Department of Astronomy records, 1880-1917

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Series I: Correspondence of John K. Rees, 1880-1902

This first series contains extensive correspondence between Rees and his colleagues from across the country and abroad. Beginning in 1880 as the newly appointed "Director of the Observatory," Rees seeks and gives advice as plans are made to construct an observatory for the department on the mid-town Columbia College campus, and later on the Morningside Heights campus. Most carbon copies of Rees' letters are preserved along with original letters from a variety of senders including Columbia faculty members, contractors, astronomical instrument makers, and scholars.



Box 1 Folder 1 1880-1882


Box 1 Folder 2 to 10 1883-1891, (9 Folders)


Box 1 Folder 11 1892 January-May


Box 1 Folder 12 1892 June-December


Box 1 Folder 13 1893 January-May


Box 1 Folder 14 1893 June-December


Box 1 Folder 15 1894 January-May


Box 1 Folder 16 1894 June-December


Box 1 Folder 17 1895


Box 1 Folder 18 1895


Box 1 Folder 19 to 21 1896, (3 Folders)



Box 2 Folder 1 1897


Box 2 Folder 2 1899


Box 2 Folder 3 to 5 1900, (3 Folders)


Box 2 Folder 6 to 9 1901, (4 Folders)


Box 2 Folder 10 to 13 1902, (4 Folders)


Box 2 Folder 14 Undated

Series II: Correspondence of Harold Jacoby, 1888-1913

Like his mentor John K. Rees, Harold Jacoby's written correspondence demonstrates an extensive communication with colleagues within the Columbia community and beyond.


Subseries II.1: General, 1907-1913

This subseries includes the bulk of Jacoby's professional correspondence with publishers, manufacturers of astronomical instruments and colleagues. Communication with Carl Zeiss, an astronomical instrument maker in Germany, contains some photographs and technical drawings of telescopes and is predominantly in German. Jacoby's carbon copy responses are in English. Of additional interest is correspondence between Jacoby and the general public regarding inquiries and appointments to visit the observatory, and a folder of letters pertaining to the 1908 meeting of the Astronomical Society of America at Put-in-Bay, Ohio.



Box 3 Folder 1 1907 October-1908 June


Box 3 Folder 2 1908 August-October Regarding Meeting at Put-in-Bay, 1908 August-October


Box 3 Folder 3 1908 September


Box 3 Folder 4 1908 October


Box 3 Folder 5 1908 November 1-12


Box 3 Folder 6 1908 November 13-30


Box 3 Folder 7 1908 December


Box 3 Folder 8 1908-1910 Regarding Visitors to the Observatory, 1908-1910


Box 3 Folder 9 1908-1911 With Carl Zeiss, 1908-1911


Box 3 Folder 10 1909 January


Box 3 Folder 11 1909 February


Box 3 Folder 12 1909 March-April


Box 3 Folder 13 1909 May


Box 3 Folder 14 1909 June-September


Box 3 Folder 15 1909 October


Box 3 Folder 16 1909 November-December


Box 3 Folder 17 1910 January-February


Box 3 Folder 18 1910 March


Box 3 Folder 19 1910 April


Box 3 Folder 20 1910 May


Box 3 Folder 21 1910 June-December


Box 3 Folder 22 1911


Box 3 Folder 23 1912


Box 3 Folder 24 1913


Subseries II.2: Jacoby's Letter File, approximately, 1888-1891

This subseries is arranged alphabetically according to Jacoby's personal letter file and contains both professional and personal correspondence with colleagues, friends and family members. Many carbon copies of Jacoby's original letters are included and of special interest is correspondence regarding Jacoby's involvement in an expedition to Cape Hope, South Africa to observe an eclipse in 1887.


Box 3 Folder 25 to 31 A-G, (7 Folders)



Box 4 Folder 1 H


Box 4 Folder 2 J


Box 4 Folder 3 K-L


Box 4 Folder 4 M-N


Box 4 Folder 5 O-P


Box 4 Folder 6 R-S


Box 4 Folder 7 V-Z

Series III: Other Faculty Correspondence, 1908-1910

This small series is comprised of two folders: One containing the correspondence of Professor Charles Lane Poor, and the other the correspondence of Professor S.A Mitchell. Poor's letters document the establishment of a course in Nautical Science as he communicates extensively with naval officers, interested attendees and other colleagues. The correspondence of S.A Mitchell provides further insight into the general departmental activity of a founding faculty member.


Box 4 Folder 8 Charles Lane Poor, 1908-1909


Box 4 Folder 9 S.A. Mitchell, 1909-1910

Series IV: Writings of Harold Jacoby, approximately 1908-1911, undated

Series IV consists of Harold Jacoby's manuscript and typewritten lectures as well as articles for publication. Jacoby's writings cover a wide range of astronomical topics and contemporary events.


Approximately, 1908


Box 4 Folder 10 "American Astronomers to the Fore"


Box 4 Folder 10 "A Catechetical Grotesque"


Box 4 Folder 10 "Astronomical Research"


Box 4 Folder 10 "Attainder"


Box 4 Folder 10 "Gravity"


Box 4 Folder 10 "How far North is 'Farthest North'"


Box 4 Folder 10 "Long Range Weather Prediction"


Box 4 Folder 10 "Measuring the Earth by Wireless"


Approximately, 1908


Box 4 Folder 11 "Poesy and Paleo-Zoology"


Box 4 Folder 11 "Professor Migrans"


Box 4 Folder 11 "The Fourth Dimension"


Box 4 Folder 11 "Faith and the Fourth Dimension"


Box 4 Folder 11 "The Case Against Mars"


Box 4 Folder 11 "History of Astronomy"


Box 4 Folder 12 "Formulas for the Comparison of Astronomical Photographs,", undated


Box 4 Folder 12 "Opening Address to the Summer School of Geodesy, Camp Columbia,", 1908


Box 4 Folder 12 "Announcement to Precede Calendar Lecture,", November 24, 1908


Approximately, 1909


Box 4 Folder 13 "The Distance of the Sun"


Box 4 Folder 13 "Foucault's Pendulum"


Box 4 Folder 13 "Planets, the Wandering Stars"


Box 4 Folder 13 "The Planets Magnitudes, Masses, etc."


Box 4 Folder 14 "The Planets Again"


Box 4 Folder 14 "Moonshine"


Box 4 Folder 14 "More Moonshine"


Box 4 Folder 14 "The Seasons"


Box 4 Folder 14 "Weighing the Earth"


Box 4 Folder 14 "Sun-Dials"


Approximately, 1909-1910


Box 4 Folder 15 "North Polar Astronomy"


Box 4 Folder 15 "Halley's Comet"


Box 4 Folder 15 "The Great Comet of Halley"


Box 4 Folder 15 "Is Mars Inhabited"


Box 4 Folder 15 "The Planet Mars and Saturn in Conjunction"


Box 4 Folder 15 "The Planets One by One"


Box 4 Folder 15 "Eclipses"


Box 4 Folder 16 "Long Haired Stars"


Box 4 Folder 16 "Meteors and Shooting Stars"


Box 4 Folder 16 "Sunshine"


Box 4 Folder 16 "Star-Shine"


Box 4 Folder 16 "Making Plans"


Box 4 Folder 16 "The Runge Dinner"


Box 4 Folder 16 "The Universe Once More"


Box 4 Folder 17 "The Universe,", undated


Box 4 Folder 17 "Star Catalogues,", undated


Box 4 Folder 17 "Astronomy,", undated


Box 4 Folder 17 "Astronomical Research,", undated


Box 4 Folder 17 "The Coming Re-appearance of Halley's Great Comet,", undated


Box 4 Folder 18 "How the Worlds Were Made,", undated


Box 4 Folder 18 "Mother Earth,", undated


Box 4 Folder 18 "George William Hill,", undated


Box 4 Folder 18 "Time,", undated


Box 4 Folder 18 "Precision,", undated


Box 4 Folder 18 "The Case Against Halley's Comet,", undated


Box 4 Folder 19 "The Heavens,", undated


Box 4 Folder 19 "A Short Course in Astronomy,", undated


Box 4 Folder 19 "Equations Occurring in Lectures on Geodesy,", undated


Box 4 Folder 19 "A Lecture on the Method of Least Squares Applied to Conditioned Observations,", undated


Box 4 Folder 19 "The Tides,", undated


Box 4 Folder 20 "Abraham Lincoln,", undated


Box 4 Folder 20 Scattered manuscript pages

Series V: Observatory Ledgers and Astronomical Reports, 1896-1917

The final series of the collection is comprised of notes, observations and computations on graph paper as well as two hard-cover bound student project reports. About half of the graph paper records are marked as the charts of the "Lick Eros Plates" and represent a collaborative effort with the Lick Observatory in California. Some correspondence regarding this collaboration can be found in Box 2 Folder 7. This series also includes 5 bound ledger books with computations on the Rutherfurd plates as well as from observations at Bloomingdale Station/116th Street from 1893 to 1901.


Box 4 Folder 21 1896


Box 4 Folder 22 1896, undated, 1896, undated


Box 4 Folder 23 1896-1897



Box 5 Folder 1 1897


Box 5 Folder 2 1899


Box 5 Folder 3 1899


Box 5 Folder 4 1903


Box 5 Folder 5 "Lick Eros Plates,", 1900-1901


Box 5 Folder 6 "Lick Eros Plates,", 1900-1901


Box 5 Folder 7 "Lick Eros Plates,", 1901


Box 5 Folder 8 "Lick Eros Plates,", 1901


Box 5 Folder 9 "Lick Eros Plates," 1901, undated, 1901, undated


Box 5 Folder 10 "Lick Eros Plates," approximately, 1901-1903


Box 5 Folder 11 "Lick Eros Plates," approximately, 1901-1903


Box 5 Folder 12 "Lick Eros Plates,", 1902-1903


Box 5 Folder 13 "Lick Eros Plates,", 1903



Box 6 Folder 1 Camp Columbia, Scattered Reports and Charts, 1908-1911


Box 6 Folder 2 "Detailed Report on Geodetic Surveying," Camp Columbia, 1912


Box 6 Folder 3 "Detailed Report: Geodesy and Astronomy," Camp Columbia, 1917



Box 7 Folder 1 Zenith Telescope, Variation of Latitude Investigation, volume 2, 1893-1899

Definitive investigation of the periodic errors of the Zenith telescope screw, 1896. Computations by F.E. Harpham under the direction of Harold Jacoby. Includes additional computations by J.K. Rees and H.S. Davis.


Box 7 Folder 3 Zenith Telescope, Variation of Latitude Investigation, volume 3, 1893-1900

Latitude observations, variation of latitude pairs, and reduction to apparent place.


Box 7 Folder 4 Elongations and Transits, 1893-1894

Computations by J.K. Rees and Harold Jacoby, from Bloomingdale Station / 116th Street with the Zenith telescope.


Box 7 Folder 2 Rutherfurd Photographic Measures, Plates XIV-XVIII, Volume 2 , 1901

"Plates without Reseau." Includes designation of plate (Rutherfurd Perseus and numerals) and dates (1901 April-May). Book spine attributes the work to "Young" - possibly work by Anne Sewell Young for her dissertation Rutherfurd photographs of the stellar clusters h and x Persei (also available online).



Box 4 Folder 24 Computation for all stars in the Yale measures; refraction tables; computations for checking distances and position angles of the Pleiades Plates, circa 1891

Computers Harold Jacoby, James McRichard and F.E. Hurley