Not for Circulation Science and the City, 7 April 2020 'Be Behind

DRAFT – Not for Circulation Science and the City, 7 April 2020 ‘be behind Flamsteed's House, and I shall see you tomorrow’: Social Networks of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1690-1730 Emma-Louise Hill (University of Kent/ Royal Museums Greenwich) Histories of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, particularly during the period of the first Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed (1675-1719) have, until recently, been very inwardly focused. However, this is changing, and I cite Rebekah Higgitt’s recent article in the special issue of BJHS ‘'Greenwich near London': The Royal Observatory and its London networks in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries’i as an example of the research that is being undertaken to look outward from the Observatory, and at the professional networks extending out of Greenwich and towards other sites of knowledge and production. My PhD research so far has allowed me to branch out further to think about non-professional networks and begin to consider what a general public might have thought about the country’s first government funded scientific institution. There is a substantial number of sources that are evidentiary of a fairly heterogeneous audience of individuals who were curious about or interested in the work of the Astronomer Royal and the site of the Royal Observatory. In this paper I’m going to consider a few of these sources and begin to shape an understanding of the ways in which a ‘non-professional’ network was formulating. These examples are also valuable in allowing us to piece together what a general public’s understanding of the building and the work taking place might have been. In this paper I will draw upon multiple sources to review the public reputation of the Observatory in three main themes: i) Descriptions of the Observatory and Astronomer Royal ii) The reputation of the Astronomer Royal iii) References to the Observatory as a meeting place One particular genre of printed works which engaged with the observatory from early on is that of poetry. Many writers found a muse in Greenwich Park and particularly the views afforded to visitors from the likes of Croom’s Hill and One Tree Hill, and the construction of the new observatory – instigated by Charles II and overseen by Christopher Wren – added new splendour and “a little…pompe”ii to the landscape. The building perched on top of the DRAFT – Not for Circulation Science and the City, 7 April 2020 hill certainly proved a popular prompt for artists and poets alike and for public consumption – an auction catalogue for the sale of paintings at Barbadoes Coffee-House in Cornhill in 1690, for example, includes one work entitled ‘Mr Flamsteed at the Perspective House, Greenwich Park’iii, and later in 1692 includes another example entitled ‘Greenwich Park with Flamsted’s House.’iv See Jan Griffier’s View of London and the River Thames from One Tree Hill c.1690 (fig. 1). (fig. 1) Jan Griffier, London and the River Thames from One Tree Hill, Greenwich Park c.1690 (86.5 cm x 129.5 cm) National Maritime Museum, Object ID: BHC1833 https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/13312.html Here is an example showing the common vista that was produced, where we can see Flamsteed House elevated above Greenwich Park and overlooking London in the distance. Here the situation of the Observatory outside of, but overlooking, London, help to visualise this relationship between Greenwich and the metropole but equally highlighted the separation, showing it to be close and yet distant. One of the earliest poems to mention the new observatory building is an anonymous broadside, printed in 1679 and sold at the Angel in Cornhill, To the memory of my most DRAFT – Not for Circulation Science and the City, 7 April 2020 honoured friend Sir Jonas Moore, Knight, late surveyor general of His Majesties ordnance and armories.v Written on the occasion of the passing of Jonas Moore, a key instigator of the foundation of the observatory, the author directs us thus: “Then View his Telescope on Greenwich-hill, The sweet Recluse of his Celestial Skill;” This description of the observatory as a ‘sweet recluse’ is reflective of this notion of the observatory as being distanced and separate from London, with the astronomer secluded atop Greenwich Hill. It is a useful precursor to the later and more extensive Greenwich Hill: A Poem written by a Mr F Manning and printed in 1697.vi Though it’s unlikely that this particular poem reached a wide audience initially, it may have gained more popularity in the early eighteenth century, when it was included in volume four of a publication entitled Poems on Affairs of the State from the Year 1620 to 1707.vii Indeed, in 1723 in a publication entitled The Poetical Register, the entry for Mr Manning states simply “All I know of this Gentleman is that in the State Poems one piece is attributed to him called Greenwich Hill; A Poem.”viii The poem is a direct imitation of an earlier, very popular poem by John Denham entitled Cooper’s Hill, printed in 1642. In Denham’s poem, the reader is guided through the landscape of London as seen from the “auspicious height” of Cooper’s Hill. The same occurs in Greenwich Hill – we the reader are led through the delights of Greenwich Park and the London skyline from the view of Greenwich Hill, with reflections on landmarks such as Queen’s House and, naturally, the Royal Observatory. Interestingly, however, it is never described as or referred to as an ‘observatory’. Instead, Manning introduces it only as “that fair House”, and writes of: This House, Erected at a King’s Command, Displays the goodness of a Royal hand; Nor is’t tho’ small, unworthy of that Fame, But High, and Graceful, as its Founder’s Name. DRAFT – Not for Circulation Science and the City, 7 April 2020 There is a nice nod here to the original warrant for founding the observatory, which directed for the construction of “a small observatory within our park at Greenwich, upon the highest ground”.ix Next, Manning dedicates an entire stanza to John Flamsteed himself. He begins: Here Flamsted, mounted to This lofty Seat, Where all the Arts of thy profession meet, Thou shew’st Mankind how much improv’d by Thee Are all the wonders of Astronomy. “This lofty Seat” can be interpreted in two ways. More literally, it is certainly in keeping with the visual interpretations of the position of the building within the park, invoking an image of an imposing and exalted structure overlooking the Queen’s House, Thames and London further afield. We can also interpret the “Seat” to be the newly created role of “astronomical observator”, described as “Lofty” to reflect the grandeur of appointment by royal warrant. The suggestion that this appointment of Flamsteed as the king’s astronomer would allow for astronomy to be “much improv’d” was widely felt almost from the outset; one writer as early as 1677 was hopeful that, as a result of Flamsteed’s observations, “Astronomy no question will receive considerable advancement.”x The language used in Manning’s poem certainly suggests that Flamsteed and his work at the observatory were afforded the kind of reverence one would expect for a royal appointment. This is indicative of the way that other writers in the 1690s were to engage with him. One example of is Thomas Rymer’s A Short View of Tragedy; It’s Original, Excellency and Corruption. With Some Reflections on Shakespear, and other Practitioners for the Stage printed and sold in Fleet Street and Warwick-Lane in 1693.xi Short View was a work of literary criticism that appealed for government support and intervention in the regulation of the English stage, as Rymer believed that “excellence in drama is always achieved when the connection between the government and theatre is strong, and playwrights are subjected to some kind of outside scrutiny and control.”xii He viewed Shakespeare’s Othello as being a particular example of what he believed were the ill effects were of an “unsupervised and self- serving playwright”, describing the play as “the most lamentable that ever appeared on DRAFT – Not for Circulation Science and the City, 7 April 2020 stage”. In one particular dissection of Othello’s speech following the death of Desdemona, Rymer quotes the following passage: Oth. – O Heavy hour! Methinks it shou’d be now a huge Eclipse Of Sun and Moon, and that affrighted globe Shou’d yawn at Alteration His analysis is thus: This is wonderful. Here is Poetry to elevate and amuse. Here is found All-sufficient. It wou’d be uncivil to ask Flamstead, if the Sun and Moon can both together be so hugely eclipsed, in any heavy hour whatsoever. Nor must the Spectators consult Gresham Colledge, whether a body is naturally frighted till he Yawn agen. The Fortune of Greece is not concern’d with these Matters. There are Physical circumstances a Poet may be ignorant in, without any harm to the publick. These slips have no influence on our Manners and good Life; which are the Poets Province. What is first notable here is that Rymer refers only to Flamsteed by his surname, there is no mention of the observatory nor are there any further identifying factors. The use of his surname in the context of a discussion of astronomical phenomena is enough for the reader to identify exactly who Rymer is referring to. The insinuation is that the reader will immediately know who Flamsteed is and that he is to be taken as the expert on these matters.

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