Item Letter 20 - Autograph letter, signed, from Herschel to Rev. John William Whittaker, undated

Identity area

Reference code

Herschel/Box 1/Letter 20

Unique identifier

GB 275 Herschel/Box 1/Letter 20

Title

Autograph letter, signed, from Herschel to Rev. John William Whittaker, undated

Date(s)

  • 1822 (Undated, so date is estimated.) (Creation)

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2p. paper

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Name of creator

(1792-1871)

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.

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Scope and content

Mentions death of Clark, the support Herschel can offer to Henslow in the forthcoming elections at Cambridge (1) and the settling of an account.

(1) Probably refers to the election of John Stevens Henslow to the chair of Mineralogy in 1822

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