Mrs. Henry Draper and the Harvard College Observatory, 1883-1887
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Citation Boyd, Lyle G. 1969. Mrs. Henry Draper and the Harvard College Observatory, 1883-1887. Harvard Library Bulletin XVII (1), January 1969: 70-97.
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R, HF..NRY DRAPER of Nc\v York, one of the great pioneers in astronon1ical photography~died su • Re.search in the history of the Harvard College Obscrva tory is being made possihle chiefly by a grant from the Nationnl Science Foundation. 70 Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) i\.1rs.Henry Draper the southern skies, and co nsti n1tc one of I1arvard J.senduring contribu- nons+ to astronomy. The correspondence benveen Pickering 11nd l'Vlrs.Draper concinu ed for sonic tI1irty )7Cars, until shortly hefore her death+ Her ]etrers and copies of his re plies are novl in ti 1e H-a.rvard University A rchi vcs. They not only portray· the gro,vth of a firm friendship; they also tell the story of a remarkable colls b oration be t\V cen -a,v 01nan of ,veal th t genuinely interested in uscronon1icul research but ill-equipped to carry it out her.self, and an able scientist ,vhot ,vith the money she provided., \Vas enabled to realize his O\Vn grand p Ian of recording the spectra of nll the stars visible to the photographic telescope. Even ,vhcn the friendship had bcco1nc a close one the letters ren1ain astonishingly formal in manner, but they do not obscure the ,varm persona 1i ty of either , vri ter. The Ietters reproduced here, taken from the period 1883-1887~ shO\Vthe steps in the develop1ncnt., est2blish- 1ne nt, and expansion of the 1-IenryDraper l\ 1c1norial. My dear j\1rs. IJrapcr, 1\1r. Ciark 1 tells me that you are preparing to complete the ,vork :in "\.Vhich Dr. Draper ,,:as cngagcdt and my interest jn this matter must be 1ny excuse for nddressing you regarding it. I need not State my satisfaction that you are taking this ~tepi since it rnu.~tbe obvious that in no other ,va.y could you erect so lasting a 1nonumcnt to his n1cmory. I fully -appreciate the difficulty of your task. There is no astronomer in this country ,vhosc ,vork \vould he so hard to complete as l}r. l)rrrpcr's. I-le had that extra.ordinary perseverance and skill ,vhic h e-nabl cd him to secure resu Its after tr .ialsand failures ,v hi ch , v ou] d have discouraged anyone else, The portion of his ,voik in ,vhich I :un especially interested ls that relating to photographing ste1fo.rspectrat and T ,,,jsh to rcnc\V to you the offer I made to hitn \,•hen ,vc last n1ct. I shall not soon forget~ ,vhen the dinner to the National Academy 2 ,vas ne~rly over, amidst his runny hospitable dutics 1 that he found time for a fe,v n1inutes talk -.vith Dr. Peters 3 and myself, I urged 1 Geo rgc J-t Clark, of th c Cn m brj dge firm of .A.hT~n G. Clark and Sons, makers of urnny of the ,vorld's. be~t optical instrun1ents 1 indud1ng sevecal Harv~rd tele~ scopes and the 36-jnch of the Lick Observatory. 2 Dr. and i\frs. Draper had given 3 clinner on 15 Novcn1ber- 1882. ( only five days bc.(orc his death). for some forty members of the Nationa] A cadcn1y-of Sciences, ,vhich 1.vasmeeting 3t Columbia Univ~rstty. e ])r+ C. H. F. Peters ( 1813-1890) t Dfrcctor of the Litchfield Observatory of HarnUton College. Ne,v ·York. For more than t\VCnty years he had been compiling a star ca talo guel ~nd ha cl recd ved adv j ce !lnd 11e 1 p f rotn Gcor ge Il orul 'J.nd Jo:!>eph ,Vin 1ock~ the second and third I) ircctors of the Ohscrvato ry t as: ,ve lI as f ron1 Pickering. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) 72 Harvard Library Bulletin upon hin1 the importance of an early publication of his·stclfo r spee trn ( of ,v hie b l had heardJ but have not yet seen) - I called his attention to the sin1ilar ,vork no,v in progress by Dr. Huggins/= and that a delay might seriously dimioish the value of the jnvcstigation .. I finally stated that ,•;,,rehad the necessary appara- tus for me~sudng his spectra at Cat11bridgc1 and I offered to m~ke the measure- ments rnyscU and send him the re.suits, if this ,vould cnduce their early publi- cation. He told me of the change in his affairs/• by ,vhich he could l1ave n1ote time fol" his original ,vork, and that he hoped shortly to con1plete this part of his ,vor k. As great d clay n1a y cnsu c if you \Vait to have the n ec-e.ssary mca:suring apparatus constructed~ it occurred to n1e that I 111ightaid you jn thJs m aner. I should be gre!ltl y pl cased if I might do son1cthing in mcm or y of a fr icnd ,vhose t:11cots I al ,vays admire dJ and regarding ,v ho111it , vil l :.=t1, vays be a source of regret to 1ne that I should [not have] 1nct hirn more frecp1ently. I a1nav/are that you must have many advjsors :in this 111a.tterJevery astronomer seems to feel the loss a persona] one. Dr. Peters ,vris ,vith me ,vhen ,ve heard the sad nc.,vs- at the Cfork)s -- observing ,vich their great lens. But he took no further jntcrcst in the ,vork, in nothing but in the inrrnediate effort to get a Ne,v York paper, hoping that the rU111ormight prove false. 1~hc rest of his stay ,vjth inc ,,ras saddened by his condnna1 reference to our dear friend. ,vhatever n1ay be your final arrangcn1enls regarding the great \,•ork you Jrn.vc undertaken, pray recollect thf1t if I can in any ,vay ad\.Tiseor aid you! I shall be doing but Jirdc to repay DL Draper for a friendship ,vhich I shall ahvays va]ue, but "\1i.'hichcan never be repfaced, V cry truly yours, Ed ,vard C. Pie kering J\1rs.. Draper replied, on paper having a ,vide black border~ 'l.7! i\1adison Avenue Jan. 17th/83 My dear Prof. Pickering, Thanks so very rnuch for your kind and encouraging lctlcr. The only in- terest I can 110-\v take in life ,vill be in having Henry,s ,vork continued~ yet I feel so very jncompctcnt for the task th:at n1y courage s01nctin1cs co1nplctcly fails n1c - I understand Henry's plans and his manner of ,vorking, perhaps better than anyone c]se~but I could not get along \vichout an assistant and 1ny n1ain difficulty is to find a person sufficiently acguainted ,vith physicsi chem- isr.ry, & astronomy to carry on the various rese?rches~ I ,vill probably find • ,~ 7Hliam Huggins ( 18i.4-19l o )! a hriHiant Brjtish astronon1er and pioneer in studies of ~rd1~ r pcc.:tra+The: first to a ttcn 1pt to pl i Ol ograp h t I1e spectr-u u1 u f a srnr, in 1 863, he had obtain c d no lin cs, on]y the continuous ba ckg round. ·rhe .fir.st :suc- cessful photograph of a stcll.u spectrum v;as made by Henry Dnlper jn 1871, and Huggins had then rcsmn e d ,vo r k in the field. AI though their correspond cnce had remained friendly in tone~ a certain rivab-y hnd existed berween the ~Yo men. c; Draper ]1ad rcccntl y resigned his prof ~wr~h i p t the A1 cdical S d 1001 of the University of N c,v York .so that he cou] d de \rote aU his time to astronomy. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) A1rs. Henry Draper 73 it necessary to have t\vo assistants one for the Observatory and one for the laboratory \Vork, for it is not Jikely that I ,vlU find any one person ,vith the varied scientffic kno-\vledge that ,vas to 1-Icnry. I am ,viUing to pay good sal arics,. so as to secure first class men! but I should ,va nt men ,vi Hing to identify themselves \Vith the ,vork already co1n1ncnccd and dcvclopc it- I shou]d ljke first to continue the stellar spectrum ,vork 1 for that is comparatively sirrlpie. I an1 exec cd ingl y obligc IVIy real pl an h 1 as soon as possiL]e to get the ,vor k running under my o,vn direction, then ,vhen I c~n hu y th c pla cc at Hastin gs ri ,v here the Obscrv:1 tory js 1 to do so 1 ~then move the laboratory & all the apparatus: 'l there and eventu- ally cndo,v the ,,._·holeas an institution for original research in astronomical physics to be called the Henry Draper A:stronomica} & Physical Observa.tory .. As long as I could I should keep the direction of the io-stitution myself.. It seems to 1nc the only suitable memorial I can erect to I~Ienry, :ind the only ,va.y to perpetuate his n amc and his ,vor k. I hope you have not lost all patience ,vith my long letter, but your o,vn 1 Dr~pcr .1nd his father, Dr. John William Draper ( r 8 ll-1882 ), had built a. p.rivate ob:,c rv.atory on the gtou nds of the family horn c at H -astin g.s-on-Hu dson:, N ewT York. l"hc in!;truments ind ttdc d a l ;-inch reflector "J!nd -;1. 2 S-j nc h reflector,, both built by l-I.cnry Draper, ~nd an 11-inch rcfractor made hy the Clarl:s. " Dr=iper's ph otog~ phi c laboratory and a ppars tu s for stud yj n g tcr r-cstrial spectra occu p] ed roo1ns on th c third floor of the 1\-~dison A vcnu e house ;1 nd other roon1s above the stabies. connected to the house by a covered passageway. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) 74 Harvard Library R1t!leti11 letter ,vns so very kind~ th-at it ternpted me to exp] ain my pl ans to you in the hope that you ,vould give me sonic advice jn the matter. I am so unusually a.Jone in the ,vorld., that ''-'jthout feeling that those friends ,vho ,vcrc interested in Henry's ,vo r k "ronld d vise 1nCi I could not do anything. I do not care to ta]k to p eoplc gc.nera 11y :1ho ut my p]:ins~ but if you s ho u] dsec l'vlr. G corgc Clark I ,vould be glad if you cxpfoined 1ny id~ns to him, for in n1y Jetter to A-1(s.Cfo.rk T merely referred to continuing the ,vork ,vithout going into par- ticulars - Thanking yon again for your kind intcrrst and syn1pathy I rcnH1in1 Very truly yours, Anna P. Draper Jan.20,. 1883 1\1y dear i\1rs. Draper~ I have read ·vlith the grente.~t jnrcrcst the grand plan of ,,•ork that you have ]aid out. _Asfar as earthly co1nf ort can con1c 1 it must be furnished in an under- taking so entirely- in ar.::cord,,rith Dr~ l)raper~s ]ifc :ind ,vork+ In my O\\rn family ,ve had so sii11i1arn case, that the 1natter comes hon1c ,·cry ne~rly. A dear Uncle of mine devoted thirteen years of Jijs Jife to a ,vork entitled the Chron~ ology of J>]ants and died leaving it on]y half :finished.5 l\f y Aunt, ,\·1th no obj cct in life but to sec the "=-ork comp] eted, f cl t ov envheL11ed at the d iffi- cuI d cs of the undertaking. \Vith a.n energy ,v·hich ,vas surprjsing considc:ring her iH health she read all the proof [ ... ] ,vhile it "\\·as [ ... ] to n1e for con1- pad son ] etter by letter. She ,vas often troubled at the various questions regarding publication 1 dis- trjbution, etc., \, 1hich she ,vonld have to decide, but such difficu]ties only present themselves one at a titnc. For months she dc\'Oted her entire energies to the ,vo:rk but at length had the satisfaction of presenting a handson1e qua.1to vol urn e to all the princi pal Hb ra ri es of the ,vorld. I have every confidence that if you do not h ccomc discouraged~ en ti re su cccs~ , vi11re\vard your cff orts. As you ask for advice, I ..vill put it in more detail than 1 should othcr,vjse vcn ture to do+ I shou ]d certain! y pu bHsh \vor k a 1ready don c, even if not cn- tirel y com p1ete+ ..f here mu st n ec ess-arj]y be :1 grcnt distinction b ct\veen past and f uturc. It must he n long titn c before you can ex pcct t hHt your assistants 1 ,\'ill attain results equal to Dr. D ra pcr s 1 ho,ve v er ski!f u l they may b c. As regArds the ste 1lar spectra, the first t hj ng ,vou] d be n list of all the pla res. The numher of photographs of each star~ except of course the failures. The number ,vherc the itnpressions arc good, 1ncdium or bad should be specified, as a poor photograph may ha,Tevalue jf ,ve have no other~ It ,~.roulc.1next be necessary that J should ex-an1in c the plat~ on the n1casuri n g n1achinc. A re you inclined to send 1ne son1e as satnplcs? Not the very bcst 1 hut some of B Charles Pickering ( 1 80 5-1878), physician and n=itura 1i st. His \vif e, S:u;a h Ham- mond Pjckcring, completed thE ,vork. Tbr C/Jrmwlogical Hi.story of Plantr: Alan's Record of His Own E:rirte.n~e lllurtrated through T1Jelr 't•lmJU:r1 Usest and Co111- panions/Jip1was published in 1879. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) A1rs.Henry Draper 75 different degrees of cxccHcncc. Professor Langley 9 will be here for n few ,vceks and I could get his judgement :ind thn.t of Mr. George B .. Cfo.rki if you wished it. I should attach great weight to the opinion of each of these gentle- men. There can be no reasonable danger of brcnkage, if packed ,.vith co.re, nnd dry plates are no,v sent so constan ti y, all over the ,vor ld. 1 need not State th:at I should take the utmost care of them here .. Dr. Huggins paper is I believe the only one yet published on this subj cct~in To confirm or controvert his results \vould ;ilonc be most important. I anti~ipate that Dr .. Draper~s photo- graphs ,viH do n1uch more than. this, and :as the last ,vor k of the kind yet done ,vill amply justify publication. Even if ,ve ,vere sure that hereafter you would o brain b cttcr rc.sul ts, this ,vould rcn d er it none the less dcsira b le to publish any ,vork that Dr~ Draper has already done. It ,vou]d be most unfor- tunate if you waited and mcan,vhile some other experimenter should publish matedal ,vhlch \vould diminish the value of the photographs already taken~ Dr. Hnggins results indicate that the stars may be [divjded} into ,vell defined classes. If this result is confirmed the ,vork ,vjll be 1nuch sin1pli.ficd _ .. _ Do not hesitate to write in detail I in no ,va y can I a id astronomical science more effectively than by any assistance I can give you in this matter. Very truly yours, Ed,vard C. Pickering Ja.nuary 2. s th/8 3 My dear Prof. Pjckering,. · As Prot Young 11 \Vas to be here on Wednesday, I postponed nns\veriog your very kind letter until he had looked over the Stellar Spectra. Ile a.d\dses me also very-strongly to have them measured~but thought it ,vou1d perhaps be better for inc to let you kno,v ho,v very inicroscopic they arc. Each star has for a. reference spectrum either Jupiter or the i\1oon, and j n these the distance bcnvccn G & H is a little over 1/16 of an inch. I nlay be obliged to go to Boston in the course of the next ten days to attend to some business rnattersr ,vith one of my brothers. If so I cou1d take the negatives with met and by going to Crunbridge for part of a day t if jt ,vas con venicn t for you, could look over the pictures ,vi th you, and see ,v hat you think of them. g. Samuel P jerpont Lang1ey ( 18 J4- 1 906), then Director of the Allegheny Ob- servs.tory at the Western Universtty of PeunsyhTanfa.,;;1.nd bter Secretary of the Smithsonfon 1nstitntion; a close f rj end of both D caper and Pickering. 10 This statement is incorrect 0nd jndicatcs that Pickcdng had not been follo,ving the ne\v work closely. Huggtns had published p~pers on the photographic spectr~ of stars in several journals: Royal Society, London: I'roceedings, X::X::V( 1877 )J 445; Tbe Observ:1~orytI ( 1877 ), 4; Naturct XXI ( 18So),, 2 69j and Pbilosopbital Transat- ti ons, CLXX I ( l 880) t 669. D rnpe.r 's pu blica tion:s on the subject included pi pc..rsin '/it.1ature, XV ( 1877), 218t and XXI ( 1879) t 83-85; a.nd An1erican Journal of Sciente f'Sillin,an~s Journal") 5 3d ser., XIII ( 1877), 95, ~nd XVIII ( 1879), 4r 9. n Charles A. Young ( 1834-190"8), Professor of Astronomy at Princetoni Vi.'"hojn 1870 had o bts.ined the first photograph of a safor prom.i nence; close fricn d of the Drapers and of Pickering. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) Harvard LibraryBrilletiu -. I cannot express to you hO'\'l very much obliged I am for the interest you take_in h clpjn g inc to complete Dr. Orn per' s ,vork i es pee] a11 y for your off er to measure these photo gr.aphs for me+ With· your assistance and thu t of other friends of Hcnryts v."ho have been cxcccdinglr kindi I am encour~ged to think I may be able to acco1np1ish something that ,viJl be a credit to his memory- . \1/ith klnd regards, b e1icvc inc \Tcry truly yours · Anna P. Draper Early in Fcbrua.I)• il\1r.s. Draper, ,vith her friend Prof. Barker,12 visited the Observatory in Cambridge. She hr.ought ,vith her Drapcr,s photograph of the nebula in Orion (Picker1ng hoped that a careful exan1ination ,vould sho,v hitherto unkno,vn stars ,vhich ,vere too faint to he seen in the telescope), and tlvcnty·-one photographs of steJlar spectraJ 11onc Jonger than a quarter of an inch. Small as they ,vere,. Pickering undertook to examine th e1n un dcr a. 111icroscope~ using a. micron1eter to n1easurethe relatiYcpositions of the lines ,vith the solar- spcctran1 as a standard, and to calculate their \"\7avelengths4Preljminary n1casurcni.en ts a f nv clvc spectra ,v ere encouraging~ a11d h c suggested to 1'1rs.Draper ( 18 Febru~ry"1883) that they· pub]ish a Jist of the .spectra together ,vi th cnl urged pr in ts and n1ca surcments of the best: I have found that there is much n1ore in the photographs than appears nt first slg ht . 4 .. A pro per interpretation of the results proves more difficult than the lll casurcs . . r J ] ta\""C in }1and tl lC catalogu C of stars to b C } ool.:cd for 1n the Nebula of Orion. There ate an hundred and eighty of them. I have not yet foun · ll George Fr Barker ( 183 5-19 1 o) t Prof cssor of Physics :at the Uni vcrsity of Penn- syl vanin, and an intimate friend. u Andre,v Ainslee Conimun ( 184J-1903), British astro1101ner.. In I 884 he re- ceiYed the Go]d i'\1cd:-llof the Royal Astronomical Society for his. phorograph of the nebula~ ,;,yhich he h::i:d1n41de '\1i:ith his 36-jnch reflector- - on instrument that later ,ve.nt to the..Lick Ob scrvatory. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) Airs. Henry Draper 77 had thoughti ,vhen the merisures ,vere made that I ,vould have 1\1:r.Bierstadt 14 try ho\\:r much enlarging they ,vould stand, and not require retouching .. for Henry ,vould never have any of his spcctrun1 ,vork retouched, as he thought it dcteroratcd [sic] the value of the pjcture for reference. There is one of Cape11a and one of a Aqui1ac ,vhich arc very shnrp and ,vould I :un sure en- large , veil - The lab els on the ncga ti vcs a re cor rcct - In regard to i\1r. Commonis photograph of the Orion Nebulat the one you ref er to is I the on c he prcscn tcd ~t the !\ 1a y rraccti n g of the Astro- norn ical Society. 16 Although he only described it a.s sho,ving the bright pa.rt of the Nebula near the trnpc.zium~ it ,vns pronounced the most ,vonderful piece of ,vorki by the Society, and as l\1r. Ranyard/tl Henry\; only friend in the Society ,vas in Egypt, no reference ,vas made to the picture ,ve had pre- .sentcd the year b cf ore. 0 ur fine photograph , vas there at the tirn e, hut as A1lr. Ranyard lvas: av.,.ayit ,vas not sho,vn until the next Jneeting, ,vhen it ,vas set aside \Vith the rcmnrk that 1\1.r.LassclPs 11 dnnving \Vas much snperior. If you have the Astronon1ical Register you \\?ill find the discussion of Co1nmonts photograph in the June nun1ber & -0£Henry 1s in the July nun1ber~ The ,\1 hole nu1ttcr annoyed tne exceedingly) hut rca.Hy appeared to a1nusc.Henry) especially Abncy~.s 1 ~ rcn1arks ,vhich sho,v that he kno,vs nothing of atn1osphcric n1otion, nor of the faint light ,ve ,vere dealing ,vith, as it is simpJy impossible to see the stars through t 11e gelatin c fihn. A hncy hcin g nccustom cd to so] ar ,vo r k 1 evid en t]y con fu s:cs the :stars ,vith the· stin. Our pi eta res of Jupiter & his satel- lites & \Tega & its companion, are simply c'1:quisite not sh o,vi ng ,v hat Capt. Abney calls u hala tion it 3.n d of ,v hieh h c tli.i nks ,vc ,vcrc la.n1cnta bly i gn ore.i_lt. - I ,-c,rishI-I cnry had p u b]j shed some very curious photographs he had ta ken to sho,v atmospheric motion, but he ,vaitcd to take some this ,vintcr that ,vcrc better so it lvas ne,?'cr done. I ,vanted then1 printed jn connection ,vith the Nebula paper, ~s they ,vould explain the stars .sho,ving so diluted from the long exposure~ If it is not too 1nuch trouble I "'"ilt be very glad to h:n'c the position of the stars in the Nebula measured. 11 0 f the N C\V York pl 1otograp hie firm of Harroun and Ilierstadt. u The meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, 11 Jvlay 18R1. Draper had obrajned the first picture ever Jnade of thn nchub, on 30 Septen1be.r 1880~ Through his friend Ran ya rd he had presen te d th c photograph. to the Socie:ty -at the mcctin g of i 4 January 1881 ; Common h~d then critici?,cd the photo gr~ph 9.S b cjng less uscf ul than a good dra'\v jng. ie A~ Co,'-'l1erRanyard ( 1845-1894)i British astrono1ncr~ He h~d gone tc Egypt to p hotog ra ph the solar ecUpse of 1 7 A-1:ay 1 88z. A strong supporter of both Draper and pjckerjng an1ong thcil" rivals in the Royal Astronornical Society, he v..·as jn- srnnncnta l in pro cu ring the Society•s gold med "di f o.r pj ckering, jointly ,vith C. Pritch~rd 1 in 18861 for their 'li.\'Ork in stellar photometry. l"T ,vin fa.m L"lssell ( ] 799-I 8 80) t Brjtish s.stronon1er, "\\'"hoin I 8 46 d iscovercd the first sateUitcs 0£ Neptune, less.than a month after the discovery of the planet itself. 19 1 WiUfaff! Abney ( 1843:-19:z.o)1 Brita sh chcrnjstt physicist, and astronomer, \ lho carried out important research in photographic methods and .in color photography .. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) Harvard Library Bulletin I am exceeding! y oh lige d for your su ggcstions of ca o did~tes fo t the ,vor k I want done. 1~ I ,vjJl not trouble you to \vrfre to chem until I have seen Prof Youngr I ha vc rcceived a letter reco111mending Prof. Paul ve l)· strong 1v and ~ying he ,vould call on Monday to talk the matter over ,,•ith me. If I decide to offer him (Mr. Pau]) the position I n1u6t du so immediately~"\Vithout any correspondence as to ,vhat I requiret or 8s to ,vlrnt he can do 1 and as it is to me an important n1at ter, I do not feel in cl in ed to set cle it in sucl 1 a 11urr r ")and ,vill probably decide .against it~ With regards to Mrs. P ickcring & again than Icing you for a H the trouble yon :1..rctaking to assist me, I remain Sincerely you rs Anna P .. Draper i\1nrch 9, 1883 A1y dear ~~1rs.Draper, . I ,~.rritc to report progress. The measures of all of the stcU.ar spectra are completed. Of course in case of discrepancies it may be nece.~saryto repeat certain measures. The reduction to ,va v e] en gths is also completed and the principal thing remaining is the d~cription of the results in fonn for printing. I hope to send this to you before very Ion g, and run postponing my \Vork on the Nebula of Orion until this is done. The agreement of the results is better than I h:1.da ntici pa tcdt :1nd the uncertainty in the .fino.] val ucs of the ,va ve~ lengths , 1;ri1lseldotn exceed one or ~,;o ten miJlionths of a n,jJlimeter. I askc Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) A1rs.Henry Draper 79 March 11th 18S3 l\1y dear ?vir. Pickering, I ,vas exceedingly glad to rec civ c your 1 etter and Jearn ho\v satisfactory are the final results in th c reduction of the ste 11 arspectra. '\~ljrh enlarged co pics of the best negatives it ought to make an interesting paper. I do not kno,v ho,v to thank you for the trouble you arc tflking to sho,v the of the i.vork .. In your former letter you asked a question ,vhich I think I neglected to an5\ver as to the number of spectra ,vc had taken. Prof. Young11s statement applies to the nun1bcr of photographst not to the number of different stars photo gr:iphed. I arn very glad to kno,v that the rules of the Nation al A cad emy do not rcq uire that funds gi vcn then1 in trust should be jn vested in U. S. Il ond s. I shou Id much pref er to find sorn einvcstmcn t that ,vii1 pay a h cttcr interest~ In rcg~rd to Prof. Pauli I have promised Prof, ·Young to ,vait and see him before I make an arrangcn1enr ,vith anyone c]sc. Bue I question if J offer hirn the place as I hear from othe:t: sources that he is ea ti re]y unsui tcd to the kind of ,vork I want done. One gentleman \V ho kn e\V him in Washington and ~n- othcr \vho ,vas ,vith him in Japan both speak personally very highly of himt hut in independently expressed opinions each say he is not the man I ,vant~ V-/ithregards to l\1rs.Pickering as well as to yourself 1 I remain J\,fost sinccrcl y you rs1 Anna P Draper i\1arch 26th/8 3 l\1y dear 1\1r.Pickering, I hav~ just received fron1 Mr. Ranyard a numhcr of the ' 1 English l\1cchanic' 1 containing an account of a photo graph of the Orion N ebu1 a pres cntcd by 1\-1.r.Con1moni at the i\1arch meeting of the Astronomical Society. i\{r. Ran- ya rd ,vrotc to say that the photograph ,vas very ii net and he thong ht sh o,vcd more dct:ail than Dr. Draper,s 1 -but as he had not in either case seen the original negatives he could not )Udge fairly-l\1r. Cominon's instrument is so po\verful thnt he ought to get fine results-As ,vc had already mentioned the n1atter I thought I ,vould let you kno,v the J:1tesr ed,rices on the subject- When a man opens a. n e\v line of re.search ho \V little time passcsj before others take it up and jmprovc upon v.rhat he has done. "Vt'i th regards to l\1rs. Pieleering I remain V cry truly yours Anna P Draper l\1y dear .i\1rs.Draper~ Today I send you by express the manu~ript of n1y po~·cion of your aniclc on Dr. Draper's stellar spectra. It js no,v ready for you to put in your general d escd pti on of the , vor k ,v hich sh ou] d precede th c part I have ,vrittc n. To conn cct them proper 1y you ,vi U d011 b tlcss have to nm k e some changes in my man us.cript. I hop c that you ··wiH do this ,vi tho ut hcsi ta tion~ Other changes Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) 80 Harvard Libra,-yBulletin may a.lso suggest then1sel vcs as you look at the pa per . . If you a re still in- c]•ned to pu bHsh in the Proceedings of the Aincri c ri n Academy 23 I sh 9 ll be happy to n1a1'.ea statc1ncnt of this ,vork at the next rnccdng on Aprjl 11 + The printing c3 n b cgin as soon as you send on the copy, an April 3rd J 8S3 l\.1y dear i\1r. Pi eke ring, I 1·eccivcd die 1nanuscript safely and have studied it carefully+ It must have been a great deal of ,vork to make the n1easurcs and reduce thc1n, and I thank you exceedingly for the trouble you have taken~ I a.in -afraid it ,vii] be impos- sible to have the rest of the paper prepared ns I should }jkc hcfore the 11th so I think it ,vould be better to postpone presenting it untjl later. You suggested th~t I 1night ,, 1ish to mal.::esome changes .in the text of your manuscriptt and as I \\·ant to have Dr. Drnpcrj,s ,rie,vs of the spectra repre- scntcdi I ,vill take ad vantage of your permission in regard to the classification. Dr. Draper did not agree \Vith Dr. Huggins in the opinion that Alpha Aquilae and Alpha Lyrae belonged to the smnc class. The bands in both are the sa1nc, but in a Aqui!ae bet,veen the bands there is an inuncnse number of .fine Jines, ,vhich ,ve cou]d never get in the spectn1n1 of a Lyrac. Prof. Young ,vns so impressed by this p cculiari ty in the spectrum of a A q u i1ac that he as kcd Dr. 1 Dr::1.pcrto gh c him one of the photographs of the spectrum of th:H star 1 ,vhich he did. In v ie"r of this I should not like to accept .i\1r. Hu ggins1 c] assifi cation as the standard ,vhen Dr~ Draper did not agree ,vith fr ..24 The An1erjc~n lt cad E:my of Arts and Sd c nccs1 Ilo ston. La tcr ,vork sh o\vcd that Huggins w-as correct; the t\vo stars are of the satnc cl ~s~t ha i·ing near Jy the same temperatures, but a. Aquil ac h:=i.s grcater ra djus and luminosity, Th us D.raper \Va:5 aho correct in beliedng that the pe cu liar spectrum indicated a significant difference. i\1.issAntonia C. l\-11l.ury(a niece of Henry Draper)i ,vho in 1888 bccan1c a· Iese arch -associate at the Obscn·atory., in her study of stcI1ar 1 1 5pectra used this f catu re, ;,vh1 ch sh c dcsjgnatcd the ' c ' cha rac tf!r•s.ti Ct to distinguish -a.sequ cm cc p ar-Jlleljng th~ t of the ordinary stars. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) A1ts.Henry Draper You ,viH not I hope b c ann o yc April 5t 1883 i\1y dear i\1rs~Draper t • Your note of the 3rd inst. duly reached n1e and I very glad that you called my attention to the n.dditional Jines in c. Aquilae ... fhey should certainly be considered in the discussion, a11 d I ,,. HI try again to 1n easure them. Th ere is ho,vever a grcu t difference b et\veen s eei 11g soc h lines and getting sntisf :actory n1easures of ti 1en1. Dr. Drap er"s vie, vs should certainly be stated ,vherever they are kno,vn~ Should any other point occur to you ,vhich ,,•ou1d require my rccxatnination of the negatives before I return themt pray let n1e "kno,v. There ore son1e additional reasons ,vhich may ]ead you to decide that the stellar spectra had b cttcr Lc des crib cd :at tl 1e Academy 111eetin g 11ext Wednesday. It is not n ec e.ssaty that the pap er should be con1pI eted as long as the o bserva ti ons arc finish~d. The ,.vork ,,,iH take date fro111the titne of presentation~ and of course it is desirable that this should be as early fiS possible~1~he audience ,dll be an unusually Rppreciati\re onet as Dr .. Stnn~c ,,rill be present and perhaps Dr~ Gould and Professor Asap h Hal1. 2~ I should not send en y man u scr j pt as I should present an oral staten1ent rather than read a pnpcr .. Still I do not urge the point~ if you ,vou ld pref er n 1atcr prcscnta tion. \r ery sinccrcl y yourst Ed ,vard C. Plcket j ng \~lith ~1rs. Draper~ s consent~ Pi ck cring presented a discussion of the ,vork before an appreciative audience at the n1eeting of the Ameri- can Academy on 11 April~ but ~\irs. Draper delayed puhlication until other material could be added~ a detailed introduction by Prof cssor Young, pictures of the Hastings Observatory~ and excerpts fro1n Dra- per1s research notebooks.. On 4 l\1ay Pickering visited her in NC\V York to Otto Struve ( 1 814-1 90 5 ) , then D j rector of the P u1kova Ohser\~atory in Russia, ,vho ,viti 1 his ,vif c and son Henn ann ,vas vlsiting in this country; d urjng thci t Carnbridge stay they ,verc guests of the Pie kcrin gs. Benj Qn1inA pthorp Gould ( 1824-1896) f ouuder of the Artron01nical )011rnal1 first Director of the Dudley Obs erva to ry st Alb any-,New· York, ~nd of the N ::nion~ l Ob senrs tory at Cordoba, A.rg-cntin-a, Asaph Hall ( 1829-19oj ). of tho Naval Observatoryt \Yho in I 877 had discovered the t,vo sate]li tes of 1\1a rs. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) Harvard LibraryBulletin T\1ay13th/83 1\1y dear i\1r. Pjckcring, Since I s:nv-you I ha\Te studied the iradous stellar spcctrn very Cclrefully, especia 1I y those of o )_,y rae ,v hich have com par.i.sons pee tra ! and think th c p osi- tio n of the 1ioes is ahs;,raysthe san1c as in the nvo you exa1nincd. 'T'hese picture..~ ,vere tn ken in diffcrcn t yearsi ,vith d iffere n t tc] cscopcsi some in the ear Iy su n1- m er and some in the au tan1 n. In « Aq uilae and Capel1a 1.v hen there is a com- parison spcctruin i.vith them the H Jines as ,ve11 as all the others are perfectly cojncjdcnt. It seems to me the different posfrjon of some of the lines of Vegu could not ah\·ays be attributed to an accident. -Not f ecling full confidence in my o,vn judgement I thought I ,,·ou]d ljke Prof. Young to ex-atnine the clif- f erent spectra and give his opinion of thcn1, before th c disc ussio o ,va.~added to your n1easures. U nf ortu n ate1y he is so much occupied that h c can do nothing 8bout it until the cod of this n1onth. I think therefore it ,vi11be ,,.tiser to post- pone doing anything in regard to publishing until the autumn-That ,vill give tune to study tl:ie matter carefully and decide jf fr is a peculiarity of ,rega~s spectrum or th c result of an a ccidcn t - Do you not think it ,vou ld be b cttcr to say nothing about it unti] ,ve understand jts cause ourselves?~ I ,,;--ishcir- cumstances , vou] d permit Prof. Young and you rsc]f to study the ph otogra pl ts together. -J am sorry to put off the for so long after all the trouble you have t:1ken in n1aking the 1ncesures, hut I fceJ sure that you \vill under- stand that I ,,:o u Id not be satj sfied to make any publication u ncil , v·c kn o,v \vh rit is the cause of the p cc u liar j ty of th c spcctru1n of (l. I. yrne. Hoping you \vill not be annoyed & think me over cau tioa s:,I rem~ in \Tcry y yours Anna P. Draper i\.fay 2 2~ T 883 1\1y dear 1'1r8.Ora pert Your n otc duly reached me and ,v h.ile reg rcttin g th c d c Jay in the p ubHcation of the spectra 1 I see that it might be difficult t:o print the article this If you have nny of the spectra enfo.rgcd ,vould it not be ,vcH to send me copies on paper or gfass to sho,\~ to the a~tron om crs I 1nay n1eet tlu s s un1nlcr? A-1y address ,vlll he Cate of Baring Bros. Lon don. I should be very cautious about the deviation of the ]ine.~ in a Lyra c. Strong evidence ,vou Icl be required to con yj nee astro n on1ers in gen era]. I ,dsh you cou]d get so1nc additiona] photographs this sununer ,vhile a Lyrae is nearly overhead. P1·ofessor Young could doubtless easily decide the c1ucscion by an eye o bser\.Tgti on ,, 1th h j s spectroscope and Iarge tel escope. "\:Vould it not be \veil to sec ,vliat evjdencc Dr. Dr.aperls photograp]1s of the nebula. furnish on the supposed variable star of 1\-Ir. Co1n1non? It \\'Ou]d only be necessary to con1pare on each of the photograph.~ the stars to ,vhlch i\1r. Con1- mon .referred. 1~he supposed variabk shou]d be described on each., as 'c(Juul/ "slightly brighter/ 'distinctly fainter/ etc+ than drn other star. A. list: of these remarks ,vith the ti n1c at l~.7hi ch each photograph ,va s taken ,·vou]d furnish Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) Mrs. Henry Draper much valuable information regarding the law of 1..1ariationof the star. If you send a copy of your notes to me, I should be glad to make the needed discu-s- sion. I have not yet nlade the mcasurcn1cnts of the places of the stars in the nebula but shall hope to do so so on af tcr iny rctu rn. I\1can ,v hi le I "\vill put the negative and also the lrrrgc positive in a safe place+ If I can aid your plans during th.is summer pray 1et me kno\v. I hope in the autumn to find your work f airl r in progress. V cr~r sincerely yours, Ed,\tard C+P.ickerin g I send by mail the sha,vl that you left here ]ast spring. j\ i y dear l\1r. Pickering 1 I was very glad to receive your letter and kno\v that you did not entirely disapprove of the postp onemen t of printing the manuscript containing the measures- Prof. Young came in tO"\V~l quite unexpectedly last Friday and stayed over night. H c c~ami ncd aU the sp cctra. very car cf ull y - and ,vas quitc puzzled in regard to those of \ 7 egn ,vith reference spectra,. of ,vhich there are elevent all as nearly as ,vc could judge frorn ohserva.ti.on ,vith n ]cnst sholving a.bout the same amount of shift-He took the pictures hon,e v.rith hhn to ex~n1ine thcn1 more thoroughly,, thinking it might be "'"c]l to 1n akc -a calculation and see if by any chance the posjtion of the lines cou1d indicate the amount of rcc~sion of the star 1 ,vhich according to Mr. Chriscie~s~-13 tables is moving a,vay quite rapidly-Prof. Young)s first hnpression ,vas that the an1ount of the shift ,vas too great, just as you said, for the amount of recession. Prof. Young has kindly consea ted to ,vri te the cli scussion of the photographs to add to your nrn.nnscri pt :so I hop c by the titnc you rctu rn to have everything ready for printing Than ks for your suggcsti on in regard to c~antlnin g the Ne bu 1a photographs, to sec if they throw· any light on Mr. Common._.s variable star .. If the exposures are about the same I may be able to thro,v son1c light on the subject- If you are in Paris during the summer, say July! nught l trouble you to pass judgmncnt on the likeness they get of Dr. Draper for the die of my medal As I have no profile picture the artist in Paris thinks he ,vill try to make a bust from the photographs I lrn.vet and then ta kc the profile fron1 the bust - If you are in Paris ,vhen the bust is finishedi I should like to have you see it~ A letter sent through your banker ,vould reach you if you were in Paris- As the 2rclst, J\'l r + Chap lain, asks the moderate sum of one thouse nd ( $ 1 ooo) dollars for the di e 1 I a1n anx.iou s to have it satisfactory If the stellar photographs enlarge ,v ell enough to sho,v their characteristic points in a print) I ,vjil send copies to you- I an1 afraid the faint lines ,vill disappc~r jn an enlargement~ Vl ..H. Christie ( 1845- 19:2.:2 ) Astronomer Royal 1 881-1 91 o. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) Harvard J_.ibraryll11lletin "'\~'ishing you a plensant "trip,,vith regards toi\1rs. Pickering, I l~enrnin · · V cry· sincerely yours~ Anna P. Draper IViydear l\1rs. Draper, It ,vould give inc great pleasure- to see the die you arc having cut of Dr~ Draper. If you ,,rou 1d send the ad dress of th c :i rti st to rrlc ( Care of Il ari ng Bros. & Co. Lon don) I should take pleasure in calu ng on him. \ 7 cry sincere!y you rst Ed,vard C. Piclcering In Europe; that sun1111er,Pickering vjsitcd the chief govcrn111cnt oh servatorics_in Austria 1 Ger1nany, Italy, and F"rance+ In England he spoke b~forc the Roy-alAstrono1nical Society 21 and yjsited the private observatories of llanyardl Conunon, ~nd I~Juggins,the latter t\vo having been the not ,vholly friendly rivals of I-Icnry Draper in the co1npcti- tion to pl 1otogra ph eel estial ub j cc ts: Pickcri ng sh o, v ed then1 sorne of Draper's best spectra nnd discussed the problc1ns of n1casurc111cntand j n terpreta ti on. . On _returning to Carnbridge he _rcsu1ned his correspondence ,vith ?\1rs~Draper, regarding the revision of the still unfi1ushedpaper~ Itina]ly pub}ished in February 1884, it contained Draper's spectra and the mea~uren1ents1 reduced to ,va velengths, of t\venty-onc_:?s lVlrs. Draper .sent copies of the paper to all the leading astrono1ncrs, including Prof. I-Iuggjns in England, ,vho responded \vill1 an angr)rl critical letter to Pickerjng. For some of the spectr~l lines Pickering had obtained ,vavclcngths that disagreed ,vith those 1-Iuggins h~d fouud, and son1e ]iucs djd not appear at "Jllin the Draper spectra. Convinced that his o,vn \York ,vas accurate, and that Pickering's must therefore be ,vrongt I-Iuggins ,v-rotc ( 12 l\Jarch 1 _884) that Pickering's ,vavelcngths ,Ycrc "very wild indeed . .. 4 There can be 110 do11bt wbate-verthat y.our curve is quite i1Zncc1trate& increasingl)r so as the ,vavelc.ngths get s1naller ..... ', The At the meeting of 8 June 1883. Hh papcrt 110n the Detenninatlon of J.ight and Color of t l 1c St-a~ by Photography 1 ~' '\.Vas repo rtcd in Tbe O bseruatory,XI ( 188 3 ) t 199• • :i;1:1"'~Rcscuc:hes upon the Photography of Pfonet~ry and Stdhtr Spectrat by the Jate J{cnry Draper, Af.D.! LL.D. lVith an Introduction by Professor C. A. Young, a Lii;;tof the Photographic Pl:=ltC:Sin 1\.·frs.D.rapl:!r's Possession, and the Results of the ]'..feasurements of these Plates hy Professor E. C. Pickcringt Prot:.eedingsrJf tbe Auierican Acade111yof Arts a11dSciences., XIX (1884)1 23r. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) A1rs.He,nry Draper 85 errors could not be due to the photographic plates, he asserted, and Pie ketin g 111ust have "\V ro ng 1y id cntificd son1 c of the solar lines u scd as a .standard. Pickering replied courteously, defending his ,vork, ttnd comtnented: ''The determination of the true ,vavelength is doubtless in1portant; ,vhether the error js yours or mine is of little consequence. Any aid 1 can render you to\vards the solution of the first of these questions, I \vill gladly give.', On the san1e day he \Vrotc to A1rs.Diaper: 1\1y dear l\lrs. })raper~ Enclosed a.reackno,vledgernents of the receipt of the paper on stellar spectra • . Also a so1nc,vhat characteristic letter from Dr~ Huggins. I enclose a copy of 1ny anS\ver, thinking that you might like to see it+ Possibly Professor Young ,vould like to see the Jcttcrs as he is natncd. Ilut if he feels as I do nhout con trovcrsics he 1nay not care to take the troubl c to read the 1etters tlU"oughr Fortunately, Dr. ITiuggins!-argun1ents, that results 111ustbe "rrong if they do not agree ,vith hisi ,vill not generally be regarded as conclnsive unless sup- ported by facts. His sta tern en t that the non-a ppcaranc e of certain li ncs is not due to the plates is certainly e bold one. If you can be sure that the light in this part of the spectrum ,vas not cut off by the tube of the spectroscope ,ve must conclude that .A.Jncrican stars are 1norc refractory or Jess Tefrangiblc than English ones. As Dr. Huggins ,vi 11doubtless put the substance of h1s letter into print it n1ay be "'orth ,v hilc to cxmnin c the spectroscope of Dr. D r:1per to 1nake sure that there is no cutting off of the light+ This ,vould probably have sho··wn:it~elf in -any c~sc by a sudden ending of the spectrum. As regards the reductions I do not kno,v that there is anything more to be said. The details all given in print and anyone can verffy them+ If no one can detect an error,. I do not think ,ve need assume them to be ,vrong si1nply because Dr. Huggins asserts that his unpublished c on1p utations are correct. Dr~ Draper took an important precaution in photographing a comparison spectrum on each plate. I in1aginc thut the neglect of th.is precaution renders Dr. Huggins~ results unccrtrun, since a sn1all systematic error ,vould account for the difference .... Fait hf u11 y yours, Ed ,vard C. P ickcring AprH 3oth/84 l\1y dear Prof. Pickcring- lVly sistcr-in-la,v, hfrs. Djxon/2 13 I think ackno,vledged your letter cnc]osing the one from Dr. Huggins+ I shauld have vrri ttcn so on er to thank you for letting m c s cc both the letter and your anS'\ver, but it is only ,vi thin the past N Henry Drapcls sister Antonia. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) 86 1-J.ar-vnrdLibrary B1liletiu f e,v days that I h av c been Vlcll enough to atteo d to anything- The letters ,vcrc fon,,nrded to Prof. Young, and l presume he he.s returned thern to yon~ I felt very sorry th::it you should have been suu j ected to such an ungcn tie--- 1ni n ly '.1th1ck,through yotu interest in Dr. Drapcr~s ,vork. If Dr. Huggins rud not find the rcsn]ts of your m-e.asuresagreed ,vith hii\ there ,va~ no obj ec- tion to his sayjng so if he had expressed hinlsclf in a n1ore courteous manner. I ,vas gfad to see your ex:cellent Jetter sent in reply If anything could im- press a p ernon like I-Iuggin s, it ,vould b c the gen ti en1anly ,\·ay in ''t7hlch you 1nainraincd your position in arts\vcring his attack~ If at any tinrn you think it would be desirab}e to exanlinc the photograp11s, I ,\ill be glad to send them to you. \\ 1i th kind regards, believe 1ne V cry sinccrcl y yours, Anna P. Draper Dear Prof+ Pickering - I return h erc,vi th th c var.ious ac kno,v Jed gcn1cn ts of pap er on Stellar Spectra. DrLHuggin~s letter I took the liberty of copying, jr is ,vorth preser·vingas a curiosity in episto]atory Jiterature. I ha.ve exn t11in ed the negatives of tl 1e different stellar spectra and do not think it possih Jc that the Iigh t has hccn cut off by the tube of the spectroscope~ for the number of lines varies so n1uch in photographs~ depending on the state of the atinosphcrc s.nd the length of exposure. For instance 1 one negative of Vega & the 1\·foon~-the spectn1m of Vega only sho,vs the region in the neighborhood of G ,·vhllc the lvloon extends fron1 bclo,v F (I think} quite far in to the ultra vio] et., say as far above H as G is b clo,v -Then a photo- graph of Jupiter's spectrum taken July 31st 18 80 ,vj th 3o mi exposure1e1,."ten ds only f ron1 e li ttl c b elo,v G - to just a hove H. ,vbile one taken _,vich the same exposnre on Aug. 6th extends front For a lirde belo\v to n long distance above H-Dr. Draper \Vas particul~r to exarnine the spectroscope ,vith sunlight quite frequently, to lle sure that the Jens-es "\\rere ,vell ce11tered& that the tubes cut off n orl ting I see no,v that I mn de a n1jstake in not sending you all the photographs instead of selecting those ,vhich ,vere the best in definition, but until Dr. I-Iuggins publishes son1ething n1orc conclusive than his statements in his letter, it is 1~ot ,vorth ,,rorryjng about the nlattcr/l{I Thariking you for taking the trouble to send on the ackno,,,Jcdgcmcnts, I am, ,vith kind regards - Very sinccrcl y yorus, Anna P.. Draper 30 Huggjns did not publish his critidsrn.s and their va1idity is no,v rllfficult to assess. \Vith the rapid• improvement of photographic methods and the obtaining of more sharply de.tined spectra on a much larger scale! thc-:sc :6n;t nJ-easur(':rucnts diminished in ju1pun.:ance. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) A1rs.1-Ieury Drape-r June 15th/84 Dear Prof. Pickering - Thanks for the pan1phlct on '~Recent Observations on Variable Starsn ai _ Eve.ryrsuggestion of Astronomical ,vork tnakes 1ne impatient to start ~t some- thing here, and just no,v I feel that there is s01ne hop c of n1y doing so b ef ore long- The san1plc n~edal ,vhich I as1~edthe artist to send me fron1 the finished die has arrived, and I am happy to say meets ,vith the \Varm approval of all ,vho ha,,c seen it- Whh regards to l\1rs~Pickering and yourself~ I renrnin V e1y truly yours:t Anna P. Draper Here the correspondence bct,vccn Pickering and l\1rs. Draper lapsed, and apparently no letters ,vere exch angcd for several months.. 1\1ore th an nvo )~ears had no,v gone by since the death of Henry Draper, and fvirs.Draper's plans to establish her o,vn observatory ,vere at a stand.still. Picl{cring had suggested several competent 2strono- n1ers and physicists as p ossib1 c assistants but non c had scc1ned cxa ctl y suitable to l\1rs. Draper. Finding the right man (that is, another Henry Draper) ,vas proving extraordinurjl y difficlllL Syn1patl1izing,vith her genuine interest in astr.onomy, and ut the san1e tim c ,vanting th c n1eansto d cvelop his O\vn research as he , vish e d, Pickering at last , vrotc to l\ 1rs. Draper , vi th a tentative suggestion for co 11ab oration .. l\f.y dear l\1rs+Draper, I am n1a king plans for a som c,v hat cxtcnsi vc piece of ,vork in stellar pho- tography in ,vhich I hope that you may be interested. "\Vith the aid of the Run1ford Fund 22 my lltothm; 83 and l have been photographing the stars ,vith a lens of t,,10 inches aperture and eight inches focus. Yet photographic pro- cesses are no,v so far in1prov ed thn.t ,vc are able to photograph po]a r stars as faint as the tenth 1nagnitude ,vithout clockwork~ The images arc so sharp that even ,vith this short focus th c measures of the places differ only one or two seconds of arc. I am desirous of attacking the problem on i Ja.rgc scale i.vith better instruments. There is e,Tery prospect that I shall be able to do this ,vith 21 By E. C. Picker1ng~Proceedings of the A'J1wrjcan Acadenty of Arts m~dSciences, XIX ( 18B4), 196. "2Of the American Acadc~ny1 for iLinvcstigations on Light and He:1t.~i :!.1 \:\,fillia1n Henry Pickering ( 1856-1938), I-le \Vas instrun1ental in. resuming earJ ie.r -attempts at stcHar photography :at the O hserv;;itory, ·with techniques not :.l.vail"J.ble to Il ond s nd lVinl ock, {I.n d hcl pcd csta blish its. mountain stations on W il- son s Peak 1 Californh1~-and at Arcquipai Peru. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) 88 H ar·vnrd l...ribrary Bui1 eti11 an ap pro pria cion from the Rurnf ordi- Bache, 3-1 or son1e other fun i\1ayl lSt 1885 l\1y dear i\1r Pickering · ~fhanks for your kindness in rc1nen1bering 111y desire to be interested in so1nc v.. ·ork, ,vith l..vh..ichDr~ Drc1per':5name could he as.socfo.tcd,and his n1c1nory kept ali v·c~ I ,vill be glad to cooperate) if I cani in ,vhat you suggest 1 for its bearing on Stellar sp ectrun1 photography a ppca] s to tn e very strongly. I do not <]ui tc understand fro 111your letter in ,v hat v,:ay rou thought l could be of service~ "+~ether by contributing to,vards the experjments being made at Co.1nbrjdge, or by havjng siniilar ,\ 1 ork carried on here. If you ,vilI kindly let n1e kno,v your ldcas 1norc fu11yJir ,vjJl give me plensurc to assist if I c~n~ Yours very since.rely k:1na Paln1er Draper &L Of the National Acadciny. Pjckerjng did receive a gntnr {roin thn Bache Fundi w-irh ,vhlc h he !Jollg ht the 8-inch photographic tdcscope that he later spoke of 2s ~~thisu niqu-e.instrument. i, Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) A1rs.. Henry /)raper But Pickering 1vas not yet ready· to propose a definite plan. j\1rs. Draper ,vent to Eur.ope for the sun1n1er and, 2ltl1ough they exchanged a fc\\r letters during the aun1mn, the project remained vague. On Clrrjstrnas Day 1885 he ,vrote that he ,vas sending l1er specimens of the Obscrvatory"s recent photographs, ,vhich he had a1rcud)7 exhibited to the National Acadc1ny:r the Pleiades.,the nebula in Andron1cda,. and some stellar spectra. l\1rs. Draper rep lied: January 1st 1886 lvIy dear 1\·1r.Pickering, Thanks for your letter and the photographs of Stcl1ar Spcctr~. They are cxcccding1y interesting. "\Vhat surprjses n1e is1 th:it ,vithout a slit the i1nagcs of the srnr give such sharp lines, - :ind thnt they ,vill stnnd so much enlarging~ The plates rn ust be very sensitive. Do you b clicvc th:at , vi thou t a slit it .is pos- sibl c to get sufficiently sharp definition to sho\v the deljcate Jines of a Aquilac or even those of a Scorpii- if so, it ,vill facilitate this branch of \vork 1 for the slit adds rn uch to the difficulties - I ,vis h it ,vcrc p ossib1 c to co op crate in this lin c of ,v ork by having a similar iristrum ent in the Jah oratory here, f ot it seems j m practica blc to think of doing anything at the Hastings Observatory-The trouble here ,!i.1ouldbe, to 111:a.ke the .instrn n1 en t s ufficien tl y steady - I have promised 1atcr in the ,vi nter to spend a f e,v days ,vi th a friend in Boston, and if I do so shall c ertai nl y take the opportunity to call on lvIrs. Pickering and yourself. and see the instru111entsand ,vork \Vith regards to 1\1rs. Pickering as ,vcll as to yourself1 and best ,vishes of the season to you both, I retnai u Sincere! y yours, Anna P. Draper ):ln. 3., 1 886 lviy dear l\1rs. IJrapcr, I an1 very g] ad to hear that it is proha ble that you ,viJ1 be in Boston la tcr in the season. I shall then have further results of our spectrum ,vork to sho,v you1 und I hopet a satisfactory ans:,ver to your quest.ion regarding the fa.inter stellar lines. I hope that you will not fa.i1 to let me kno,v ,vhen you come as i\1.rs.Pickering and I both ,v ant to see you. FaithfuUy yours" Ed,vard C~Pickering A fc,v ,veeks Jater, Pickering made a definite proposal for coHabora- . non. January 24, 1886 1\1ydear 1'1rs. Draper, A remark in your note of Jan. 1 ~that it sccn1s in1pmcticable to think of Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) Harvard Library Bulletin doing anything at the Hastings Obscrvato11,i has given n1e 1nuch concern. The vad ous difficu Iti es you ha \1 e c nc oun tcred in establishing the Henry )) rap er Physicu] Observatory ha.vc n1et ,vith n1y hcatt:3.rsyinpathy. Tn the hope that I may :iid you I venture to suggest the follo,ving scheme, '\"h1ch at least has the adv.ant-age that it leaves you free to alter your plans at any tin1e. Suppose that you should appropriate the interest only, instead of the principal, of a fund to astrono1nical physics, ,vith the understanding that it 1vi1lbe continued only so Jong as satisfactory progress is 1nain taincd.. It is very certain that no money ,vou]d be ,vastcd under these circun1stunces, and that every effort ,vould be n1ade to secure the grcnte..,c;cresults. I can imagine no greater spur to all concernedi than the expect~tion that the continuance of a vtork ,vould depend on its successful conduct. Iio,v ,vou1d you like to begin at once to carry on son1e research in this ,vay? In other v.1ords to do no,v, ,vhat ,,~ould be done if your Obscr\.'ntory ,vcrc ~lready in operation. If this plan couJd he tried in Cambridge I ,vould gladly gjvc the necessary supervision. We have here some especial advantages for such ,vork. The proxintlty of the Cfarks greatly facili- tates the construction of nc,v instru1nentsi and the continual changes and im- provcn1cnts that must be 111adcin them. So 1nany young men desire to avail themselves of the advantages of the College, that salaries are lo,l" here. For instance, at Washington~~ as.sistants are paid nearly t\\'ite as 1nuch as ~t Cam- bridg~ for ,vork of the san1e kind. The appliances in physics a.Jreadyexisting at the College arc excellent. Photographing the spectra of the ele111cntson the scale of Professor Ro,v1and's 36 solar spectrum is an cxan1ple of the c]ass of in- vestigation that might be undertaken. The results ,vould fill :.l volume \Vhlch ,vould fonn the best possible n1onurncnt to the n1emory of Dr. Draper+ The ,vork could then be abandoned or continued~ The n1attcr ,vould h~ entirely in your hgnds. Should you \Vish to give this plan a trial, the first step ,vould h~ to select the subject.. ~rheni if you desired i ti I ,vou ld propose plans and obtain estimates. The advantages of this systcn11vould be that you could im1nediotely begin to reach 1esuks! ,vhile it need not interfere ,vith your p]ans for a pr!rma- nent Ol.Jservatory. S1lO u] d you dcci de to establish your O bs:crl-ratory in N c,v York it ,,•ould be much easier to transfer a complete organizntion already effected, than to a.tternpt to build it yourself. On the other handi shou]d you find that the ,vork could be done better in Can1bridgc,the College authorities desire to foster original research. They ,-vou]d probably give you the land needed and n1ight offer such aid as ,vou1d induce you to cstahiish your Observa- tory near this. Each ,vould doubtless aid the other. Sincere 1y yours, Ed,vard C. Pickering a;; At the Naval Obscr-v~tory4 !1:1Henry Augustus Ro,vbnd ( 1848-1901 )., Professor of Physics at Johns Hopkins Univcrsitv .. To secure cliffracdon spectra, in 1881 he constructed a ruling engine thi t sc.or;d some 15.. ooo lines per j nch into gratin g-sand b ter prep~ red n1ap of the sofar spectrum giving the precise ,vavdcngths of about 14~000 l~n~s. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) .Airs~He11ry Draper )'1nuary 31st 1 886 My dear J\-ir. Pjckering, Your very kind letter reached 111ea fe,v days ago, 9nd the suggestion it con- tains that son1e ,vork as a nucleus to the founding of the Iienry Draper Obser- vatory might be started at Carnbridge impresses me very favorably, especi:ally :as you a re so good as to express your \\.'il lin gncss to u n dcrta kc the sup cr\rision of it.. If any research , vcrc con1n1en c ed I ,vou Id ,vis h to have it in one of the directions that Dr. Draper intended to pursuej that is if in so doing it djd not interfere ,vith a line of ,,·ork since uodertaken by someone else. - His plans ,vere: At the Observatory to get his .instrun1cnts into the hcst order, and then by means of photography to cara]ogue and c]as.sffy the stars by their spectra. For that ,vor k the ins tru men ts I have ,vou ld need to be some,v hat changed and improved. - Here i o the Lah oratory he in tell ded to continue the re.seatch:i, on the examination of the Sun 1s spcctrun1 for the non-metals and sec jf he could find in it any others than the Oxygen. Ev·ery ching necessary I or th at work is so con1plete that I should almost hesitate to disturb it unless I decided to ren1ove the apparatus permanently,~ and thnt l should scarcely ,vish to do, :so long as there is: any chance of 1ny bci ng :3.hie to ha vc the ,vork done. here.~ If you have not intended to 111akcsuch a catalogue of Stellar Spectra a part of your Observatory ,vor k, it might be ,veU to see ,vb-at I could ha vc don c in that directioni ln1t I do not ,va.nt to s u ggcst anything that could j n any way encroach upon ,vork ,vhich you have p1anned. I am c..\:cccdingly obliged for your kind interest in ,vhat I should like to accon1plish~ and "\\":illbe dcHghtcd if \\rith your aid so1nc p]nn can be arranged by ,v hi ch I may feel l have at 1east ma de a start j n the lvork I an1 so nnxio us to have donc- V cry sinccrel y you rs, Anna Pa ln1er Draper My dear A1rs~l)rnpcr'.I Your note of January- 31 duly reached me. I arn very glad that you look so favorably upon my suggestion that some ,vork should be undertaken in Ot11:1bridgein co~ncction ,vith the Henry Draper Observatory. l\1y f present] plans for stellar photography nrc nluch 1norc extensive than 1 can carry out v,,;ith the appropriation f rorn the Bae he Fund . . W ou Id you like to und cr- ta kc this researchi gnd docs the follo\\·ing p]an of cooperation strike you favor~ ably?' That the I-IanTard Obsen-1 atory should furnish the necessary supervjsion and th c principal instruments con sisci ng of the eight inch p h otograp hie tel c- s co pc and pds •nsi and the fifteen inch eq ua torj al so far as this could b c used ,vithout interf cring ,vith its other ,vork, a1so the roorns required for the con1- putati n1easurements., and photographic ,vork. That the IJraper Obser- vatory should furnish t 11c n1eans for tl 1e current expenses of ti tc , vor k. Th c principal iterns may be ro~ghly estin1atcd ns fo1lo,vs: -\Ve nov ...pny the pho- to gra phcr forty cents an hour £or night "\\'Ofk.. ,,, e n1a y expect ten sui ta blc Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) 92 1-la rvar d J.. i br llr 'Y Bulleti 11 evenings a month, including about sixty hours. l'"he photographic p1ates and c hc1uica]s ,vou ld cosL about as n1ucl 1 more. The 1neasu ring, j dentif yin g and prcparjng for the press ,vould cost from t\venty-fivc to fony cents an hour,. n1ost of h about thirty cents. At le~1.~tfifty dollars a 1nonth ,vould be 1·cquired to prevent this part of the ,\ 1 ork from getting behindhand~ Ivii~cellaneous c"'-'.~ pense.s are ahva y s diflicu] t to esri rn atc. ] n the prcscn t case they ,von] d depend very largely on ne,,, ideas that 111ightsuggest then1sclvcs. They ,vou1d include the photographic cnforgcn1cnts:i experjtncnts ,vith the nc,\~ processes, printing copies of p hotogrnp hs for distrj bu tion, au x.illi-ary ap pa ratlls, etc~ etc+ If you authorized expenditures not exceeding t\VO hundred do1Iars a 1nonthi it \vouid be abundant to begin \\~ith and could a.ftcr,vards be increased or dinunishcd ac- cording to the progress rnnd e~ As regards your proposed \Vork on the spectra of the non-n1cta.llic e]ements, I do not think that it ,vou]d interfere ·with that in progress e1se,vhcrc. Pro- fessor H.. o,vlantl son1e months ago expressed the ,vish tI1at son1e one ,vould undertake such a research on the scale of his ,vork on the so]ar sp~ctrum but he did not then intend to do it himself. iVIy Erothcris ,vor k in this direction is ,vi th an ap pr9p ri a ti on f ro111th c R un1f ord Fund and is on a. 111uc h smaller seal c than I prcsu1ne yours ,vould be. I-le 1vould I kno\v be g1ad to give you the resu]ts of his experience, I hope that your visit to Boston ,vill take p 1ace soon that ,ve n1a y discuss th csc and other j nteresting topics. Sincerc1y yoursjo Ed,vard CTPickering 14th/86 l\1y dear i\1r. Pickering, :{our letter of February 4th has remained unans\vcrcd as I hoped in replying to it to . be able to say ,v hen I should be in Boston, but my plans are still uncertaln+ I should be very g]ad to 1nake such an arrangement as you suggest if you think in publishing, the results could be jn son1e ,vay associated ,vith Dr. Draper as a continuation of his ,vork. It seems to me it ,vould b c i n1portan t to get better d efiniti onjl ,v hie h I think "\\'i U necessitate the use of a slit, for I question if ,vith out one d cfini ti on suffi- ciently good can be obtained to show the grouping of the fine lines ,v hich is characteristic of some of the stcUar spcctra. I quite ,vish 1ny e1even inch refractor ,vith its lens corrected for the photo- grapl tic rays, ,vas so placed that it could be used+ I ,vould be ·willing if the plan could be carried out satisfactori]y, to author- h:c the cxpendjrure of nvo hundred dollars a month or some,vhat 111oreif neces- sary- Sincerely yours Anna Paln1er Draper Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) A1rs4Henry Draper 93 ' [Note added, in Pi c:keri.ng"shand,v ri ring: ] D atc February I 4i 188 6 adopted as the beginning of the Henry Draper l\1emorial, Anna. P~ Draper Ed ,vard C. Pickering December r. 1903 The project 110,v took shape r~pidly. l\1rs. Draper presented to the President and Fellu,vs of Harvard College the su1n of $1,000 to cstab~ lish the Henry Draper Fund, the principal to be used to photograph srel1rirspecttai 2nd :c1dditionalfunds to be sent periodically. U ndcr Pickering's October 13t 1886 My dear l\1rs. Draper, The building for your large photographic telescope is nearly complete. l\1r4 Clark has ac<.:ordinglymounted the telescope in it, and ,ve nrc no,v engaged in the prclimi nary experiments. I shall send you in a f C\V days photographs of the buil dj ng and instrument. In a pre lim1nary exp ed mcot the companion of the Pole-Star ,vas found to leave a trriil ..without clock\\rork. The ,vork ,vjth the 8 inch telescope is progressing steadily. tl1e Bache Photogr::iphs •Ne have no·w nearly covered the sky once '\\.ri.thour pho- tographs of ste11ar spectra. This ,vill be repeated during the coming year. to con1plete the material for the catalogue of stellar spectra. 1 ..he total number of spectrum pl a tcs is 2 2 4, including 8 7 taken ,vith a Ion ger exposure so as to incl udc the fainter stars. 190 of these plates have been measured and 6769 spectra recorded. -0 £ th cse a bout six th on sand ha vc been id cntificd, and the names of the .stars entered opposite each. The nurnber of stats is about one half, as each star gcncraHy appears on t,vo plates. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) 94 Har-vnrdJ_jbrary Bulletin Enclosed is a statement of the exp cndi tu.res so far made and charged to the Draper J\-1em orial Fund.. i\1:r..Ger ds h attends: to the photographic \vor k and receives .fifty dollars a n1onth. As part of his time is used for other ,vork I ha.ve charged one ha 1f of his sa 1ary to other Observatory funds~ l\1iss r arrar n1crisu res the photo grap hie pla tcs at thirty cents an hour. l\1iss Winlock copi cs 9nd co1np u tes at nventy fi.vc cents an 1tour r 7 TIcf ore 1on g ,v e 011gh t to consider ,vhat ,viH be the hcst ,vay of making knu\vn the rcsu]ts so far attained. A fe,v sets of lantern slides 1night be distrib_uted or sold at cost. Or~ I nught ntake a report of progress and have it printed and distributed. S01ne satisfactory method of photographing the spectra fo n1uc h to b c d C5ircd. The A 1b crtyp c pro ccss do es not seen1 to n1eet th.is ,van t. \Vhen you arc jnclincd to come to Cambridge pray let inc kno,v, as i\-irs. Pickering and I ,,rill be 1nuch p]easc Nov. 14th/86 A1y dear 1\ir. Pickering, 'Your Ic.ttcr and the photograph,c;came safely1 and I am delighted to see the decided ad ,rai1 cc j n the photographs, although, judging f ron1 Capella I think the plate ,vas hardly at best f ocus 1 but as they are preliminary exp erin1ents, they give pro1nisc of son1cthin g very· finea It is a. li ttl c c u.rious that you should be using the 11 inch ,vith the prisms jn front of the object gless,.for DrL Draper had intended ,v.riting to the CbrI~s to sec jf they ,vou1d 1nakc him the prisms] so that he could experiment ,vith them ~In the course ~£ the ,,,ork please do not hesitate to suggest getting anything th at you think is required to fa cilita tc j4 for i as far as I cani I ,vill ahva ys -be glad to meet your vi e1vs in that ,vay 4 · l\1lr. TIark er ,,Tote n, c that he enjoyed so n1uch the paper you rc-:1d hcf ore the Academy- I [t] must have been very interesting~ I can scare cl y realize ,v hat you 1nen ti on in your p ostscri pti that in the later photographs in a fifth magnitude star you have five lines oet\veen I-I. & K~ it hardly sccin.spossible - Sincerely yours Arina Palmer Draper On the last day·of the year Pickering ,vrote: . . • 1'"hc general cs.talo gue of stellar spectra prepared ,vi th the 8 inch tclc- tt \\'"j] la rd P. G crrish ·was assistant prof ~ssor of astronomy. J\.-ljssN ettic A. F~r- mr 11ndthe 1\1isses Anu-a and Louisa lVinlock ( daughters of Joseph '\Vjnlock) did computing.• Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) Airs. Henry Draper .,., 95 scope is progressing steadily and ,veil. Unfortunately for us~j\1iss Farrar i.vho has n1easured all the plates unti] recently, is about to get married and ,vill go to Texas. She has computed fai thf u] 1y for the pas r five y cars at tl 1e O bsenra- tory and hns sho,vn special aptitude~ She is now instructing l\1rs. Fleming 38 ,v ho h=isa.ssistc d in ci -and ,v ho ,vi] 1 I think tn fre her p1ace satis f nctoril y. In the spring I think that I had better make a report to you of the year~s,vork ,vhich ,ve can print and distrjbute. \Vhen ,ve get the ]arge prisms perfected and the method of copying "~orking s~tisfnctorily, I hope that you ,vill be a.blc to coJne a.gain to Ounbridge. I also \Vant to have you :sec a series of your photo- graphs projected up on the screen . . On 18 January 1 887 Pickering sent to l\{rs. Draper some recently obtained spectra enlarged to unprcccdc~1tedsize - four inches ,vide and t,vo feet long- but still sharp and clear. He added that ,vhen the photographs ,vcre distributed they ,vouid probably Hinduceother astronomers to undertake the same ,vork,.,, and that he had devised a plan b)7 ,vhich she might, if she Hked,preempt the entire field ( I 8 Jan- uary r 887): Should you adopt a part or the ,vholc of this plan, I think a statctncnt to that effect in my report to you 1night prevent needless repetition else,vhere~ I sh ou 1d Iikc to ho.vc the ,v hole subject associated ,vi th Dr~ Draper's rn emoryt and if 1 as I anticipate, imponant discoveries are to be 1nade, that they should f orn1 a part of this in vesti ga ti on. The principal extensions prop oscd a.re first, the study of the spectra of f:1int st:i.rs especially of those that are banded or ,rariable. The current expenses of this investigation ,vould be small if you ,vere inclined to use the 28-inch reflector. If not1 perhaps ,ve could use our 15-inch refractor. The second investigation ,vould be the con1parison of stellar and terr cstrial spectra. If you propose to study terrestrial spectra j a delay may res.ult in the ground being covered e]se,v here . . . To carry out t be en ti re pl an in the ,va y that I shou 1d recommcn d ,vo uid j n vol vc an exp en diturc dudng the conung year of about five thousa.nd dollars for current expenses end three thousand five hundred for pcm1anent outfit. Of course this sum could be re- duced indefinitely either by doing the ,vork more slo,vly~ or Ly taldng up a part of it only ... I am daily expecting the transfer of the Boyden Fund a~ to this Observatory. If that is done my Bro thcr ,viH ha.ve a position here and \Ve shaU then be able .ei;\:Vill ia rnina P. Fleming ( l 8 57-I 911) t one of the many u.fa_dy-com pnters" at the Observatory. She discovered a large number of variable stars and ,vgs 1-atcr made Cura tor of A~tronomi cal Photographs. !(I Urfo.h Ar Boy clcn ( l 804- 1 879), engine er ,and inventor t 1ef t a bequest of more than $130,000 for th c cscahl ish1ncnt of ,n observatory· at a high al tltu de. The Boyd en trustc es turned th~ fund over to H 'J nrard in 188 7, and P j eke ring used 1t to build andoperate stations in California and Peru. Durjng the Shapley administration it "'\vasused to est.1blish a station at Bloen1fontcini South Afrjca. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) H arvnrd Li brttry Bulletiu to ca] l on him more freely for ad ,Ticeand aid rcgardin g the sp m ,vork •.. I hope that you ,vjll soon be nh]e to appoint a tin1e ,vhcn you can come to Can1bridgc,. for A1rs.Pickering and I \\"ant very n1uch to have you under our o,vn roof.. l\1rs. Draper responded (2.3 J2nuary 1887) ,vith ,vhat a111ountcdto a final abandonment of her dream of establishing a. Henry Draper observatory, and an agreement to turn the ,vork over to l·Iarvard. January 23rd/87 j\1y dear 1\-1r. Pi ckcring It scarcely seems possib]c thnt stellar spectra can be taken ,vhich \vill bear the cnforgin g of those that you have sent rnc, for even ju the enfargen1cnts the definition is so good. It seems -as if the prisms nlust he almost perfect- I \vonder ,vhat i\1:r~Huggins ,vill say 1vhen he sees them - I q uitc agree \vith you in feeling that I should like to :ippropriate the entire ground that is pos~ siblc, bcf ore any di~tribution is 1nadc of the photographs, and an1 entirely satisfied to devote nine or ten thousand a year to carrying on the 1vork, and unless some Yery unexpected financial difficulty shou]d occur, there is nothing to prevent my doing so- It is s0111c,vhat 111oredifficult to make up n1y n1ind to remove the Observatory fro1n Ha.stings., for if I take the 28 incht I 1night as ,,;.1cllput the 15 inch• to some us-e, for although "·"C ha\,.c not used it fotelyt ,,re,vcrc talking of having it n1ounted equatorial1y, for its definition is so good, as ,vas sho,vn by the lunar photograph-The struggle is to decide to rclnovc the 2 8 iach 1 but it prohab]y ,viii have to be done sooner or Jater, so I \viH think about it, ~nd if it does go its o"·n 111ountingn1ight better be sent \\'frh it- . In regard to the study of terrestrial spectra, perhaps it ,vou ld h c , vcl 1 to find just v,.:-hat ground is to be covered by JJr Gibbs and the other p hysici.sts you n1entioned-I do not ,va.nt to relinquish the hope that research n1ight be carrjed on here, but ,\•jll probab]y have to- I \\ 1jJl encJose a check for $1000 - as the statement you sent sho,vs you have very little in hand in the ,,·ay of funds. I am much obliged for the statc1ncnt and am surprised s.t ,v hat has been ace om plis h cd ,,.,-ith the iunou nt exp ended - If nothing unforseen occurst I hope in a couple of \Vccks thnt I 1nny be able to get a,y·ay for a day or t\i;-'0 1 and if convenient for l\1rs. Pickering ,voul l\1y dear l\1rs. Draper~ . Your ,vclcoinc letter reached me this 1norning and I am greatly plcnsed that you arc inclined to carry on the photography of stel1ar spectra on so liberal a scale, The -enclosed check of one thousand doUars ,va.s also received ,vith Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) .i\lrs.Henry Draper 97 many thanksi and ,,rill he for\vardcd to the Co1lcgcTreasurer. So pron1ising a. field of ,vork a~ ,ve have before us seldotn occurs in scjcncc, and I need not say ho,v gI ad I nm to b c ~ssociat ed ,vith fr. I ,vill ,vri te by this m fli1 to Dr .. Gibbs and to Professor Ro"rland regarding the spectrun1 ,vork they in- tend to undertake. · I quite und e rsrnn d yonr f ccling rcgar dj ng the removal of the 2 8 inc ht and the transfer to Ca.rnbridgc of the investigation of terrestrial spectra~ I shaH a\Yait ,vith much anxiety your decision, but hope that you ,vill n1ake this -additional sacrifice to science, if you urc satjsficd that the ,vork had better be done here. h1.rs.Pickering ,vritcs by this n1ail to tell you ho,v very glad ,vc sha11 be to ,\· elconic you here. Sincerely yours~ Ed,\·ard C. Pjckering l\ 1rs. Draper felt a spcci nI affection for the 2 8-inch tel e.scope. H etIT)T Draper had begun constructing the instrument the year before they ,vcrc married, and on the day after the ,,redding he had taken his bride on an unusual shopping trip clo,Ynto,vn to choose the glass for the mirror - an "expedition'~ that they al,vays referred to aftcr,vards us ""ourv..rcdding trip."' ito Also, .she had helped ,vith the n1any grindings a.ndrcpolishings of the glass. At Inst, ho,Yever.,she did make uthis additional sacrifice to science/, and the 28-inch ,va.s added to the equip1ncnt of the Harvard CoUcgc Observatory· t to carry on the study of stellar spectra for the no\v full )7 expanded Henry Draper l\1cn1orial. t:i Letter to Pickerjng .. 10 AprH 1887. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969) CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE J\1Rs. LYLE G. BOYDis Edi tor a.nd Senior R c.search Associate at the I-Iarvard College Observatory; she ,vas co-author ,vith Professor Dona 1d H. Menzel of Tbe urorld of Flying Saucers ( 1963). FREDERICK BRACHER is Professor of F.-ng1ish~t Pon1ona College; his earlier arti cl cs on Sir G corge Ethere ge a pp eared in the July and October 1 967 issues of HJ ,.TI.. ?vlRs,l\-1ARY Lou1sE LoRn is Associate Professor of Classics at Connecticut Col~ Icge, N C\V London. A. N. L. i\-1:UNBY t Librada n and F ello,v of IGng's College, Cambri~ ge, is the author of .several ho_oks and pan1phlctst including Cmubridge College Libraries ( 1959) and 1.,beLibraries of English Alen of Letters ( 1964),, FoRRESTG. Ro1.nNSONis an ln5tructor in English at Harvard. Do Ji; llLD S10NE 1 JR., Assistant Profess:or of Romance Languagesand. Literatures at Harvard 1 edited Four Renaissance Tragedies (1966) and is the author of Ro11sard'sSonnet Cycles ( 1966). ]08 Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XVII, Number 1 (January 1969)