Identity area
Reference code
Herschel/Box 1/Letter 4
Unique identifier
Title
Date(s)
- 2 July 1813 (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
4p. paper
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Astronomer; son of Sir William Herschel; senior wrangler and first Smith's prizeman, 1813; subsequently fellow of St John's College, Cambridge; MA 1816; helped to found Analytical Society, Cambridge, 1813; secretary to Royal Society 1824-7; president of Astronomical Society, 1827-32; created baronet, 1838; president of British Association, 1845; master of the Mint, 1850-5. Major contribution to astronomy through the discovery and cataloguing of many double stars, work on 'light' and early work on photographical process. Buried in Westminster Abbey.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Discusses an epigram of Byron's, the current state of society and religious belief and notes the unrest abroad in the country. Exhorts the recipient to keep mentally active and states that mathematics and music take up all his time