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 instructions on what to observe. There is also an article in 'Nature'; maps of the path of the eclipse across Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Algiers, Tunisia, Italy, Greece and Turkey; a map of Southern Europe; and two maps of Southern Spain and Sicily.