Correspondence map
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John Frederick William Herschel
Warren de la Rue
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

Copy of a letter. Thanks for engraving of Saturn; comments on other aspects of observing that planet. John Frederick William Herschel notes he is confined to a wheelchair.
26 September 1855 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/23/159
Autograph letter signed by sender. At the recent A.G.M. of the Royal Astronomical Society Club, John Frederick William Herschel was elected an Honorary Life Member. Hopes he will attend many more meetings.
21 July 1856 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/136
Autograph letter signed by sender. Returned late on Thursday. Is gratified by John Frederick William Herschel's praise of his drawings of Saturn. Includes some further drawings and comments on John Frederick William Herschel's queries.
12 October 1856 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/137
Autograph letter signed by sender. Made some observations of Jupiter after his last letter. Thought John Frederick William Herschel might be interested in seeing them. Would be grateful for any comments, which he will incorporate into his final drawing.
13 October 1856 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/138
Autograph letter signed by sender. Is pleased that John Frederick William Herschel approves of his drawings of the planets. Hopes to publish some drawings of the other planets in the future. Has moved his observatory but hopes soon to start observations. Unable to comment on Otto Struve's observations.
11 May 1857 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/139
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has not been able to go to Kew Observatory yet. The photoheliograph has to await John Welsh's return from Scotland. A reflector with a diagonal mirror would be suitable for celestial objects. Has now removed to Cranford.
28 September 1857 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/140
Copy of a letter. Thanks for engravings of Saturn and Jupiter; would like to see an astronomical picture book produced.
6 May 1857 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/23/198
Copy of a letter. Thanks for photograph of the moon.
25 September 1857 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/23/206
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has just dispatched to Hawkhurst station a positive copy in glass of a photograph of the moon. Has many photographs but this is the best one. Has constructed a reflecting stereoscope. Angelo Secchi visited him but the weather was not suitable for observations.
11 September 1858 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/141
Autograph letter signed by sender. Is pleased the photograph arrived safely. Would be pleased to show him his collection of original negatives. Comments on the difficulties of using a telescope with a longer focus. Regarding improvements to the photoheliography at Kew. Encloses sketch of the comet.
15 September 1858 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/142
Draft letter. Has now had time to examine the stereoscopic photograph of the moon. Thinks it is a wonderful effect and opens up a new field for terrestrial objects.
10 October 1858 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/6/143
Copy of a letter. Thanks for the lunar photographs; comments on other observations.
13 September 1858 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/23/237
Copy of draft letter, copied as part of the correspondence project led by Colonel John Herschel FRS following the death of his father. Has now had time to examine the stereoscopic photograph of the moon. Thinks it is a wonderful effect and opens up a new field for terrestrial objects.
10 October 1858 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/23/241
Autograph letter signed by sender. Sending R. C. Carrington's certificate for John Frederick William Herschel's signature.
5 December 1859 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/144
Copy of a letter. Requests information about specula for telescopes, especially silvered glass ones.
27 August 1859 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/23/272
Copy of a letter. Further questions about the physical optics of telescopes [see John Frederick William Herschel's 1859-8-27].
8 November 1859 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/23/284Sir 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.

Autograph letter signed by sender. Sending Robert Main's certificate for John Frederick William Herschel's signature.
28 January 1860 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/145
Autograph letter signed by sender. Please accept his thanks for his article on telescopes. Comments on John Frederick William Herschel's views. Would like 50 copies of the article to distribute to opticians.
1 December 1860 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/146Death 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

Autograph letter signed by sender. Sending him his first photograph of the sun's spot. Has caused a lot of preparation. Comments on various points.
24 August 1861 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/147
Autograph letter signed by sender. Gives diameter of the sun's image. Used an ordinary eye-piece. There must be some mistake about the penumbra. It is possible now to take daily records of the surface of the sun.
26 June 1861 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/148
Autograph letter signed by sender. Is pleased that John Frederick William Herschel likes his plates of Mars. Has a great collection of drawings of Mars but only a few of Venus. Hopes by the Spring to have the photoheliograph working. Has just completed his volume on the eclipse for 1860.
10 November 1861 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/149
Copy of a letter. Thanks for pictures of Mars; speculates on the atmospheres of some planets.
7 November 1861 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/23/346
Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding the pictures of the moon by M. M. Gussew. Gives details of the eclipse of 1860. Heliograph has been working at his observatory since February. G. Sabler has now left and will doubtless do good work when he receives his instrument from J. H. Dallmeyer.
14 September 1862 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/150
Copy of a letter. Thanks for fine engravings; is concerned about the 'miraculous phenomena' depicted on some other people's engravings, 'especially American ones.'
28 February 1862 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/23/364
Autograph letter signed by sender. Thinks it possible that a letter he wrote to Charles Pritchard may have been passed to John Frederick William Herschel. Thinks there is some substance in James Nasmyth's claim on seeing 'Willow leaves' on the surface of the sun.
23 November 1863 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/152
Autograph letter signed by sender. Regarding the solar photographs. They are not magnified originals but taken direct. Comments on these photographs. Has had correspondence with W. R. Dawes regarding the 'willow leaves' of James Nasmyth.
1 May 1864 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/153
Autograph letter signed by sender. Agrees with him that J. Müller's drawings do not show the entities around the sunspot clearly. Has nearly completed the apparatus for holding one of John Frederick William Herschel's sun prisms to his reflector. Hopes to do something with it soon.
1 June 1864 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/154
Autographed letter, incomplete. Appreciates the difference between Robert Hooke's and John Frederick William Herschel's suggestions for a helioscopic telescope. Comments on these suggestions. Has recently constructed a reflecting prism. Comments on this.
3 July 1864 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/155
Autograph letter signed by sender. Was not the person who sent him some photographs of the sun. Was glad the Astronomical Soiree was well spoken of. James Nasmyth was conspicuous and is pleased he was mentioned in John Frederick William Herschel's Outlines Astr.
11 July 1864 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/156
Autograph letter signed by sender. Encloses a letter from William Simms, which contains a suggestion for John Frederick William Herschel's reflecting prism. Inclines to the view that a reflector is not the most suitable instrument for sun observations.
18 July 1864 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/157
Autograph letter signed by sender. Sending the tracing again with a few additions. Comments on this and the one sent yesterday.
20 July 1864 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/158
Autograph letter signed by sender. Sending a photograph of the moon 38 in diameter. Begs him to accept it as a mark of appreciation."
6 August 1864 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/159
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has just returned from a short tour of Russia. Visited Pulkowa and Nijny Novgorod. Had difficulties with couriers. John Frederick William Herschel's suggestion for a rotating disc with slit to reduce sunlight sounds feasible. Weather was unsuitable at Pulkowa for any observations.
24 September 1864 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/160
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has just received John Frederick William Herschel's 'Catalogue of Nebulae.' Has placed his skeleton tube in the cradle of his equatorial. Comments on this and gives sketches.
25 October 1864 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/161
Autograph letter signed by sender. Encloses a letter from Angelo Secchi. Sent him a Herschelian eye piece and is having a prism prepared for him. Secchi has seen James Nasmyth's 'willow leaves.'
22 November 1864 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/162
Draft letter. Thanks for the diary and pocket book. Sees that A. V. Guillemin has published an illustrated Astronomy [Le ciel (Paris, 1864)]. Thinks there is scope for publishing a volume of engravings of astronomical objects. Gives his own idea for the construction of a photometer.
4 December 1864 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/6/163
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has received a letter from Angelo Secchi who states that he has seen James Nasmyth's 'willow leaves.' Remainder of letter relates to the John Frederick William Herschel prism, which he sent him through Cardinal N. P. S. Wiseman.
12 December 1864 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/164
Copy of draft letter, copied as part of the correspondence project led by Colonel John Herschel FRS following the death of his father. Thanks for the diary and pocket book. Sees that A. V. Guillemin has published an illustrated Astronomy [Le ciel (Paris, 1864)]. Thinks there is scope for publishing a volume of engravings of astronomical objects. Gives his own idea for the construction of a photometer.
4 December 1864 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/73
Autograph letter signed by sender. Would John Frederick William Herschel look through the proof of Warren de la Rue's speech on the presentation of a [the Royal Astronomical Society] medal to Professor G. P. Bond and make any comments or suggestions.
14 January 1865 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/165
Autograph letter signed by sender. Encloses two certificates and hopes that he will give the candidates his support. Has just received a letter from Angelo Secchi on the Herschelian prism.
30 January 1865 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/166
Draft letter. Returns the certificates duly signed and also Angelo Secchi's letter, which he was pleased to see. Elaborates on the possible causes of James Nasmyth's 'willow leaves.'
31 January 1865 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/6/167
Autograph letter signed by sender. Was pleased to receive John Frederick William Herschel's letter requesting him to communicate the subject to the Society. Has been busy preparing the Annual Report so has not had time to follow up Mr. Traye's papers.
10 February 1865 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/168
Copy of draft letter, copied as part of the correspondence project led by Colonel John Herschel FRS following the death of his father. Returns the certificates duly signed and also Angelo Secchi's letter, which he was pleased to see. Elaborates on the possible causes of James Nasmyth's 'willow leaves.'
31 January 1865 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/84Sir John Herschel publishes his translation of Homer’s Iliad
1866

Autograph letter signed by sender. Has sent on the correspondence about K. L. C. Rümker's Southern Catalogue. Has recorded his vote in favor of the £150 for the reduction. Proposes sending his eldest son to Paris to study French and Art.
21 April 1866 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/169Sir John Herschel publishes Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects
1867
Benjamin Disraeli becomes Prime Minister
1 February 1868
William Gladstone becomes Prime Minister
1 December 1868
Jules Verne serializes Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
1869: (Vingt Mille Lieues sous les Mers)

Autograph letter signed by sender. Has written to Kew Observatory to send on the photographs.
25 April 1870 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/170
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has just learnt that some negatives were sent to his former place of residence. Will forward them when he goes to the City. A vote has been made from the Donation Fund of the Royal Society [of London] for six copies of the Kew Solar negatives.
30 April 1870 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/171
Autograph letter signed by sender. Would like to incorporate John Frederick William Herschel's suggestions in his paper and he has revised the numbers. Made an attempt to photograph the moon while totally eclipsed, but was unsuccessful.
13 July 1870 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/172
Copy of a letter. Inquires about other sunspot observations made by John Frederick William Herschel.
23 April 1870 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/305
Copy of a letter. Thanks for the photographs Warren de la Rue sent for the dates requested in John Frederick William Herschel's 1870-4-23.
5 May 1870 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/311
Copy of a letter. Comments on sunspot activity; agrees to inclusion of some paragraphs in a paper Warren de la Rue is writing.
14 July 1870 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/322Death of Sir John Herschel, at Collingwood, Kent
11 May 1871
Sir John Herschel is buried at Westminster Abbey
19 May 1871

Autograph letter signed by sender. Is glad he is pleased with the work of Balfour Stewart and himself. Has applied to Royal Society [of London] for a further grant to carry on the observations and computations for another year. Intends to finance the last year himself. Since the death of his brother he has returned to business.
15 February 1871 Sender: Warren de la Rue Reference number: HS/6/173