Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Agnes Mary Clerke’s Manuscript Annotations in her Personal Copy of A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century (1885). |
| Authors: |
Rosenfeld, R. A. |
| Source: |
Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Oct2026, Vol. 120 Issue 5, p203-208. 6p. |
| Subject Terms: |
*History of astronomy, *Marginalia, *Rare books, *Astronomers, *Astronomical observations |
| Abstract: |
Agnes Mary Clerke (1842–1907) was an exceptional figure in the astronomical world during the rise of astrophysics. Well educated at home and grown into an effective autodidact, she mastered the professional astronomical literature to write A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century, the outstanding account of the development of the astronomy of her time. The book was accorded almost universal praise from knowledgeable reviewers for its accuracy, reasonable comprehensiveness, and balanced judgement. Professional astronomers were sufficiently impressed to send details of their latest work for inclusion in subsequent editions, and she even ventured assessments of possible future directions for research in astronomy in another work. The Rare Book Collection of the RASC possesses her heavily annotated personal copy of the first edition of her Popular History of Astronomy (1885). These glosses provide insight into how she interacted with her published text, and began to prepare for a second edition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Database: |
Academic Search Index |