The Correspondence of John Flamsteed: The First Astronomer Royal, Volume Two contains the letters Flamsteed wrote and received from June 1682 to the spring of 1703. A leading figure in the final phases of the seventeenth-century scientific revolution, his extensive correspondence with 129 British and foreign scholars touches on many of the scientific discussions of the day. Some of these exchanges involved established correspondents, chiefly Newton and Wallis, but members of a younger generation, such as Stephen Gray, William Derham, and Abraham Sharp, appear with increasing frequency, especially after 1700.

Flamsteed's edited papers, published in 1835, over a century after his death, restored his reputation as a meticulous observational astronomer.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1837 edition. Excerpt: ... Should this be the case, it will show us that, in the dispute which took place ten years afterwards with Flamsteed, the publication of the Greenwich Observations was not required for the purpose of enabling Newton to work out the theory of the moon: more especially when it is also shown (as I shall presently do) that Newton had already been furnished with every observation that he had requested for that purpose: and moreover that there is no evidence tha the observations, when published, were ever applied to the verification of Newton's lunar theory, by any of his contemporaries. In fact, they could not be so applied by the public, since (as I have already shown) there were no published tables, founded on his theory, with which the observations could be compared. Such a notion, indeed, is quite of modern origin; for there is no mention in any of the documents that Newton entertained or expressed an opinion of the kind; nor is there the most remote allusion to such an idea. It is evident therefore that the proposed publication, in 1711, of the Greenwich Observations made with the mural arc, had nothing to do with the lunar theory of Newton: the crisis of that important work having long passed by, and no other existing observations being then required for its further development; or, if required, Newton (as I shall presently show) actually had them all in his possession. On the contrary, it was Halley's opinion (more than once expressed), and an opinion which seems to have met with considerable approbation and support in his day, that the irregularities of the moon could be best discovered, and the corrections deduced, from a regular series of comparisons made during successive revolutions of the apogee and node; or in a cycle of 223...

Highlights the "Atlas Coelestis," a celestial atlas that was created in 1729 by the British astronomer John Flamsteed (1646-1719), with information presented by the British Library Board as part of a map exhibition at the British Library. Contains an image of the atlas.

"John Flamsteed, (born Aug. 19, 1646, Denby, near Derby, Derbyshire, Eng.-died Dec. 31, 1719, Greenwich, London), founder of the Greenwich Observatory, and the first astronomer royal of England.Poor health forced Flamsteed to leave school in 1662. He studied astronomy on his own and later (1670-74) continued his education at the University of Cambridge. In 1677 he became a member of the Royal Society. Ordained a clergyman in 1675, Flamsteed in 1684 received the income of the living of Burstow, Surrey. His report to the Royal Society on the need for a new observatory resulted in the founding (1675) of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, of which he was the first director (and hence astronomer royal). He found that he himself had to supply all the instruments at Greenwich, apart from a few gifts; he was forced to take private pupils to augment his income. A small inheritance from his father, who died in 1688, provided the means to construct a mural arc, a wall-mounted instrument for measuring the altitudes of stars as they passed the meridian."

This volume is a rare addition for those with a keen interest in the history of Astronomy. It contains an Account of the life of the Rev.d John Flamsteed FRS., compiled from his own manuscripts, and other authentic documents by Francis Baily Esq. As Astronomer Royal, Flamsteed spent some forty years observing and making meticulous records for his star catalogue, which would eventually triple the number of entries in Tycho Brahe's sky atlas.

Some vols. for 1886- include a special issue: Annual companion to the Observatory.