Abstract
The Royal Observatory at Greenwich dates its foundation to a 1675 warrant of Charles II (1630–1685), stating that “Wee have resolved to build a small observatorie …”, establishing it “to find out the…Longitude…for perfecting…Navigation”. Finding the longitude was a goal desired for centuries by mariners. The Observatory was built and John Flamsteed (1646–1719) appointed as “Astronomicall Observator” to make precise observations to achieve this object but the King’s warrants came only after a convoluted history. The eventual foundation owes much to Jonas Moore (1617–1679) and other fellows of the nascent Royal Society (founded in 1662), even to the extent of providing the instruments, and regular observations began in 1675. However, Flamsteed’s best instrument only became available in 1689. Nonetheless, during the first forty-five years of the Observatory’s history Flamsteed amassed some 50,000 observations. Fraught with disputes and disagreements, the full publication of his results was delayed until years after his death.
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- 1.
See the section on Manuscript, archival and library sources at the end for information on these origianl manuscripts.
- 2.
For Flamsteed’s early life see the first four chapters of Birks (1999: 1–30); some detail of the latter years of Flamsteed’s twenties are dealt with further into this text.
- 3.
The manuscript by Johannes de Sacro Bosco or Sacrobosco De sphaera mundi, mostly relating to the celestial spheres but also making clear Sacrobosco’s view that the Earth was a globe, was written ca. 1230 and a commentary by Robertus Anglicus on De sphaera… from 1271 is known. Though he gave his teachings in Paris, Sacrobosco may have been English ‘John of Holy Wood’ though the evidence for this, even if later in the medieval period, seems to be by assertion or simply appellation.
- 4.
Science is not so simple as this statement implies; the reduction to provide tabular places for the Jovian moons requires allowance for the speed of light across the Solar System, travelled over the varying distance between Jupiter and the Earth, as Ole Christensen Rømer realised from the 1668 work of Giovanni Domenico Cassini, before he moved to the Paris Observatory, Ephemerides bononsienses Mediceorum Siderum ; see Albert van Helden (1983: 137–141, 1996: 85–100).
- 5.
The period of Jupiter is approximately twelve years and with the planet being around inferior conjunction (on the other side of the Sun from the Earth) for a month or so, practically speaking, Jupiter is visible at one time or other on clear nights for eleven months of the year. This is not to suggest that observations of the Galilean (Medicean) moons is a simple task, even with the most robust 17th and 18th century telescopes on the firmest of terra firma.
- 6.
A much-needed secondary effect of the increased interest in the history of the Royal Observatory generated by the tercentenary was that of far greater attention being paid to the well-being of the RGO Archives, in paper conservation and in a root-and-branch overhaul of the cataloguing of the entire archival collection.
- 7.
The editorial Introduction to the Correspondence… states that “The events which precipitated [Flamsteed’s] appointment and the foundation of the Royal Observatory are recorded in papers collected by John Pell as a member of the royal commission set up to examine the Sieur de St Pierre’s longitude proposals”; note 23 on p.9 refers to British Library Birch (D3) for the Pell collection.
- 8.
Willmoth (1993: 176) points out that the Preface to the Historia Coelestis Britannica carries essentially the same story as the Historia Narratio Vita Meae.
- 9.
Baily in the Introduction to FLAMSTEED’S Life, &c, tells us that this is the first time the John Flamsteed Historia Narratio Vita Meae ab Anno 1646 ad 1675 had appeared in print (Baily 1835: 25). The Historia… (A9) is one of four manuscript autobiographical pieces preserved in RGO Archives and as we have seen from Francis Baily’s note, it dates from 1707; therefore it was written more than three decades after the events surrounding the Observatory’s foundation Flamsteed describes.
- 10.
Flamsteed to William Brouncker 24th November 1669; the original MS has not survived and for this publication Willmoth reconstructed the letter from the version in Rigaud vol. 2 pp.76–90 and under the title An Accompt of such of the more notable Celestial Appearances of the year 1670, as will be conspicuous in the English Horizon… in the Philosophical Transactions …, 4, no.55 for 17th January 1670 pp.1099–1112.
- 11.
Richard Towneley made a version of the filar micrometer (a screw-thread micrometer mounted with parallel and very fine wires placed in the focal plane of a telescope eyepiece so that the wires, in focus, may be moved across the field-of-view) invented by William Gascoigne, as described by Towneley (1667); Towneley’s version was in turn described by Hooke (1667) “A description of an instrument for dividing a foot into many thousand parts, and thereby measuring the diameters of planets to a great exactness, &c. as it was promised”. See also the earlier parts of Randall C. Brooks (1991).
- 12.
The former letter is now lost, see reference A16 for the latter. The ‘Warr’ was the Third Anglo-Dutch War, 1672–1674, in which much gunnery was employed by the King’s navy; Moore was Surveyor General of the Ordnance, second only to the Master General, then Thomas Chicheley.
- 13.
I am indebted to my colleague Dr. J.D. Hall of Cambridge University Library for the translation of this tag as What do we not hope for? The proverb Quid non speramus, si nummos possideamus? might be rendered in English as If we had the money, what could we not hope for?; perhaps that is what Hooke had in mind here, that he could exploit his innovative designs and methods if he only had the money to do so.
- 14.
Stewart states that Richard Wroe, Fellow of Jesus College procured Flamsteed’s admission, which seems very probable; over many centuries the University of Cambridge and its colleges have enjoyed an enviable continuity of procedure. Stewart continues “followed by an M.A. in the spring of 1674”, which does not appear so likely, as Wroe’s influence would not have extended to the Court at Whitehall. Flamsteed, in a letter to Wroe of 10th February 1671 (Forbes et al. 1995: 78–81) wrote of his obligation to him and his gratitude, continuing to ask him for further help “by concealeing what I have procurd” until such time as it would be appropriate.
- 15.
Flamsteed promised to send Mrs. Lackock, Moore’s housekeeper, “an account of the brewing of it” (D10).
- 16.
In his letter to Moore (A13), Flamsteed admits “I wrote very Freely but Too suspiciously of [Hooke] I perceave by your last”, a letter that has not survived; see Forbes et al. (1995: 311).
- 17.
By ‘His…Royall Highnes’, Moore refers to James, Duke of York, the King’s younger brother and later to be James II/VII, who also had an interest in matters of natural philosophy; see, for example, Débarbat (1976).
- 18.
(Abbé) Jean Picard or Pickart (1620–1682) was a French Jesuit astronomer and mathematician, author of Mesure de la Terre, Paris , 1671, who with Jean Dominic Cassini laid down the base line of the meridian in Paris. See Paul Murdin’s work (Murdin, 2009) for an appreciation of his work.
- 19.
- 20.
These (D7–9) are letters in the correspondence between Flamsteed and St Pierre, conducted using the good offices of John Pell of the Royal Society as an intermediary; the Memorandum (A27) follows these letters.
- 21.
- 22.
Taken from Flamsteed’s copy (A22), dated 22nd June 1675, transcribed with a modernised orthography and reprinted in the APPENDIX to Flamsteed’s History in Baily (1835: 112).
- 23.
A few days before, on 27th June/7th July 1675, Hooke had been up at 3:00 am to see the beginning of the total eclipse of the Moon that morning http://astro.ukho .gov.uk/eclipse/1411675/.
- 24.
John Webb (1611–1672) is identified by Hooke (1935) as “married to a kinswoman of Inigo Jones”, Jones bequeathing all his books and drawings to Webb.
- 25.
Apart from this and another reference, Mr. Cozens is seemingly referred to in only one other record, a letter Flamsteed wrote to Moore on 17th July 1677, (A14); in the transcription of this letter, number 298, Willmoth says in her first footnote “Unidentified but apparently a contractor employed in the building of the Observatory”, also noting the first reference to him as in Hooke’s diary. See Forbes, et al. (1993: 562–564).
- 26.
- 27.
A John Blenco or Blinco was “Joiner at St. Michael’s, Bassishaw, in 1678”; see Hooke (1935: 477).
- 28.
Joseph Lenns was a master bricklayer according to Hooke (1935: 502); Anis, Mr. Wild and “the scotch man” remain unidentified at present and, it might be feared, will remain so for posterity.
- 29.
There is a heading to the plan ceptum exaedificari Aug. 10. 1675. hor. 3.14 pm. fundamentalia poniente lateritia. J. Flamsteedio, translated by Willmoth as “begun to be built Aug. 10. 1675 at 3.14 p.m. with J. Flamsteed placing the foundation brick”.
- 30.
The quotation …risum teneatis, amici? is from the 5th line of the Ars Poetica of Horace, Quintus Horatius Flaccus.
- 31.
- 32.
For Flamsteed’s autograph record see the second part of Correspondence and early observations (A5). The second piece includes …Observationes Britannicae Regiae, comprising Observationes Coelestes Londini Habitae in Arce Londinensi Aedibus Jonae Moore … 1675 (…made at the Tower of London on the premises of Jonas Moore) (30r-33r), and …Greenovici habitae (…made at Greenwich) (34v-66v).
- 33.
See, for instance, Johannes Hevelius to Flamsteed (naming him as “Royal Professor of Matters Astronomical…”) of 14th/24th June 1676 and from Edmond Halley 13th July 1676.
- 34.
Whereas a mural quadrant is, by its very nature, mounted on a wall, the voluble instruments were mounted on an exactly perpendicular axial pivot so that they could be moved to positions around the horizontal plane, only circumscribed by the fabric of the building that housed them.
- 35.
Flamsteed’s De Inaequlitate dierum solarium dissertation astronomico is in an appendix to the edition by John Walls of Jeremiæ Horroccii, Liverpoliensis Angli, ex Palatinatu Lancastriæ, Opera posthuma: viz. Astronomia Kepleriana, defensa & promota; Excerpta ex epistolis ad Crabtræum suum; Observationum cœlestium catalogus; Lunæ theoria nova. Accedunt Guilielmi Crabtræi … Observationes cœlestes. In calce adjiciuntur Johannis Flamstedii … De temporis æquatione diatriba; Numeri ad lunæ theoriam Horroccianam, London, typeset by Gulielmi Godbid, printed by J Martyn, 1673. The …De temporis… is sometimes described as De diatriba by Flamsteed.
- 36.
The sextant and the observational method are described in detail by Howse (the plates Sextantis Anterior and Sextantis Posterior, XIa and XIb, being reproduced at Howse (1975b: 56–57)).
- 37.
- 38.
John Birks estimates the total cost of the Abraham Sharp Mural Arc at over £200 (Birks 1999: 161), so approximately 40% of the cost of the Wren/Hooke Royal Observatory. Neither Forbes nor Howse nor Birks gives a source for their figures.
References to Publications
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Baily, F., 1835. An account of the Reverend John Flamsteed, the First Astronomer-Royal; compiled from his own Manuscripts, and other Authentic Documents, never before Published. London, Printed for the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. This book is divided into seven Divisions; see the full-text at https://ia800909.us.archive.org/13/items/anaccountrevdjo00bailgoog/anaccountrevdjo00bailgoog.pdf
Birks, J.L., 1999. John Flamsteed: the first Astronomer Royal at Greenwich. London, Avon Books. https://archive.org/details/historyreignque04boyegoog/page/n171
Brooks, R.C., 1991. The development of micrometers in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Journal for the History of Astronomy, May, 22, 68, 127–173.
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Caröe, W.D., 1923. ‘Tom tower’ Christ church, Oxford: some letters of Sr Christopher Wren to John Fell, Bishop of Oxford, hitherto unpublished, now set forth and annotated…with a chapter by H.H. Turner, and another, by Arthur Cochrane. Oxford, at the Clarendon Press.
Chapman, A., 1976. Astronomica practica: the principal instruments and their uses at the Royal Observator. Vistas in Astronomy, 20, 141–156.
Chapman, A., 1983. The accuracy of angular measuring instruments used in astronomy between 1500 and 1850. Journal for the History of Astronomy, 14 (2), 133–137.
Débarbat, S., 1976. Des connoysances de Jacques II d’Angleterre en matière d’astronomie. Vistas in Astronomy, 20, 79–80.
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Flamsteed, J., 1975. The Gresham lectures of John Flamsteed edited and introduced by Eric Gray Forbes. London, Mansell.
Forbes, E.G., 1975a. Origins and Early History (1675–1835). Volume 1, Greenwich Observatory. London, Taylor & Francis.
Forbes, E.G., 1975b. John Flamsteed and the origins of the Greenwich astronomical tradition. Journal of the Institute of Navigation, 28 (3), July.
Forbes, E.G., 1976. The origins of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. Vistas in Astronomy, 20, 39–50.
Forbes, E.G., Murdin, L., and Willmoth, F., 1995. The Correspondence of John Flamsteed, First Astronomer Royal, volume 1. Bristol, Institute of Physics Publishing.
Forbes, E.G., Murdin, L., and Willmoth, F., 1997. The Correspondence of John Flamsteed, First Astronomer Royal, volume 2. Bristol, Institute of Physics Publishing.
Forbes, E.G., Murdin, L., and Willmoth, F., 2002. The Correspondence of John Flamsteed, First Astronomer Royal, volume 3. Bristol, Institute of Physics Publishing.
Hake, H.M, 1921–1922. Some contemporary records relating to Francis Place, engraver and draughtsman, with a catalogue of his engraved work. Walpole Society X pp.39–69.
Holder, W., 1694. A discourse concerning time with application of the natural day and lunar month and solar year as natural and of such as are derived from them, as artificial parts of time, for measures in civil and common use: for the better understanding of the Julian year and calendar, the first column also in our church-calendar explained, with other incidental remarks. London, printed by J. Heptinstall for L. Meredith,1694.
Hooke, R., 1935. The diary of Robert Hooke 1672–1680. In Robinson, H.W., and Adams, W., (eds). London, Taylor & Francis. The original of the diary, kept from 10th March 1671/2 to 16th May 1683, is preserved in the Robert Hooke Collection of the London Metropolitan Archives (see D12).
Hooke, R., 1667. Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society of London, volume 2, no.29 of 11th November 1667, pp.541–544. See also Townley (1667).
Horrocks, J., 1673. John Wallis (ed.), Jeremiæ Horroccii, Liverpoliensis Angli, ex Palatinatu Lancastriæ, Opera posthuma…Numeri ad lunæ theoriam Horroccianam, London, Typis Gulielmi Godbid, impensis J. Martyn …
Howse, H.D., 1971. The Tompion clocks at Greenwich and the dead-beat escapement. London, Antiquarian Horological Society; reprinted from Antiquarian Horology issues of December 1970 and March 1971.
Howse, H.D., 1975a. The buildings and instruments, Volume 3, Greenwich Observatory. London, Taylor & Francis.
Howse, H.D., 1975b. Francis Place and the early history of the Greenwich Observatory. New York, Science History Publications.
Howse, H.D., 1980. Greenwich Time and the discovery of the longitude. Oxford, New York, Toronto and Melbourne, Oxford University Press. The National Archives.
Inwood, S., 2002. The man who knew too much: the strange and inventive life of Robert Hooke 1635–1703. London, Pan Macmillan.
Jardine, L., 2003. The curious life of Robert Hooke, the man who measured London. London, Harper Collins.
McCrea, W.H., 1975. Royal Greenwich Observatory: an historical review issued on the occasion of its tercentenary. London, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
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Acknowledgements
In writing the present chapter and as indicated at the beginning of Chapter 3, the author notes the expansion in authoritative post-war scholarship on all aspects of the early history of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich , which became an even greater expansion after the tercentenary in 1975, as reflected in the sources listed under the Reference section of this of this chapter and the next. It is unquestionably the case that the decade or more of sedulous work on the three-volume correspondence of the First Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed (Forbes et al. 1995, 1997 and 2002), by Dr. Frances Willmoth (1957-2017), formerly Archivist for Jesus College in the University of Cambridge, has illuminated the first 50 years of the Royal Observatory’s history as no other contribution has, and the author of this and the following chapter acknowledges his great debt to her, with profound respect for her scholarship and learning. The author of this chapter acknowledges with gratitude the use of the freely available images provided by the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Wellcome Library, London, and the Creative Commons and Public Domain images freely available via Wikimedia.
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Appendices
References
2.1.1 Manuscript, Archival and Library Sources
As the former Curator of Scientific Manuscripts and RGO Archivist in Cambridge University Library (CUL, situated at West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DR, United Kingdom) I have been able to make extensive use of CUL’s collections of original manuscripts and the wealth of digitised material available from the Cambridge Digital Library, via the URL link containing the element ‘cudl’. These collections come under the responsibility of CUL’s Department of Modern Archives and Manuscripts, formerly the Department of Manuscripts and University Archives. In particular CUL holds the John Flamsteed Papers, which are the first class in the Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives, and the Portsmouth Collection of the papers of Isaac Newton, in addition to the Macclesfield Collection of historical scientific manuscripts.; another location of important manuscripts in CUL is in the Cambridge University Archives, holding the administrative records of the University. Substantial reference was made to the Archives of The Royal Society of London, containing as they do much relating to the early history of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and a number of other manuscript resources.
For ease of reference to documents that have been used within this chapter the documents’ class references have been divided into four lists;
-
A.
The John Flamsteed Papers (A1).
-
B.
Portsmouth Collection of the papers of Isaac Newton, his Papers on Finding the Longitude at Sea , and the Macclesfield Collection (B2). Also Cambridge University Archives holding the administrative records of the University.
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C.
Archives of The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, 6–9 Carlton House Terrace, St James’s, London SW1Y 5AG.
-
D.
Other archives;
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The Pepys Library of Magdalene College, Magdalene Street, Cambridge CB3 0AG;
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The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB;
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The Bodleian Libraries, Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BG;
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The National Archives (TNA), Bessant Drive, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU (formerly the Public Record Office), and
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The London Metropolitan Archives at 40 Northampton Road, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 0HB.
-
Thus the document is indexed via the letter A, B, C D from the appropriate section, followed by the number from the respective list of References to Original Manuscripts.
References to Original Manuscripts
-
A.
Original manuscripts held by Cambridge University Library : Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives.
-
1.
MS.RGO .1. Papers of John Flamsteed. Forming the first class of the papers of the Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives, Cambridge University Library. The cataloguers of the Flamsteed Papers were able to follow and transpose to modern classification Francis Baily’s (1835) numeration. Catalogued at https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0180%2FRGO%201%2F50.
-
2.
MS.RGO .1/1. First observations using the sextant were made from April 1676.
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3.
MS.RGO .1/2. Notes of sextant observations made chiefly with the sextant, November 1679 -15th February 1684.
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4.
MS.RGO .1/3. Notes of sextant observations ‘Libri Tertii observationum pars prior’ (First part of the third book of observations): first notes of observations made chiefly with the sextant, 19th February 1684 – 3rd September 1689.
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5.
MS.RGO .1/9. A volume of correspondence and early observations. ‘Excerpta Astronomica ex Epistolis D. Gulielmi Gascoignii ad D. Gulielmum Crabtreum et huius Responsis’ (‘Astronomical excerpts from the letters of William Gascoigne to William Crabtree and his replies’).
-
6.
MS.RGO .1/18:f.2v. The astrological chart Flamsteed drew for 10th August 1675, at 3h 14m in the afternoon.
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7.
MS.RGO .1/18:f.3r. Flamsteed’s floor plan of the Observatory.
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8.
MS.RGO .1/32A. Flamsteed’s enumeration of his reading and an idea of his mentors and studies; Flamsteed’s account of meeting Sir Jonas Moore.
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9.
MS.RGO .1/32B. Baily’s transcription of Flamsteed’s ‘Life’, which dates from 1707, so over three decades after the events surrounding the Observatory’s foundation.
-
10.
MS.RGO .1/33:ff.27r-28r. A postscript on f.28r reads ‘…I am very glad your ale proves so good: when I returne to Derby I will take Care you shall have a better stock of it’.
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11.
MS.RGO .1/33:f.28r. Flamsteed about visiting Newton.
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12.
MS.RGO .1/35. Flamsteed in a third-party narrative of his The brief History of the Observatory , (p.163).
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13.
MS.RGO .1/36:ff.29r-30v. Letter from Flamsteed to Moore of 13th October 1675.
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14.
MS.RGO .1/36:f.39r. Letter from Flamsteed to Moore on 17th July 1677.
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15.
MS.RGO .1/36:ff.61r-62r. Letter from Flamsteed to Moore of 16th July 1678. Flamsteed’s lament is towards the end of the letter.
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16.
MS.RGO .1/37:f.73r. Letter (apology) from Jonas Moore to Flamsteed, dated 7th March 1673/1674.
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17.
MS.RGO .1/37:f.76r. Letter from Flamsteed to Moore, 30th June.
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18.
MS.RGO .1/37:f.78r-v. Letter from Flamsteed to Moore 17th October 1674.
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19.
MS.RGO .1/37:f.79r-v. Letter from Moore to Flamsteed 15th December 1674.
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20.
MS.RGO .1/39:f.46r. Assertion in Flamsteed’s hand that observations provided to St Pierre were in fact made at Derby.
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21.
MS.RGO .1/40:f.60r. Flamsteed’s autograph copy of the first warrant , for paying his salary, 4th March 1674/5.
-
22.
MS.RGO .1/40:f.61v.
-
a.
Dated 22nd June 1675, Flamsteed’s copy of the second warrant , for building the Observatory;
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b.
Dated 16th July 1675, Order to the Treasurer of the Ordnance for the building of the new observatory, given over the signature of Thomas Chicheley, Master General of the Ordnance.
-
a.
-
23.
MS.RGO .1/40:f.62r. Account dated 31st May 1677.
-
24.
MS.RGO .1/41. Flamsteed’s‘Slight’ Mural Arc of more than 140° in arc.
-
25.
MS.RGO .1/42:ff.19v-22r. Letter from Flamsteed to Edward Sherburne dated 12th July 1682 (an incomplete copy in Flamsteed’s hand). Also in the Pepys Library (D1).
-
26.
MS.RGO .1/50 K (Baily (1835) numeration, vol. 50, K). Letter from Flamsteed to Dr. John Pell on ‘the Sieur de St Pierre’s Postulata’ for finding longitude at sea and a related Latin paper, both copied by Nicholas Stephenson, 26th–27th April 1675, with further notes in Flamsteed’s hand (257r-262r), as catalogued by Francis Willmoth.
-
27.
MS.RGO .1/50:f.262r. The Memorandum (see also D5). Detailed analysis, narrative and mathematical demonstrations, respectively, of St Pierre’s method .
-
28.
MS.RGO .1/76:5. John Flamsteed’s original essay on Johann Hecker and his ephemeris .
-
29.
MS.RGO .116/1:1–10. In the collection history by the RGO Archivist Dr. Emma Saunders, she writes that the provenance of the set is described in a note by Francis Baily dated 5th March 1838 now catalogued at MS.RGO .116/1/11: “The accompanying plates (nine in number) were found by me in an imperfect copy of Dr. Halley’s edition (1712) of Flamsteed’s observations…”. Saunders comments that there are in fact ten engravings in the series as there are two copies of Howse Plate XI, Facies Sextantis Anterior.
-
B.
Original manuscripts held by Cambridge University Library : Cambridge University Archives, the papers of Isaac Newton and the Macclesfield Collection.
-
1.
Lett.XIII, 170. Mandate issued on 15th May 1674 directing the Vice Chancellor and Senate of the University of Cambridge to admit Flamsteed. The original Mandate transcribed by Willmoth is at this location in Cambridge University Archives.
-
2.
MS.Add.3972. Papers on Finding the Longitude at Sea (Newton, I., ca.1715-ca.1720) catalogued at https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0012%2FMS%20Add.3958-4007%2FMS%20Add.3972; and images at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-03972
-
3.
MS.Add.3972.2:f.29.r-v. Draft of a letter to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty . Images available at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-03972/57 et seq.
-
4.
MS.Add.9597/13/6/36. Flamsteed to John Collins 19th September 1670, transcribed from a letter in the Earl of Macclesfield’s collection.
-
5.
MS.Add.9597/13/6/39. Flamsteed to John Collins of 30th January 1670/1, Flamsteed refers to a letter received from Moore as ‘full of his natural civility and generosity’. Flamsteed, for all his faults, knew a good man when he met one. A letter in the collection of the Earl of Macclesfield.
-
C.
Original manuscripts held in the Archives of the Royal Society of London.
-
1.
JBO/1. Journal Book: minutes of ordinary meetings of the Royal Society. Volume I, 1660–1663, 28th November 1660-11th November 1663.
-
2.
MS.EL F.1.77. Letter from Flamsteed to Henry Oldenburg, dated 2nd December 1671.
-
3.
MS.F.1.119. Long letter from Flamsteed to Henry Oldenburg, sent on 10th July 1676 (Forbes et al., 1995: 478–485).
-
4.
MS.243.6. Letter from Flamsteed to Richard Towneley of 8th June 1675, describing the sextant and other instruments installed in the new observatory buildings.
-
5.
MS.243.9. Letter from Flamsteed to Richard Towneley of 22nd September 1675.
-
6.
MS.243.12. Letter from Flamsteed to Richard Towneley on 22nd January 1675/76.
-
D.
Original manuscripts held by other bodies.
-
1.
MS.2184 ff.37r-39r. Flamsteed to Edward Sherburne dated 12th July 1682 (see also A25) Pepys Library, Magdalene College.
-
2.
MS.2972. Reproductions of the Place engravings, introductory texts and notes on provenance sources has against each engraving references to the catalogues in the Pepys Library, Magdalene College.
-
3.
Add.MS.4393. Birch Collection of original manuscripts held at the British Library.
-
4.
Add.MS.4393:ff.93r, 92r. John Pell was a mathematician and teacher of mathematics with an interest in magnetic variation. Willmoth (1993: 178) refers to the same event, where her footnote 108 directs us to this manuscript, having corrected Forbes’s British Library MS.Add number.
-
5.
Add.MS.4393:ff.95 & 102–103 (see also A27). Detailed analysis, narrative and mathematical demonstrations, respectively, of St Pierre’s method.
-
6.
Add.MS.4393:f.96r. Flamsteed’s responses to the proposed St Pierre method.
-
7.
Add.MS.4393:ff.99r-v. Letter from Flamsteed to Pell, for St Pierre, 26th April 1675.
-
8.
Add.MS.4393:ff.101r-v. Letter from Flamsteed to Pell, 26th April 1675.
-
9.
Add.MS.4393:ff.104v-105v. Letter from Flamsteed to Pell, 27th–28th April 1675.
-
10.
MS.Eng.e.3391. The History of Malteing or the Method of Makeing Malt Practised att Derby described for Richard Towneley Esq. By John Flamsted Derbiensis January 1672/3, 8 folios. In the Richard Towneley papers held in the Bodleian Library.
-
11.
WO.47/19b. Sale of gunpowder by Polycarpus Wharton. The National Archives. See also Howse (1980: 32, 237, endnote 29).
-
12.
44/334. State Papers Domestic, pp.27–28. Forbes located the letter at The National Archives.
-
13.
CLC/495/MS01758 (formerly MS 01758). Diary of Robert Hooke kept from 10th March 1671/1672 to 16th May 1683. From the Robert Hooke Collection (CLC/495), London Metropolitan Archives.
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Perkins, A.J. (2020). King Charles and the Founding of the Royal Observatory. In: Seidelmann, P., Hohenkerk, C. (eds) The History of Celestial Navigation. Historical & Cultural Astronomy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43631-5_2
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