The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory Library
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The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory Library The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Brooks, Charles F., and Shirley J. Richardson. 1958. The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory Library. Harvard Library Bulletin XII (2), Spring 1958: 271-281. Citable link https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37363804 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA - The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory Library RROTT LA,vRENCE RQTCH (1861~1912), founder and first Director of the Blue I.Jill 1\1cteorologicalObservatory-, ,vas a n1an of fat-reaching vj sion. His in tcrest in meteorology· transcended the in1tncdiutc observational program that led him, in the year of his graduation from 1\1assachusettsInstitute of Technology, J 884, to plan and carry through the erection of the Ob- servatory, on the su1nmit of G·rcat Blue Hill~ i\1ilton, cntirel)T at his o,vn expense. Fro1n the beginning he ~ssembled a library not only of current meteorological publications and ref erenee books but of older ,vorks a.s,veil. Thro11ghout his career as Director 1 until his un- tin1ely death in 1912, his unflagging energy and good ;udgn1ent pro- vided the Observatory ,vith an ever gro,ving collection of first in1 po rt~nce for a11 aspects of n1eteoro I ogy. F rcq ucn t trips abroad and attendance at 311meetings of the International lVIeteorologicalOrgan- ization aif ordcd excel]ent opportunities for the acquisition of signifi- cant material. He arranged exchanges ,vith nun1crous foreign ,vcather services and meteorological institutions at a time ,vhcn such inter- con tin ental exchanges ,vere rare. As a r csult, th c library at th c Observa- tory can1e to in elude the published results of most of the research done in meteorology. During 1 88 s the Blue Hill Observatory became a department of I--IarvardUniversity, ,vith Rotch as Director. In 1893 th~ State created the Blue HiHs Reserv~tion, and three )7Cars later leased the sun1mit of Great B1ue Hill to I-I~rvard for ninct) 7 -ninc years. Fro1n the outset~ there ,va s close collaboration bet\veen the Observatory on Blu c Hill and the I-Ia~ard College Observa.tory in Can1bridge. The ~observa- tions and Investigations l\·Iadeat the Blue Hill .i\1eteorologicalObserva- tory1 ,vere regularly published in the Annals of the 1-Jarvard College Observatory fron1 1887 through 1926. Only in 192 7 did the Blue Hill Observatory· begin its o,vn serial publication of data and the re~ sults of research; ,vith the support of the Class of '7 3 Printing Fund l]l Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XII, Number 2 (Spring 1958) 2 7 2 Harvard Librrrry Bulletin established by th c bcquest of Frank Hagar Bigelo,v. Rotch, ,vho bore the tit1e of Assjsrant in lvlctcorology as ,veil as that of Director from r888, beca1ne I-IarvardJsfirst Professor of 1\1etcorology·in_ 1906. He continued to bear the entire expensc of the Observ.atory, including bui Idin gs, instru tnen ts, and 1ibrar y, until his death, ,v hen bi his , v ill the esrablishn1ent,vas given to Harvard, together ,vith an endo,vmcnt of $ 50,0004 1 B)r 1889 the col]ection of books had a1read}r expanded to such a degree that Rotch \Vaspro1npted to construct an addition to the Ob- servatory· that he designated as "'the library. 1 I-lis introduction to c-Oh- serva ti ons l\1ad c ·at th c Blue Hi 11]Vlcteoro Iogi ca i O bscrva t or)r 4 • .. in the Year 1 889~ ref erred to this event as f o1lo,vs: 'A hv~-stot) 7 addition to the southeast corner of the building ,va8 comp}eted in l\1ay .. 4 It contains a library· fourteen bjr seventeen feet, ,vith a large vault for the records . .. / .2 Still another addition \VHS called for during Rotch's lifcti1nc .. A 'nc,v libraryt ,vas constructed in 1902., described, jn the . introduction to 'Observations a.nd Investigations, for 1901-02, in the f ollo,ving terms: The chief object ,va s to provide a fireproof room for the Iibral)• and s tor- age for the kites, and, therefore., a t,vo-story stone building1 ,vith a floor space of 2 8 x 15 f ect, ,vas erected upon the site of the ,,~ooden shed at the ,vester1 y side of the Ob senTatory.. .. 4 • the library . js .fitted Yvith steel shelving. havjng a total length of 440 f ect,, and ,viH co11t:1inabout 5000 vol u1nes and the records of th c Observatory during many years. In the corners of the interior frieze are placed copies of eight bas-reliefs on the T-Ioro 1ogi un1 of And ronikos I{yrrh cstcs at .Athens, rep rcscn ting th c ullcgor- ica1 figures of the ,,,ind~·r~ In the introduction to 'Observations and Investigations, for 1903- 04 llotch .stated that ~alibrary of about 8000 volun1es and pan1phlets) had been accumulated/= there ,verc also some 35 periodicals. By the titne of Rotch 1s death the nun1ber of books and pan1phlctshad Iiscn to nearly 2 3~000, ,vith a.bout 50 periodicals and regl~ters of observa- 1 For a general account of the Observatory and its ~cicntific \Vork during the fir.st f orty-fi ,te y cr-trs 5Ce Al cxftnder G. l\,i cA.dic1 '"l~Jw Hluc l-IiH O b.~enTatory 1884- 19 29, in The ])evelop'll1ent of I-IanJi.1rdUniversity ... 1869-19.19! ed. Samuel EHot !\~ori- son (Cambridge. 193 o). pp .. s49'"" 5 5 4. Rotch !s D\.Ynnota bJe c arccr as a pionecr j n meteorological and -aero"rHHiticalinvestigadon Js som1n:.1rizcdby I\1cAdic jn the Die~ tionarJ of A1uerican1Jiograpb)'4 A.stronotnical Obscnrs.tory of J.Iarv~rd CoUcge, Annals,· XX:X (1890)"! vii. a Annals, XLIII ( l903) ! 115~JI6. 'An1wht L \ 1Jll ( 1906) 7:i:... Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XII, Number 2 (Spring 1958) The Bh,e Hill MeteorologicalObservatory Library 2 7 3 tions.~ Alexander G .. 1\-1:cAdie,,vho ,vas appointed Director of the Observatory und first Abbott La\vrence Rotch Professor of l\1ctcorol- ogy· in 191 3, paid the follo,ving tribute to the library assc1nblcdby his predecessor~ (The library is probabl) 7 the best collection of meteoro- logical boo ks, pamphlets, and journals in the United States~ outside of the city of Y\1nshington ..... Professor Rotch devoted much tin1e and labor to [the library], 11ispurpose b cin g to 1naintain a hi g l 1-grade . ,v or king library in aero 1ogy \V here stud cnts and in vescigators 111i gh t readily find a.11needed ,vorks.' 6 The need for classification of the contents of this rapidly expanding library became apparent at an early date. H .. Heln1 Clayton, ,vho \Vas Observer fron1 1886 and later l\1eteorologist, in 1900 enlarged his du tics to this task. 1 In , vorking out a classification scheme~ Cl a.y- ton amp1ificd the Dc\vcy decimal .syste111to include n1cteoro 1o gical and rela red subjects.s It is according to th is an1pli fied system, revised und adopted by the \i\7orld l\1ctcorologicalOrganization in 1956t tlu1t nearly all the contents of the library arc currently arranged. A valuable and interesting part of the library is the collecdon of original ,vcather records taken at n1any places throughout Nc,v Eng- l-and.. These records, dating f ro1n before the founding of the U. S. Government ,veather service station in_Boston in 1 87 1 and even cx- ten ding into the ColoJ?-ialperiod) provide valuable inforrnation for the establishment of long-term means and for determining the climatic fluctuations of this region. The most extensive of these arc the Rodman records taken in Ne\v Bedford, l\1assachusettst by San1uel Rod1nan and his son Thomas, <lri.tingfrom 18 r 2. to 190 5. These records '\vere giv-cn to the Ob scrvatory-i~1 I 91 5 b )7 their h cirs. Th c Jcff r ics rccor ds, ,vhich cover the period from 1774 to 1 8 1 6J are another important series. 1'1 any of these origin al ,vea ther records have been 1nicrofilme d for the U. S. ""\1/eathcrBureau .. v r. Introduction to 'Observations. an,t Investigations!' £or 1909-10, Ann(1lr! LXXIII ( 1914), 9. 1 1 [l, Introduction to 0hservations and lnvesdgatlons for 1911-14} Anna fr., LXX"llI (J~n5)i, 98+ r A~n-Mls!XLIII { 1901 ), 41. a A1nrnlsi LXV"III ( 1911 )t 100. i. The Observatory's holdings of origin-J.l records. of early date hav13 recently hern :supplemented at H:uvard by· the Hol~ghton J....ibrar;1,s l\cqujsition of observa- tions ( catc1.logued as i\·fS D.:Ln42-) made s.t Quebec in r754 by Je-an Frao~ois Gaultier! 'medecin du roi' and friend of Peter- K-alm., and of a collection of tnisccllaneous ohserva ti ons ( catalo gu cd '1.5 bl\1S Am 1 360 :ind 1 , 61 ) mc1de by various persons in Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XII, Number 2 (Spring 1958) 2 74 lf ar-vard f_,,,ibrnryBulletin Despite the severe .financialhandicap under ,vhic..:hthe Observatory ,vas operated during the years foHo,ving Rotch"'s de-a.th, Profess.or l\1cAdie continued in the relentless efforts of his predecessor to 1nain- tain an up-to-date,' ,vorking library that ,vould include accounts of cnrrcnt n1ctcorological research, -as,ve11 as daily and annl1al d~ta sun1- 1na.