speeches, lectures, scripts and articles, including the following items:Address to the symposium held after the opening of the Tel Aviv Observatory in 1971.Address to the Royal Institution in 1971.Article on the Royal Greenwich Observatory for the 'Illustrated London News'.Article on stellar movements for 'Contemporary Physics', 1971.Article on Captain Cook and the Transit of Venus of 1769.Item on stars for the 'Encyclopaedia...

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Dated from Deal on route to Portsmouth, describing the Daedalus ship, the passage from Gravesend, and his friendship with Lieutenant Hergest, with mention of Hergest's entertaining accounts of places visited with Captain Cook. Gooch also discusses his attachment to Miss Smithson.

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Concerning the publication of observations made on Cook's first voyage and on the second voyage of the HMS Dolphin under Captain Wallis.

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Concerning the publication of observations from Captain Cook's first voyage and of variations of the compass from the first voyage of the Dolphin.

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Two letters from Wales relating to the publication of observations made on Captain Cook's first voyage and on voyages of HMS Dolphin.

Scope and Contents A folder of c.54 letters sent by Lady Clive to her niece, Margaret Maskelyne, her brother Nevil Maskelyne, and other family members. Topics include astronomy, the great comet of 1811, and family or domestic matters, including the death of Nevil Maskelyne (see letter dated 16 Feb. 1811), her opinion of his successor as Astronomer Royal [John Pond; see letter dated 28 Sep. 1811], biographical information about her brother Edward Maskelyne who had invited her to Madras where she met Lord Clive...

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The log book of HMS Adventure compiled by W. Bayly during his passage to the South Seas as part of the expedition led by Captain James Cook in HMS Resolution.

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The log book of HMS Resolution compiled by William Wales during the passage to the South Seas under the command of Captain James Cook.

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This section is inverted in the volume and consists of two series: a daily log of time by the watch [K1], and further observations covering December 1779 to September 1780.

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Preceded by an explanation of the table [RGO 14/60: 8v] and signed by Captain Cook and James King.

Scope and Contents Tabulated observations for the voyage, including records of the time by the watch or timekeeper, the apparent time, observed altitudes and lunar distances, estimates of latitude and longitude, magnetic variation, barometer and thermometer readings, and additional remarks. Reference is often made to the instruments used (including instruments by John Dollond, Jesse Ramsden, John Bird and Gowan Knight, and timekeepers by Larcum Kendall), and who made the observations (including Cook,...

Scope and Contents Tabulated observations made by astronomer William Bayly. These include records of the time by the watch, apparent time, altitudes of the sun, moon and stars, observations of lunar distance, barometer and thermometer readings, estimates of latitude and longitude, and magnetic variation.Occasional remarks on the observations are included: for example, in [RGO 14/61/3: 57r] Bayly records that his instruments were taken on shore at Kamchatka, Russia, where observations were made from 26...

Scope and Contents Observations made on Captain Cook’s third voyage. Includes summarised daily entries providing the date, estimates of latitude and longitude, bearings and distance, variation of the compass, and thermometer readings, along with intermittent entries of astronomical calculations. The ship travelled via Madeira and via Port Praya in St. Iago towards the Cape of Good Hope, anchoring at Table Bay on 10 November 1776 [RGO 14/67: 76v]. There are no entries for December 1776 or January 1777....

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Preceded by a note on setting up the observatory and on taking the observations [RGO 14/60: 14v] and followed by a table of comparisons of the timekeepers and clocks; signed by Captain Cook and James King. The remainder of the volume is blank.

Scope and Contents Daily observations of the going rate of the two watches during the voyage, with signatures from each of the three keyholders, William Wales, Captain James Cook, and First Lieutenant Robert Palliser Cooper (sometimes signed instead by Charles Clerke, Joseph Gilbert, or Richard Pickersgill). The rates are recorded alongside the temperatures inside and outside the cabin and comments on any difficulties with proceeding, and on periodic comparisons made between the watches and either the...

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Observations made on board HMS Adventure during her passage to the South Seas as part of the expedition led by Captain James Cook in HMS Resolution.