Correspondence map
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William Selwyn
John Frederick William Herschel
Autograph letter signed by sender. William Selwyn's brother-in-law [George Peacock] has died after an illness.
10 November 1858 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/462
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.
Autograph letter signed by sender. Mentions a passage of Aristotle regarding comets. Proposes that Origen's theory of the Magi may be correct. Perhaps the Magi saw a comet.
26 March 1860 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/463
Autograph letter signed by sender. Sends pictures of sun. Thanks John Frederick William Herschel for sparking his interest in the sun. Wants John Frederick William Herschel to direct the B.A.A.S.'s use of the Kew telescope to take pictures.
6 December 1860 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/464
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
Autograph letter signed by sender. Discusses 'autograph of the sun' he sent earlier. Discusses measuring relative temperature of sun. Has an unpublished letter of Galileo to Cardinal Barberini regarding sunspots.
19 March 1861 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/465
Autograph letter signed by sender. Discusses Galileo's unpublished letter on sunspots. Outlines comparisons between tropical storms and sunspots as discussed at Cambridge Philosophical Society. Wishes to meet [Frederick] Howlett to discuss sunspots.
27 April 1861 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/466
Autograph letter signed by sender. Sends series of solar heliographs. If further suggestions for improvement of these are noted, please send them. Is preparing to photograph Dec. 31 eclipse.
20 November 1861 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/467
Autographed letter, incomplete. Detached postscript discussing sunspots, comparing them to the low barometric pressure center in cyclones. J. S. Henslow is dying.
1861 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/515
Copy of a letter. Has no suggestions to improve photographs. Wants to determine whether the degradation of light from center to edge of sun is 'real.' Does not think sun's size affects focus.
22 November 1861 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/23/349
1862
Autograph letter signed by sender. Discusses a depression on a heliograph, which he cannot reconcile with [Frederick] Howlett's observations. Conjectures over-exposure in printing may be the culprit.
11 January 1862 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/468
Autograph letter signed by sender. Sending autographs. Discusses the faculae on the eastern limb and the reception of John Frederick William Herschel's note at the Royal Astronomical Society [Frederick] Howlett is drawing a group of sunspots.
12 August 1862 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/469
Autograph letter signed by sender. Discusses problems with darkness on solar autographs and also the appearance of a white spot or 'ghost.' Cannot explain the 'notch' in the Aug. 4 autographs.
8 October 1862 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/470
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has photographs of September 23 . Desires half pictures 'with the sun's limb in the middle of the view.' Cannot yet draw conclusions about the notches of the limb.
16 October 1862 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/15/471
Autograph letter signed by sender. Will send requested half pictures. Notes that the 'ghost' always appears in the center of the plate. Discusses position lines and notches.
18 October 1862 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/472
Copy of a letter, copied as part of the correspondence project led by Colonel John Herschel FRS following the death of his father. Has photographs of September 23 . Desires half pictures 'with the sun's limb in the middle of the view.' Cannot yet draw conclusions about the notches of the limb.
16 October 1862 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/23/389
1863
Autograph letter signed by sender. William Selwyn's photographer may get a grant from the Royal Society [of London] Object glass for new telescope was stolen. They are still using the old one.
26 January 1863 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/473
1864
Autograph letter signed by sender. Discusses translating the Iliad. Discusses Emile Gautier's theory of the maculae, which does not seem to explain what they see.
29 December 1864 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/474
1865
Copy of a letter. Thanks William Selwyn for his Iliad translation. John Frederick William Herschel has just finished Book 3 of his own translation of the Iliad.
1 January 1865 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/80
1866
Sir John Herschel publishes his translation of Homer’s Iliad
1866
Autograph letter signed by sender. Says William Whewell has fallen from his horse and has been injured. Thanks John Frederick William Herschel for a paper he signed for the Royal Society [of London]
25 February 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/475
Autograph letter signed by sender. William Whewell has gotten up to walk several times. The left side of his body and face is still 'not quite right.'
27 February 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/476
Autograph letter signed by sender. William Whewell slightly improved. Dr. [George] Humphry has been elected professor of Anatomy. Is indebted to John Frederick William Herschel because of the paper he sent to the Royal Society [of London]
1 March 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/477
Autograph letter signed by sender. William Whewell seems to have permanent damage to his brain. Whewell has an article in MacMillan's Magazine regarding Auguste Comte's philosophy.
2 March 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/478
Autograph letter signed by sender. William Whewell's symptoms are worse, but his mind is still active.
3 March 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/479
Autograph letter signed by sender. William Whewell's nieces have little hope for his recovery. Whewell is anxious about his article on Grote's Plato for MacMillan's Magazine.
4 March 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/480
Autograph letter signed by sender. William Whewell is still alive, but struggling. Dr. [Gilbert] French has died suddenly.
5 March 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/481
Autograph letter signed by sender. Relays message from Dr. [George] Humphry. William Whewell is conscious but knows he is dying.
6 March 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/482
Autograph letter signed by sender. William Whewell died peacefully that afternoon. The place of burial has not been determined. William Selwyn will speak about him on Friday. Takes comfort in his writings.
6 March 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/483
Autograph letter signed by sender. William Whewell will be buried in Trinity College Chapel. The thought of speaking about Whewell depresses William Selwyn.
8 March 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/484
Autograph letter signed by sender. Compiling three year series of helioautographs. Wants suggestions for noting the position of planets supposedly influencing sunspots. Discusses a passage from one of Galileo's letters concerning the influence of the plan
29 March 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/485
Autograph letter signed by sender. Limited space precludes use of John Frederick William Herschel's suggestions for the photographic display. Will continue the series of solar autographs up to 11 years if he can.
4 April 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/486
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has devised a method of exhibiting the photographs of the configuration of the planets. William Selwyn's sister, Mrs. George Peacock, will marry the new Master of Trinity [William H. Thompson].
17 August 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/487
Autograph letter signed by sender. Thanks John Frederick William Herschel for his sympathy regarding William Selwyn's fall. Describes the meteors he saw from his window on December 4.
13 December 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/488
Autograph letter signed by sender, incomplete. Detached postscript that refers to the behavior of William Whewell before his death.
5? March 1866 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/516
Copy of a letter. Has heard about William Whewell's accident. Hopes he will recover, but knows his advanced age may hinder this. Wishes William Selwyn to send news of progress.
26 February 1866 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/143
Copy of a letter. Thinks William Whewell's excitement may be a 'precursor to exhaustion.' The hope of recovery is very slight. John Frederick William Herschel is interested in Whewell's article on Plato.
5 March 1866 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/146
Copy of a letter. Thanks William Selwyn for communicating the events of William Whewell's last days.
7 March 1866 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/147
Copy of a letter. Discusses how to denote the positions of the celestial bodies in solar photographs. Advocates a system that shows differences of heliocentric longitude on the sides of the sun.
2 April 1866 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/150
Copy of letter, copied as part of the correspondence project led by Colonel John Herschel FRS following the death of his father. Helioautographs are beautiful. Advises keeping original plan for presentation. Says 'Clarke's' [Harvey Carlisle's] article on William Whewell in MacMillan's is satisfactory. Describes an 'absurd paragraph' regarding Whewell in François Moigno's Mondes.
6 April 1866 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/151
Copy of a letter. Says the plan for the exhibition is ingenious. Discusses the 11 year cycle of sunspots and says the sun was spotless the previous day.
20 August 1866 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/164
Copy of a letter. Congratulates William Selwyn on his recovery. Thanks him for the meteor observations. The evidence points to an 11 rather than a 10 year period [in sunspots?].
14 December 1866 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/181
1867
Sir John Herschel publishes Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects
1867
Autograph letter signed by sender. Discusses Aristotle's and Richard Whately's descriptions of the sensitivity of the eye's lateral areas. Asks John Frederick William Herschel to review cover sheet and opine whether the predictions described are miracles.
15 January 1867 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/489
Autograph letter signed by sender. Dr. [Edward] Goulburn, not William Selwyn, is Dean of Norwich. Is trying to refute the position of David Hume that miracles are violations of nature.
24 January 1867 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/491
Autographed letter, incomplete. Thanks John Frederick William Herschel for a 'corrected edition of Deambulatz.' [?] Angelo Secchi has been at Cambridge. Is making composite photographs showing the activity of the sun and planets in the last year.
22 August 1867 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/492
Autograph letter signed by sender. Lack of circularity in some solar autographs is due to clouds. Discusses a quote regarding stars in the Southern Hemisphere. Also, Aristotle's examination of the eye.
12 October 1867 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/493
Autograph letter signed by sender. Sends John Frederick William Herschel a copy of 'Enoch.' Thanks John Frederick William Herschel for his helpful criticisms.
11 November 1867 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/494
Autograph letter signed by sender. Discusses translation of 'Enochus.' Thanks John Frederick William Herschel for the 'Rex Colius,' which amused Adam Sedgwick and William Selwyn.
7 December 1867 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/495
Autograph letter signed by sender. Discusses the translation of 'Enochus' and various suggestions he has been given for its improvement.
28 December 1867 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/496
Autograph letter signed by sender, incomplete. Discusses displaying solar autographs to the best advantage. Invites John Frederick William Herschel's son Alexander to read his meteor paper at the Cambridge Philosophical Society.
1867 or after Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/518
Copy of a letter. Thanks William Selwyn for describing Aristotle's and Richard Whately's observation of the great sensitivity of the eye's lateral portion. Congratulates William Selwyn on becoming Dean of Norwich. Draft discusses miracles and lists possible arguments against William Selwyn's idea that miracles are not a violation of nature
17 January 1867 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/183
1868
Benjamin Disraeli becomes Prime Minister
1 February 1868
William Gladstone becomes Prime Minister
1 December 1868
Autograph letter signed by sender. Will assume trusteeship if he is named in the document. Discusses trying to find Neptune with his telescope.
5 February 1868 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/497
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has autographs showing the spots' motion. Will send them soon. Expresses regret at the death of W. R. Dawes. Refers to recent article on the optician George Merz.
3 March 1868 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/498
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has made arrangements to have copies of solar autographs sent. Discusses sunspots. Inquires whether John Frederick William Herschel knows of the University of Lund in Sweden.
3 April 1868 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/499
Autographed letter, incomplete. Is graphically charting the sun and planets to compare them. Explains the lines and positions of bodies in his diagrams.
15 April 1868 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/500
Autograph letter signed by sender. Discusses his diagram of planetary distances to the sun and earth. Will soon have autographs of sun showing the 'change-up' of a spot.
29 May 1868 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/501
Autograph letter signed by sender. Thanks John Frederick William Herschel for the Dante translation. He and Charles Jenyns commend the translation. Sends a translation [into Latin] of [S. T. Coleridge's] 'Genevieve' for John Frederick William Herschel's c
29 July 1868 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/502
Autograph letter signed by sender. Discusses the great reflector at Lord Rosse's in Ireland. Will send solar autographs John Frederick William Herschel requested. Thanks John Frederick William Herschel for the hints about the Julian Calendar.
29 September 1868 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/503
Autograph letter signed by sender. Sent John Frederick William Herschel's remarks to Mr. Titterton at Ely. Will endeavor to maintain accuracy. The remarks about Jupiter's action are contrary to the general consensus that planets in opposition close up spo
24 October 1868 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/504
Copy of a letter. Discusses the sudden motion of some sunspots. Does not think planetary action is a very probable cause. Discusses upcoming conjunction of Venus and Jupiter.
21 February 1868 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/212
Copy of a letter. Thanks William Selwyn for 'Genevieve' translation. Will not continue the Dante because a Terza Rima translation has been done previously. The sun is behaving oddly.
1 August 1868 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/222
Copy of a letter. Describes the peculiar pairs of sunspots he has recently witnessed. Thinks the earth affected their appearance somehow. Is using the Julian calendar for dating observations.
26 September 1868 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/228
Copy of a letter. Some photographs support the sudden disappearance of the spot on 17 Sept. Some photographs are misdated. The relation of Jupiter and sunspots suggests previously unknown interconnections in the solar system.
23 October 1868 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/234
1869
Jules Verne serializes Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
1869: (Vingt Mille Lieues sous les Mers)
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has been translating into Latin 'your Dean's Kentish Fire."' Has good Latin versions of [Oliver Goldsmith's] 'Edwin and Angelina' by Lord Stratford de Recliffe and of [Thomas] Gray's 'Elegy' by 'Chief Justice [Henry Thom
16 October 1869 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/505
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has autographs that display the activity of the sun. Sends sonnets he has written. Asks John Frederick William Herschel to mention distribution of nebulae at the Royal Astronomical Society
27 October 1869 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/506
Draft letter, with diagrams. Discusses discrepencies between his observations for September and William Selwyn's photograph. It seems the new spots result from Jupiter being in opposition.
1869-11? Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/15/514
Copy of a letter. Is working on a compilation of the measures of double stars. If [Rudolf] Wolf's period of 11.11 years is correct, why should 1810-11, a minimum, mark the first observations of solar spots?
23 October 1869 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/288
Copy of a letter. Sends [William Whewell's] 'Isle of Sirens' and an acknowledgement to it in 'skimble skamble Hexameters.' Is eager to receive solar photographs and will send others by Professor [George?] Morton.
1869-10 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/289
Copy of a letter. Describes the similarities between John Frederick William Herschel's sketches and William Selwyn's photographs of sunspots. Has greater faith in own observations. Wishes William Selwyn would add Julian dates. Sends Professor [George?] Morton's photographs.
3 November 1869 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/292
1870
Autograph letter signed by sender. Is sending solar autographs. Notes that in groups of spots the larger precede the smaller spots. Can John Frederick William Herschel form any theories from this?
25 April 1870 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/507
Autograph letter signed by sender. Desires permission to present John Frederick William Herschel's 'diagram of macularity"' to the Royal Astronomical Society"
11 May 1870 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/508
Autograph letter signed by sender. Discusses the different strata of the ocean and [William] Carpenter's lecture on deep sea dredging. Is digging an artesian well.
11 June 1870 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/509
Autograph letter signed by sender. Sends two copies of John Frederick William Herschel's 'macular conspectus.' Mr. Titterton was very pleased that John Frederick William Herschel approved of his work.
16 June 1870 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/510
Autograph letter signed by sender. Thanks John Frederick William Herschel for the drawings. Will send new solar autographs showing macula. Is working on the autographic series of the activity of the sun during its 11 year period.
24 June 1870 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/511
Autograph letter signed by sender. Has been trying to make pendulum curves. Believes they may help explain the different sunspot forms. Thanks John Frederick William Herschel for the spectroscopic observation memoirs.
2 September 1870 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/512
Autograph letter signed by sender. Thanks John Frederick William Herschel for drawing of solar maculae from 1854-61. Some hesitancy about the accuracy of [Alexander?] Wilson's observations and hypotheses. Sixty people wish to travel to Spain to see eclips
1870 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/513
Autographed letter, incomplete. Detached postscript that discusses the margins of the two photographs, which seem to show that all planets are in the near hemisphere.
25? April? 1870 Sender: William Selwyn , William Selwyn Reference number: HS/15/517
Copy of a letter. Asks whether William Selwyn has photographs of the sun for 21 and 22 April. Notes how curious sunspot activity has been. Doubts that such is reconcilable with the notion of 'meteoric in-falls.'
23 April 1870 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/304
Copy of a letter. Is returning March heliographs. Discusses the appearance of the spots. Has not received the April heliographs.
30 April 1870 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/309
Copy of a letter. Wants to compare Mr. Titterton's photographs of the spot groups to [Warren] de La Rue's. Has tried to determine if some localities regularly have spots.
2 May 1870 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/310
Copy of a letter. The research shows no particularly 'maculiferous' area on the sun, but William Selwyn may, as William Selwyn requested, present 'data' to the Royal Astronomical Society Has noticed two new spots on helioautographs on 20 and 27 April.
12 May 1870 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/313
Copy of a letter. Sends diagrams showing three new couplets of sunspots. The sun is entering a new phase of activity. Sends drawings made with a glass pen by his son Alexander.
17 June 1870 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/320
Copy of a letter. Discusses the movement of the 'great group' of sunspots over the last six months. Asks William Selwyn to sign a certificate for his son [John].
31 August 1870 Sender: John Frederick William Herschel , Sir; John Frederick William Herschel Reference number: HS/24/329