Scope and Content Note
The records of the United States Naval Observatory span the years 1830-1900 and reflect the activities of the observatory throughout nineteenth century, from its beginnings in the Depot of Charts and Instruments to its place as the primary observatory in the nation. The collection is organized into seven series: Superintendent’s Office Correspondence , Superintendent’s Office Administrative Records , Nautical Almanac Office Correspondence , Librarian’s Office Administrative Records , Superintendent of Compasses Office , Instruments Office Correspondence , and Oversize .
The correspondence and administrative records of the Superintendent’s Office are primarily of a routine nature: inquiries about astronomical observation; the acquisition, maintenance, and distribution of instruments and charts; the distribution of observatory publications; and administrative directives of the Navy Department. Early letterbooks reflect the operation of the Depot of Charts and Instruments under Lieutenants Charles Wilkes and J. M. Gilliss and contain material relating to their efforts toward the creation of the observatory as a separate operation. Other matters covered by the remainder of the materials are the construction of the superintendent’s residence, the eclipse expeditions of 1869 and 1878, and the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia, which dealt with the second expedition to the Arctic of Charles Francis Hall.
The correspondence with the wind and current chart agents reflects an activity of the observatory which was the inspiration and accomplishment of Superintendent Matthew Fontaine Maury. With the assistance of ship captains, who collected data for him, Maury was able to plot the normal winds and currents of the oceans during different periods of the year and on that basis to suggest the most advantageous courses for ships to take. He entered this data on charts and sold them through the agency first of George Manning and then A. G. Seaman. His correspondence with Manning, which consists entirely of letters sent by Maury, reflects the wide range of Maury’s activities. There are discussions about the production and sale of the charts, but also about Atlantic soundings and an Atlantic telegraphic cable; trade on the Amazon and other South American rivers; a planned expedition to the Arctic by Henry Grinnell; Maury’s investments; his lecture tours; the publication of his book, Physical Geography of the Sea; and the attempt to remove him from the navy.
The correspondence of the Nautical Almanac Office is primarily of a routine nature. The Nautical Almanac was a navigational guide consisting of computations of the apparent positions of the moon and various stars and planets. The computations were done by various astronomers and mathematicians scattered about the country. The correspondence deals primarily with the hiring of these “computers,” their compensation, and the scheduling and assignment of their work, as well as with the distribution of the Nautical Almanac itself. There is also correspondence concerning various questions of astronomical observation, an American prime meridian, the eclipse expeditions to Canada in 1860 and to Wyoming in 1869, the French expedition to observe the transit of Mercury, and experiments to measure the velocity of light. The correspondents include a number of noted figures of nineteenth-century American science: W. L. Elkin, William Ferrel, Asaph Hall, Joseph Henry, Edward Singleton Holden, Albert Abraham Michelson, Maria Mitchell, Christian Henry Frederick Peters, Edward C. Pickering, Edward Charles Safford, Ormond Stone, David P. Todd, Alexander C. Twining, and Charles A. Young.
The correspondence between the Nautical Almanac Office and its agents for the sale of the Nautical Almanac, as well as that between the office and the Navy Department, is of a routine administrative nature.
The correspondence and administrative records of the Librarian’s Office are also routine. The material primarily concerns the acquisition of books and periodicals, as well as their binding for library use. There is some discussion of the distribution of observatory publications, particularly their exchange with other institutions.
The correspondence of the Superintendent of Compasses Office is of a routine nature and deals primarily with the acquisition, testing, and construction of compasses, and with magnetic observation, particularly in terms of the problems encountered in such observations when conducted on iron ships.
The Instruments Office correspondence, which is also routine, relates to the procurement and maintenance of chronometers and includes some letters which discuss the calculation of time