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COLLECTION Identifier: UAV 630.275

Harvard College Observatory reports written by William Cranch Bond and Joseph Winlock

Overview

The Harvard College Observatory reports written by William Cranch Bond and Joseph Winlock contain various types of reports written by nineteenth century Observatory directors Bond and Winlock, dating from 1844 to 1874. The series contains full Harvard College Observatory annual reports and extracts, as well as documents appended to those reports on a variety of astronomical topics.

Dates

  • Creation: 1844-1874

Creator

Researcher Access

The Harvard College Observatory reports are open for research.

Extent

0.79 cubic feet (1 document box, 1 legal document box)

The Harvard College Observatory reports written by William Cranch Bond and Joseph Winlock contain full Harvard College Observatory annual reports and extracts, as well as appended documents, written by directors Bond and Winlock, dating from 1844 to 1874. The annual reports written by Bond were addressed to the Committee on the Observatory, and extracts written by Winlock were prepared for Harvard Visiting Committees and the Board of Overseers. The reports on specific astronomical topics include summaries on eclipses and occultations, moon culminations, comet and planet observations, meteors, the Meridian Circle, photographs of the sun, and photometry. There are also letters and reports written by Harvard College Observatory director William Cranch Bond to Harvard College president Edward Everett, relating to observations made by the Harvard College Observatory, including of the planet Jupiter and its third satellite. The series also includes extracts from the Harvard College Observatory's annual reports, which relate to the Observatory's buildings and grounds, equipment, and work completed.

Biographical note on Joseph Winlock

Joseph Winlock (1826-1875), director of the Harvard College Observatory, was a professor of astronomy and geodesy, and was responsible for making many important improvements to the Observatory. Winlock was born on February 6, 1826 in Shelby County, Kentucky. He graduated from Shelby College in Kentucky in 1845, then was appointed professor of mathematics and astronomy at the college, where he remained until 1852. Winlock also served as assistant professor in mathematics at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., and was head of the mathematics department at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He was appointed the third director of the Harvard College Observatory in 1866, a post he maintained until his death on June 11, 1875.

While at the Observatory, Winlock was responsible for obtaining many pieces of new scientific equipment, including a photometer, several spectroscopes, a mean time chronometer, and a Bond chronograph, among many others. He also invented several important instruments, including the Hygrophant, a mechanism that measured the percentage of moisture in the air, and introduced a system of communicating time for the cities of Boston and Cambridge, as well as other large towns in New England. He was particularly interested in conducting measurements with the meridian circle, creating a catalogue of double stars, and investigating stellar photometry. In 1869, Winlock led a solar eclipse expedition to Kentucky, where his astronomy career had begun, and in 1870, at the request of the United States Coast Survey, he traveled abroad to Spain, where he was able to photograph the corona for the first time. A lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon is named after him, recognizing Winlock's contributions to the field of astronomy.

Biographical note on William Cranch Bond

William Cranch Bond (1789-1859), American astronomer and instrument maker, was the first director of the Harvard College Observatory from 1839 to 1859. Bond undertook extensive studies of the Orion Nebula and Saturn, and in 1848 discovered Hyperion in collaboration with his son George Phillips Bond (1825-1865). Pioneers in the application of photography to astronomy, the Bonds made the first recognizable daguerreotype of the Moon and the star Vega in 1850. In that same year, they also discovered the first dark inner ring of Saturn (the Crepe Ring). The Bonds produced the first recognizable photographic print of the Moon in 1857.

Arrangement

The collection was arranged chronologically by the archivist. It is arranged into two series:

  1. Documents appended to the reports to the Committee on the Observatory, 1844-1849
  2. [Reports and] extracts from Joseph Winlock's annual reports, 1866-1874

Related Materials

The Harvard University Archives also holds:

  1. Annual report of the Director of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College, 1860-1976 (HUF 165.80x)
  2. Records of Harvard College Observatory Director Joseph Winlock, 1862-1882 (UAV 630.10) https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/hua09018/catalog
  3. Records of Harvard College Observatory Director William Cranch Bond, 1818-1819, 1840-1864 (UAV 630.2) https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/hua13018/catalog

Processing Information

This finding aid was created by Olivia Mandica-Hart in March-April 2022. Processing included physical re-housing and the creation of this finding aid. Titles were transcribed from the original documents; titles enclosed in brackets were devised by the archivist.

Title
Harvard College Observatory. Harvard College Observatory reports written by William Cranch Bond and Joseph Winlock, 1844-1874 : an inventory
Status
completed
Author
Harvard University Archives
Date
March 21, 2022
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
hua19022

Repository Details

Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository

Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.

Contact:
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