Scope and Contents

Personal and business cards of visitors to the Royal Observatory, including M.F. Maury, C.H.F. Peters, W.H. Smyth, H.C.G. Rümker, C. Pritchard, L.A. Quetelet, G.B. Donati, C.E. Delaunay, R.W. Bunsen, E.J. Stone, G.P. Bond, F. Galton, C.F. Varley, G.H. Richards, J. Yates and C. Abbe. A large proportion of the cards belonged to foreign visitors.

Scope and Contents Correspondence on the workings of, repairs to, ratings of, and transactions involving chronometers. The volume includes papers on the Westminster Clock and Bell; addresses of chronometer makers; printed papers about Jurgensen and Sons, chronometer makers; new balance springs, 1859-1864; trials and ratings of chronometers for the Indian Store Department; a report on chronometers used aboard HMS 'Hecate'; and a letter by J. Rodwell Hux on the history of horology. The correspondents include...

Scope and Contents Correspondence on the workings of, packing of, repairs to, ratings of, and transactions involving chronometers. The volume covers chronometer trials, 1840-1865; trials for chronometer ratings for the Indian Stores Department, the Italian government and mail watches; the influence of air pressure on clock rates; J.B. Harbard's description of clock rates; a time piece for measuring a ship's speed; a clock for Ipswich Town Hall; and a programme of horological instruments by M.F. Dent for the...

Scope and Contents Correspondence on the rates of, repairs to, trials of, sales of, regulations of, requests on, and ownership of chronometers. The volume covers chronometers for ascertaining a ship's speed; regulations for the testing of chronometers at Liverpool Observatory; mail guards' watches; accounts for chronometers and relevant charges; chronometers for the Indian Department and the Austrian government; the Burdett-Coutts prize for the best essay on balance-springs; and a Swiss report on chronometers...

Scope and Contents

Correspondence on the rates of, repairs to, damage to, ownership of, conversions to, and carriage of various chronometers. The volume covers the Burdett-Coutts prize essay for a compensation balance; problems with the Portsmouth sidereal clock; and proposals for a new electric turret clock at the University of London. The correspondents include F.J.O. Evans, H.C.G. Rümker, C.A.F. Peters, G.H. Richards, C. Wheatstone, C.V. Walker and W.B. Carpenter.

Scope and Contents Correspondence for the preparation of expeditions to Spain and Sicily to observe the total solar eclipse, 21-22 December 1870. The correspondence with the Royal Society, Royal Astronomical Society, the Admiralty and the India Office includes letters from R.C. Carrington, G.G. Stokes, Sir J.N. Lockyer, A.C. Ranyard, W. Lassell, W. De La Rue, W. Huggins, C. Pritchard, Sir E. Sabine, Admiral G.H. Richards and H. Merivale. There are lists for those participating, the expeditions' accounts and...

Scope and Contents

Correspondence regarding the time ball at Deal, much of it concerning the construction of the station. The correspondents include Sir F. Beaufort, J.T. Walker, W. Richards and A. Hall. The papers include a diagram of triangulation between St Peters, Thanet, Dover Castle and Paddlesworth.

Scope and Contents Correspondence and related papers on the time signal and time ball service, including a proposed time ball on Tuskar Rock in the Irish Sea, with a chart; a proposed time signal at Dundee; cable laying on the Great Eastern Railway; a proposed Ipswich Time Ball; the rating and errors of the Westminster and Post Office clocks; a proposed public clock for the City of London; electric clocks for the Adelaide Parliament, Madras (including a drawing) and Colaba Observatory in Bombay (including...

Scope and Contents Correspondence regarding admissions to visit the Royal Observatory. The volume is divided broadly into requests from the Admiralty to visit the Royal Observatory; introductions on behalf of visitors; personal requests to visit the Observatory, including visits by Prince Arthur and Louis Phillipe d'Orleans; questionnaires for visitors; and instructions to assistants to receive visitors. The correspondents include J. Washington, G.H. Richards, W.G. Romaine, R. Grant, W. Thomson, J.R. Hind, W....

Scope and Contents Correspondence regarding admissions to visit the Royal Observatory. The volume is divided broadly into requests by the Admiralty to visit the Royal Observatory, introductions on behalf of visitors, and personal requests to visit the Observatory. The correspondents include H.C.G.G. Lennox, G.H. Richards, F.J.O. Evans, R. Hall, J. Winlock, B.A. Gould, R. Grant, E.J. Stone, A.A. de la Rive, C.T. Bright, J.W. Lubbock, J.C. Adams, E.J. Routh, J. Glaisher, W. De La Rue, W. Farr, the Earl of Rosse,...

Scope and Contents Correspondence regarding admissions to visit the Royal Observatory. The volume is divided broadly into requests by the Admiralty to visit the Royal Observatory, introductions on behalf of visitors, personal requests to visit the Observatory, and instructions to assistants on receiving guests. The correspondents include F.J.O. Evans, G.H. Richards, R. Hall, T.H. Stafford, A. Cayley, J. Glaisher, F.N.M. Moigno, O. Struve, E.J. Routh, T.A. Hirst, F.A.T. Winnecke, W. Spottiswode, E.J.A. Gautier,...

Scope and Contents Correspondence with various telegraph companies concerned mainly with the failure of time signals, the refurbishment and repairs of wires, the connections with the Royal Observatory, and the trials of overhead wires. There are papers regarding tests on the Dartford Earth current wires; the damage and restoration of telegraph wires due to snowstorms; Airy's details of telegraphic equipment and methods employed at the Royal Observatory, found in 'Description of the galvanic connexions'; a...

Scope and Contents Reductions of the Greenwich meteorological observations, 1848-1868. The volume includes Airy's request for a £100 grant to reduce the meteorological observations; notes on reducing the observations; interim reports on the state of temperature reductions, 1848-1868, and barometer reductions, 1854-1873; government cereal and harvest statistics; correlation of harvest statistics and meteorological observations; and two copies of draft interpretations of the reductions of the temperature...

Scope and Contents Correspondence and papers concerning improvements and refinements to chronometers, including escapements by G.W. Linderoth, J. Gray, J.C. Bloxam, and W. Eaton; I. Hermann's escapement, with explanations and plans; C.F. Frodsham's experiments on compensator balances; E. Huntingdon's compensating pendulum; a model face of an astronomical clock; H.B. James on his invention, 'the compensator'; extracts from a report on Danish exhibits at chronometer exhibitions; correction of a clock by magnetic...

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Correspondence and papers concerning entrants and ratings for the annual competitive chronometer trials. The volume includes ratings of repaired chronometers and regulations on the purchase and exchange of chronometers. The correspondents include W.H.M. Christie, W. Harkness, G.H. Richards, F.J.O. Evans and various chronometer makers.

Scope and Contents

Correspondence and papers concerning entrants and ratings for the annual competitive chronometer trials. The volume includes papers on the handling of chronometers and the exchange and purchase of chronometers, most notably for the Arctic expedition. The correspondents include G.H. Richards, F.J.O. Evans, T. Nelson and various chronometer makers.

Scope and Contents Correspondence and papers regarding the determination of longitudes by means of telegraph. There are papers on the difference in longitude between Paris and Greenwich, with observations and transits for clock errors; U.J.J. Le Verrier's determination of the longitude of Le Havre; A. Loussedat's determination of the difference in longitude between Toulouse and Montpellier; the longitude of Glasgow; and the difference in longitude between Altona and Schwerin. There are also papers relating to...

Scope and Contents Correspondence relating to the missing volume of minutes of the Board of Visitors for the years 1784 to 1830. There is also correspondence on the extraction of minutes relating to the Royal Observatory from the Council Minutes of the Royal Society. The letters date from 1861.Letter and notes on the burial place of John Flamsteed, 1863.Note by J. Carpenter concerning the 'Old Equatorial', 1864.Memorandum concerning the supposed location of James Bradley and Nevil...

Scope and Contents Notes on John Flamsteed intended to serve for a history of the Royal Observatory, comprised of an extract from the parish register of Burstow, Surrey.Notes on Edmond Halley intended to serve for a history of the Royal Observatory, comprised of a biography by F.W. Simms, an extract from 'The Weekly Visitor', and a copy of the inscription on his gravestone.Notes by F.W. Simms on Halley's Comet intended to serve for a history of the Royal Observatory.Notes by Airy on...

Scope and Contents Correspondence and papers on magnetic disturbances, magnetic observations, statistics and reductions, requests for data and matters arising from magnetic papers. There are papers concerning the disagreement between Airy and E. Sabine concerning the usefulness of Greenwich magnetic observations; an article in 'The Engineer' on meteorological observations at the Royal Observatory and a paper on early railways by S. Smiles; 'The relation of the Earth's magnetism to the rotation of the Sun' by...