Identity area
Reference code
Herschel/Box 1/Letter 15
Unique identifier
Title
Date(s)
- 8 November 1817 (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
3p. 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
Asks for news from Cambridge, tells of Summer spent walking in Devonshire with Babbage, asks Whittaker to investigate the monetary transactions involved with a room of Herschel's. Notes the death of the philosopher, Delue