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Correspondence Explorer

Choose two people to view all letters between them.

Showing 492 letters from 1812–1868

314 letters from John Frederick William Herschel; 178 letters from Charles Babbage

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Interact with the map by zooming, clicking hotspots, and selecting items to see more details. Hit play on the timeline to show correspondence over time.

Charles Babbage, John Frederick William Herschel and George Peacock found the Analytical Society

3 March 1812

John Frederick William Herschel presents his first scientific paper

12 November 1812:

John Frederick William Herschel communicates a paper on Cote’s theorem to the Royal Society

Autograph letter signed by sender. Sending an equation in calculus for him to give opinion.

20 June 1812 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/1

Autograph letter signed by sender. Further comment on the calculus equation sent by Charles Babbage.

14 August 1812 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/4

Autograph letter signed by sender. Sending details of some new theorems he has come across.

22 December 1812 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/5

Autograph letter signed by sender. Giving equations.

August 1812 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/358

Autograph letter signed by sender. Copy formula and send it to [Richard?] Taylor.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/359

Draft letter. Regarding equational problems.

1812 ? Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/360

Copy of a letter. Sends on part of letter for Charles Babbage to complete and forward.

1812 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/20/3

Copy of a letter. About the mathematical formulation for the summation of any series.

1812-8 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/20/4
1813

John Frederick William Herschel graduates Senior Wrangler at St John’s College, Cambridge

1813

John Frederick William Herschel is elected Fellow of the Royal Society

27 May 1813

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding his memoir: would like to see part of Charles Babbage's notes.

4 May 1813 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/11

Copy of a letter, incomplete. Sends a number of theorems and integrals.

1813-9 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/20/12

Copy of a letter. Orders equipment from London through Charles Babbage.

1813-9-24 or later Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/20/14
1814

Autograph letter signed by sender. Comments on the equation sent by Charles Babbage. Has been experimenting with potassium.

4 August 1814 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/26

Autograph letter signed by sender. Sends equations in operational calculus.

August 1814 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/27

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding Charles Babbage's marriage. Possibility of a suitable situation for him.

7 August 1814 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/28
1815

John Frederick William Herschel begins as sub-lector at St. John's College, Cambridge

1 May 1815

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding Charles Babbage's theory of the atmosphere of the sun, planets, and stars.

16 February 1815 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/36

Autograph letter signed by sender. Newman has sent the apparatus. Problems in calculus.

13 November 1815 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/46
1816

John Frederick William Herschel is awarded Master of Arts (MA), at the University of Cambridge

30 January 1816

John Frederick William Herschel starts astronomical work alongside his father Sir William Herschel FRS

1816

1817

Autograph letter signed by sender. Come on Friday to meet E. F. Bromhead and discuss notation.

28 May 1817 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/82

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding the calculus of derivations.

18 August 1817 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/85
1818

Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

1818

Autograph letter signed by sender. Gives some analytical equations for his comments.

13 October 1818 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/96
1819

John Frederick William Herschel serves on the Board of Longitude

1819

Autograph letter signed by sender. Gives equation. Is arranging the visit to Paris.

7 January 1819 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/108

Autograph letter signed by sender. Would he please forward the letters and papers which he left behind.

17 February 1819 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/109

Autograph letter signed by sender. Relates the details of his accident. Gives equations and theorems.

19 February 1819 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/111
1820

John Frederick William Herschel publishes in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

1820: John Frederick William Herschel publishes “On the action of crystallized bodies on homogeneous light, and on the causes of the deviation from Newton's scale in the tints which many of them develope on exposure to a polarised ray” .

John Frederick William Herschel serves his first term as Foreign Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society

1820

Autograph letter signed by sender. Gives Latin motto. Is sending his chemical book.

2 November 1820 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/146

Copy of a letter. About plans for journey to visit Charles Babbage in Cornwall, and to go beyond.

12 April 1820 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/20/88

Copy of a letter. Declining invitation for William Herschel to be President of the Astronomical Society.

21 April 1820 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/20/91
1821

John Frederick William Herschel and Charles Babbage travel through France to Italy and Switzerland.

1821

John Frederick William Herschel publishes in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

1821: John Frederick William Herschel publishes “On the aberrations of compound lenses and object-glasses" in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

John Frederick William Herschel receives the Copley Medal of the Royal Society for his papers printed in the Philosophical Transactions

1821

Autograph letter signed by sender. Meeting at Dr. George Pearson's on Friday next.

31 January 1821 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/154

Autograph letter signed by sender. Please forward the address of H. Meikle, the computer.

4 May 1821 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/158

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding barometric observations.

25 November 1821 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/167

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding their chances of obtaining a professorship at Cambridge.

2 December 1821 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/168

Contemporary copy in Herschel's hand. Regarding their chances of obtaining a professorship at Cambridge.

2 December 1821 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/168a
1822

Death of Sir William Herschel FRS

25 August 1822

Autograph letter signed by sender. Matters relating to his calculating machine.

9 April 1822 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/171

Autograph letter signed by sender. The account will be inserted in the Morning Chronicle tomorrow.

10 September 1822 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/177

Autograph letter signed by sender. Destroy or return the article given him on Thursday. Has found something better.

19 October 1822 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/180

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding the Cambridge affair. Has had a letter from the Edinburgh Society of Arts.

5 December 1822 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/182
1823

John Frederick William Herschel receives the Bakerian Medal of the Royal Society.

1823: John Frederick William Herschel gives the Bakerian lecture “On certain Motions produced in Fluid Conductors when transmitting the Electric Current”.

Autograph letter signed by sender. Has purchased the picture for £8. Will be at Birmingham tomorrow.

10 August 1823 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/190
1824

John Frederick William Herschel moves to 56 Devonshire St., Portland Place, London

1824

John Frederick William Herschel serves as Secretary of the Royal Society

30 November 1824

Autograph letter signed by sender. His recent tours in Italy and Germany, and the people he met.

3 October 1824 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/199
1825

John Frederick William Herschel invents the actinometer to measure the heating power of the Sun’s rays

1825

Charles Babbage and John Frederick William Herschel publish in the Philosophical Transactions

1825: Charles Babbage and John Frederick William Herschel publish an “Account of the repetition of M. Arago's experiments on the magnetism manifested by various substances during the act of rotation”.

1826

John Frederick William Herschel publishes in the Philosophical Transactions

1826: John Frederick William Herschel publishes “On the parallax of the fixed stars”.

Autograph letter signed by sender. Geological remarks on the surrounding area and excursions made.

25 September 1826 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/204

Autographed letter . Directory of specified shops. List of chemical apparatus.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/398
1827

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce presents his photographs in England for the first time

1827

Autograph letter signed by sender. Letter of condolence on the death of Charles Babbage's son Charles.

29 July 1827 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/212

Autograph letter signed by sender. News of the illness of his son.

July 1827 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/342

Autograph letter signed by sender. Remarks on various equations.

Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/348

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding various publications for distribution.

1827 to 1829 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/369

Autographed letter . News concerning Edward Ryan.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/370
1828
1829

John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart are married in London

3 March 1829

Autograph letter signed by sender. Can Charles Babbage come down on Sunday to see about the machine?

26 January 1829 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/238
1830

John Frederick William Herschel is elected Foreign correspondent of the Académie des sciences

1830

Birth of Caroline Emilia Mary Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

31 March 1830

John Frederick William Herschel is nominated for the presidency of the Royal Society, loses by 8 votes to the Duke of Sussex

30 November 1830

Autograph letter signed by sender. Has heard the news about Government support for the machine; is this correct?

28 February 1830 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/243

Autograph letter signed by sender. Sending books for Wilhelm Struve. Would like to see the latter before he returns to Germany.

26 September 1830 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/371

Autograph letter signed by sender. Will call on him tomorrow.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/372

Autograph letter signed by sender. Will call for him on his way to the river.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/374

Autograph letter signed by sender. Will he meet him tomorrow.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/375
1831

Mary Somerville publishes Mechanism of the Heavens

1831

Sir John Herschel is created Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order

1831

Sir John Herschel publishes Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy as part of Dionysius Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopaedia.

1831

Birth of Isabella Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

5 June 1831

1832

Autograph letter signed by sender. Is delighted that John Frederick William Herschel is coming to dinner.

18 December 1832 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/277
1833

Sir John Herschel receives the Royal Medal from the Royal Society

1833: The Medal is awarded "For his paper on nebulae and clusters of stars, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1833."

Sir John Herschel publishes A treatise on astronomy as part of Dionysius Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopaedia.

1833

Birth of William James Herschel, son of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

1833

Sir John Herschel departs for South Africa with his wife and their three children

13 November 1833

Autograph letter signed by sender. Outlines possible program for Wednesday.

10 June 1833 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/282

Autograph letter signed by sender. Let him know when the next Levee is.

6 July 1833 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/284

Autograph letter signed by sender. Giving the date of the next Levee.

7 July 1833 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/285
1834

Birth of Margaret Louisa Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

1834

1835

Sir John Herschel serves as President of the Literary and Philosophical Society of the Cape of Good Hope

1835

Halley’s comet becomes visible

28 November 1835

Autograph letter signed by sender. Commiserating on Charles Babbage's calamity.

20 January 1835 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/289
1836

Birth of Alexander Stewart Herschel, son of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

5 February 1836

1837

Victoria becomes Queen of the United Kingdom

20 June 1837

Birth of John Herschel, son of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

29 October 1837

1838

Sir John Herschel returns from South Africa

1838: A banquet in presence of Queen Victoria is given to celebrate his return to Britain and made a Baronet.

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding his party. Difficulties and accidents.

15 August 1838 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/291
1839

Sir John Herschel serves his first term as President of the Royal Astronomical Society

1839: to 1841

Birth of Maria Sophia Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

1839

William Henry Fox Talbot presents his paper-based photographic process at the Royal Society

1839

1840
1841

Sir Robert Peel becomes Prime Minister

1841

Birth of Amelia Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

1841

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding a missing picture of his father.

29 September 1841 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/297

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding the missing picture [HS.2.297].

17 November 1841 Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/298

Autograph letter signed by sender. Please send on the picture. Hopes he had a good time in Italy.

20 November 1841 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/299

Autograph letter signed by sender. The Ryans are in London.

1841 ? Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/365
1842

Birth of Julia Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

1842

Sir John Herschel publishes in the Philosophical Transactions

1842: Sir John Herschel publishes “On the action of the rays of the solar spectrum on vegetable colours, and on some new photographic processes

1843
1844

Birth of Matilda Rose Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

1844

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding the health of his aunt and other family matters.

14 September 1844 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/309

Autograph letter signed by sender. General family news.

Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/351

Autograph letter signed by sender. Family news.

Sender: Charles Babbage Reference number: HS/2/352
1845

Sir John Herschel serves as President of the British Association

1845

Autograph letter signed by sender. Health has improved. Regarding an experiment carried out at the Royal Institution.

20 December 1845 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/312
1846

Birth of Francisca Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

1846

Sir John Herschel serves his second term as Foreign Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society

1846: To 1847

1847

Sir John Herschel serves his second term as President of the Royal Astronomical Society

1847: Until 1849

Sir John Herschel receives the Copley Medal

1847: Sir John Herschel receives the Copley Medal of the Royal Society "For his work entitled Results of Astronomical Observations made during the years 1834, 1835, 1836, 1837 and 1838, at the Cape of Good Hope; being a completion of a telescopic survey of the whole surface of the visible heavens, commenced in 1825"

Sir John Herschel publishes a paper

1847: Sir John Herschel publishes Results of astronomical observations made during the years 1834, 5, 6, 7, 8, at the Cape of Good Hope; being a completion of a telescopic survey of the whole surface of the visible heavens, commenced in 1825.

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding the physical features of the moon.

8 June 1847 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/315
1848

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood is formed, by John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rosetti and others

1848

Napoleon III is elected first President of France

20 December 1848

1849

Sir John Herschel publishes Outlines of Astronomy.

1849

1850

Sir John Herschel is appointed Master of the Mint

1850

1851

Sir John Herschel serves as juror of the Great Exhibition

1851

Autograph letter signed by sender. Please let him have David Brewster's address.

19 August 1851 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/321

Autograph letter signed by sender. Will show his friends round the Mint.

21 August 1851 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/322

Autograph letter signed by sender. Further regarding lighthouses.

30 October 1851 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/324

Autograph letter signed by sender. Will he and David Brewster dine with him on Tuesday.

1851 to 1853 ? Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/396
1852

Autograph letter signed by sender. Does not wish to become a Vice-Patron of the College of Preceptors.

19 February 1852 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/325

Autograph letter signed by sender. Can he lend him Thomas Young's lectures?

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/380

Autograph letter signed by sender. Will visit him on Sunday if the weather is suitable.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/381

Autograph letter signed by sender. Invitation to dine with him.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/382

Autograph letter signed by sender. Sending an 'ill matched pair.' Has got a cold.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/384

Autograph letter signed by sender. Will be pleased to dine with him. Has been unlucky of late.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/386

Autograph letter signed by sender. Is returning his porisms. Comments on his geometrical language.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/387
1853

Autograph letter signed by sender. Number of half-crowns minted in the years 1832-53.

1853 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/377

Autograph letter signed by sender. Is unable to dine with him as his rheumatism is too bad.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/378

Autograph letter signed by sender. Thanks for some article.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/395
1854
1855

Birth of Constance Anne Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

1855

Sir John Herschel is elected Foreign Associate of the Institut de France

1855

Sir John Herschel resigns from his position as Master of the Mint

1855

1857
1858
1859

Autograph letter signed by sender. Has found a temporary tenant for his house.

4 December 1859 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/330
1860

Sir John Herschel publishes in the Proceedings of the Royal Society

1860: Sir John Herschel publishes some “Remarks on colour-blindness" extracted from a referee report on Pole’s paper on the same subject.

1861

Death of Margaret Louisa Marshall, née Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

1861

William Morris established the decorative design firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Company (later Morris & Company)

1861

Charles Dickens publishes Great Expectations as a three-volume book

1861

Sir John Herschel publishes Physical Geography as part of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

1861

Abraham Lincoln begins his term as President of the United States

4 March 1861

1862

Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding financial affairs. Is having trouble with his eyes. Has done little of late.

8 November 1862 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/332
1864

Autograph letter signed by sender. Thanking him for his book [probably Passages in the Life of a Philosopher].

5 June 1864 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/334
1865
1866

Sir John Herschel publishes his translation of Homer’s Iliad

1866

1867

Sir John Herschel publishes Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects

1867

Autograph letter signed by sender. News of the forthcoming marriage of his daughter. Everyone seems to be mad on making ice.

22 November 1867 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/389

Autograph letter signed by sender. Invitation to dine with him.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/390

Autograph letter signed by sender. Is sorry to hear of his misfortunes. Regarding the Ryans.

Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/391
1868

Benjamin Disraeli becomes Prime Minister

1 February 1868

William Gladstone becomes Prime Minister

1 December 1868

Autograph letter signed by sender. Invitation to attend the wedding of John Frederick William Herschel's daughter Amelia.

15 July 1868 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/2/337