Skip to content

Please be aware that some material may contain words, descriptions or illustrations which will not reflect current scientific understanding and may be considered in today's context inaccurate, unethical, offensive or distressing.

The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Letter, from Sir John Herschel to Mary Somerville, dated at Collingwood

Reference number: HS/16/365

Date: 12 April 1861

Description

Autograph letter signed by sender. Thanks Mary Somerville for sympathy letter. Discusses present situation in Italy. Discusses his children and their scattered locations, e.g., a son fighting in the Indigo affair. Discusses his articles for Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Reference number
HS/16/365
Earliest possible date
12 April 1861
Page extent
4 pages
Format
Manuscript
Also available on Epsilon
View Also available on Epsilon (external link, opens in new tab)

Creator name

John Frederick William Herschel

View page for John Frederick William Herschel

Use this record

IIIF manifest

View​ IIIF ​ manifest Opens in new tab

Open in Mirador viewer Opens in new tab

Export this record

Download PDF Opens in new tab

Citation

John Frederick William Herschel, Letter, from Sir John Herschel to Mary Somerville, dated at Collingwood, 12 April 1861, HS/16/365, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_16_365/letter-from-sir-john-herschel-to-mary-somerville-dated-at-collingwood, accessed on 16 January 2026

Link to this record

https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_16_365/letter-from-sir-john-herschel-to-mary-somerville-dated-at-collingwood

Embed this record

<iframe src="https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/embed/items/hs_16_365/letter-from-sir-john-herschel-to-mary-somerville-dated-at-collingwood" title="Letter, from Sir John Herschel to Mary Somerville, dated at Collingwood" allow="fullscreen" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="500px"></iframe>

Related Records

Hierarchy

This item is part of:

Related Fellows

Map

Explore the collection

  • Herschel Letters

    This collection of nearly 10,900 letters, drafts, copies and notes is the largest repository of scientific correspondence from and to Sir John Herschel, leading figure of Victorian science.

    Dates: 1807 - 1875

    View collection