Papers of William Christie

(1) Letters regarding the existence of Neptune, 1846-1878

Duplicate copies of collected correspondence on the investigations of J.C. Adams and U.J.J. Le Verrier into the existence of Neptune and in particular of the ensuing controversy over the name of the planet. There are also other letters concerning the minor planets and mathematical formula for their orbits, the Moon's equation and lunar acceleration. The correspondents include J.C. Adams, Sir George Airy, F.N.M. Arago, J. Challis, J.F. Encke, J.F.W. Herschel, U.J.J. Le Verrier, J. Lee, A. de Morgan, R.I. Murchison, J.B. Pentland, H.C. Schumacher, A. Sedgwick, R. Sheepshanks and G.J. Stone. The papers include a duplicate extract from 'Le National', 8 October 1846. A partial listing is kept with the letters.

(2) Miscellaneous correspondence, 1878-1896

Correspondence, letters A-L (missing E-F), and some related papers concerning the following subjects:

Memorial to Dr Robinson by J.C. Adams, 1882.

Suggestion by J.C. Adams that the Revd F. Howlett become a Fellow of the Royal Society, 1889.

The undertaking of J.C. Adams's professorship by a deputy, 1890.

Obituary of J.C. Adams and arrangements for his funeral, 1892.

Memorial to J.C. Adams at Westminster Abbey, 1892.

Account of J.C. Adams's life in 'The Times', 1892.

Proposal by W. Anderson to build a memorial to Sir William Herschel in Bath, 1885.

Letter of thanks for hospitality from A.V. Auwers, 1890.

J.W. Backhouse's need for an astronomical secretary, with questions to be asked of the candidate, 1883.

Similar request from J.W. Backhouse for a Secretary, 1883.

Letter of thanks from Mrs Belville for meteorological observations, 1888.

Information for E.H. Blakery on scholarships to Cambridge, 1886.

Testimonial fund for a portrait of Sir William Bowman, 1889.

Covering letter for a book on astronomy, 1886.

List of scientific works by J. Croll, 1883.

Covering letter for a book by R. Cromie, 1890.

Letter of thanks from A. d'Abbadie for a paper on comets, 1892.

Suggestion by Christie that G.H. Darwin become the Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1883.

Offer from J.E. Day of a document relating to C.M. Christie, a possible ancestor of W.H.M. Christie, 1888.

Correspondence between Sir George Airy and W. De La Rue concerning the latter's accession to the French Academy, 1880.

Congratulations sent to M. Coewy on becoming director of the Paris Observatory, 1896.

Congratulations from H.G. Bakhuyzer to Christie on becoming Astronomer Royal, 1882.

Request for pecuniary assistance for A.P. Bellamy, 1890.

Death of Captain J. Belaremetz, 1878.

Proposed testimonials for E.W. Bradbrook and W. Bristow, 1889-1891.

Obituary of O.J. Brach, 1889.

Proposed obituary of C. Brünnow by H.H. Turner, 1892.

News from H.M. Butler of a reunion of Christie's friends at Cambridge, 1888.

A.A. Cochrane on squaring the circle, 1881.

Request by A.A. Common to look at a telescope, 1888.

Proposal by G.G. Butler to elect A.A. Common to the Council of St Andrew's University, 1891.

Honour awarded to Christie by M. Cornu, 1888.

Covering letter to observations, 1889.

Covering letters for a photograph of a bust of Father F. Derza, 1895, with letters written by P.G. Lois.

Obituary notice for M.P. Chagas, 1895.

Information regarding the accident to E. Drew, 1895.

Obituary notice for D.C. Danielssen, 1894.

The non-closure of the Honigsberg Observatory, 1894.

Obituary notice for T.R.F. Derza, 1894.

Enquiry by E.G. Ebert about examinations in astronomy, 1894.

Invitation to view the paintings of R. Elmore, 1894.

Appeal by S. Foreman for old astronomical books, 1895.

Withdrawal of Government proposals for metrication, 1887.

Epitaph from Mrs Huggins, 1892.

Invitation to see E.R. Hicks, 1894.

Request by Professor Helmert for pictures of G. Everest and T. Maclear, 1895.

Obituary note for J.R. Hind, 1895.

Offer by H.M. Johnson to referee a match, 1891.

Card of thanks from J. Jacob, 1895.

Enquiry over printing characters of degrees, minutes and seconds for India, 1895.

Proposed photographic album for Dr F. Karlinski, 1887.

Death of Mr Kullberg, 1890.

Proposed article by A. Kruger on Sir George Airy for the 'Astronomische Nachrichten', following Airy's death, 1890.

Request by A. Hickman for information on Lord Kelvin, 1895.

Obituary notice for C. Long, 1895.

Enquiry as to whether Christie can provide a lecture, 1894.

List of lectures by the Sunday Lecture Society, 1895.

Request from W. Lawlor to judge the validity of a painting, 1895.

(3) Miscellaneous correspondence, 1886-1895

Correspondence, letters M-Y, and some related papers concerning the following subjects:

Obituary notices for C.A.B. Mouchez, 1892.

S.U. Merz's 70th birthday, 1894.

Open air lecture tour by E. Granville-Miller, 1895.

C.W. Bourne on Church preferment for T. Maclear, 1895.

Request by F. McClay to see Greenwich telescopes, 1895.

Dinner in honour of H. Perigal, 1893.

Medal struck in honour of H. Poincaré, 1891.

Father Perry memorial, 1893.

Proposed meeting to discuss a biography of C. Pritchard, 1894.

Obituary notice of C.F.W. Peters, 1894.

R. Politz's proposed history of astronomy, 1895.

Request from J.R. Reid for assistance, 1890-1892.

H.G. Roscoe on land for science schools and museums at South Kensington, 1891.

'The English Mercurre', an account of the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, sent by M. Rodgers, 1893.

Letters of introduction for J.S. Revy and letter from M. Loewy delivered by Revy, 1895.

Epitaph for A.C. Raynard by R.E.S. Ferouillet, 1894.

News from O. Struve of H. Hermann's election as an associate member of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1892.

Obituary notice for A. Steinheil, 1893.

Comments by C.P. Smyth on the Board of Visitors report, 1894.

Obituary notice for C. Schwarz, 1894.

Obituary notice for T.-J. Stieltjes, 1894.

F. Tisserand on collaboration between Paris and Greenwich on photographing the skies, 1892.

Offer by A. Taylor to be the assistant at Dunsink Observatory and correspondence with N.A. Rambaut and R.S. Ball on the application, 1892.

Arranging a meeting with H.H. Turner, 1895.

Enquiry by G. Virgo on the address of 'Furminger', 1887.

Offer by H.P. Woolley of prints of 'Galileo before the Cardinals', 1886.

C. Wolf on arrangements for sending publications, 1888.

Appeal on behalf of O. Whistlecraft, 1892.

Resumé of the work of K.F. Gauss and H. Weber, in German.

Obituary notice for R. Wolf, 1893.

Application for assistance for Mrs Frankland-West, 1894-1895.

H. Wild's return to Switzerland, 1895.

Appeal for assistance for the orphan daughters of the late J.M. Young, 1887.

C.A. Young on errors in photographs and the work of G.G. Stokes, 1889.

(4) Miscellaneous correspondence, 1878-1889

Correspondence, letters S-T, and some related papers concerning the following subjects:

Request by G.J. Symons for part of O. Struve's catalogue, 1882.

Proposed testimonial for G.J. Symons's 25 years of service, 1885.

Request for instruments by C.G. Talmage, 1881.

Proposed memorial to C.G. Talmage, 1886.

Enquiry from W.H.S. Glanville-Richards about his great-grandfather, T. Taylor, 1878.

Covering letter from J.F. Tennant for 'The Transit of Venus', 1884.

J.F. Tennant on the publication of astronomical plates, 1889.

J.F. Tennant on the enquiry over the Board of Longitude pendulum experiments, 1890.

Covering letter for the Jupiter observations by C. Todd, 1879.

Request by C. Todd for an exhibit for a jubilee exhibition, 'Ancient astronomy', 1887.

Conferment of an M.A. on C. Todd, as reported in the 'Advertiser' and the 'South Australian Register', 1886.

(5) Miscellaneous correspondence, 1881-1897

Miscellaneous correspondence on various topics, as follows:

E. Dunkin and W.H. Wesley on Transit of Venus observations, 1882.

E.B. Knobel and W.H.M. Christie on A.V. Auwers's report on proper motion, 1885.

Loan of a 6-inch equatorial telescope to J. MacLaren, 1885.

E.B. Knobel. W.H.M. Christie and W. Huggins on Christie's successor as President of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1885.

Offer of plates from the general catalogue by B.A. Gould, 1886, the offer communicated via W. Huggins.

D. Forbes' suggestion of a jubilee scholarship, 1887.

Requests for signatures and endorsements to nomination papers, 1881-1897. The proposers and enquirers are W.H. Finlay, D. Gill, S.D.C. Thompson, P.E. Dore, O. Moller, C. Thwaites, B.G. Jenkins, A.H. Leahy, G.C. Watherton and W. Sidgreaves.

Addresses to Council from Major J. Herschel on procedure regarding the election of associate members and E.J. Stone's adoption of U.J.J. Le Verrier's expression for sidereal time at mean Noon, 1881.

Announcement by S. Chambers and letter of thanks from B.A. Gould Jnr on his father's death, 1896.

Congratulations from D. Gill regarding W.H.M. Christie's award of a C.B., 1897.

Indexed