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OLBERS, Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias (1758-1840). Ten autograph letters signed (one a postscript only) to J.H. Schroeter, H.W. Brandes, F.G.W. von Struve and to unidentified recipients, Bremen, 8 March 1788 – 9 September 1827, three including diagrams; with a related document.
The earliest letter neatly combines Olbers’ twin preoccupations of medicine and astronomy: it begins by discussing his treatment of a case of persistent constipation, before discussing the question of a nebula in Perseus, which does not appear in either Bode’s celestial map or in Herschel’s index – Olbers includes a diagram showing its position, and asks his correspondent to observe it from his position in Lilienthal. In 1789 Olbers writes to an unknown recipient about his lunar observations, specifically calculations of the heights of the lunar mountains, including a diagram to demonstrate his approach: a second, undated letter, perhaps to the same recipient, pursues the same subject, with a further illustrative diagram. On 23 April 1791, Olbers discusses two scientific instruments, including a mirrored sextant which he used for observing the solar eclipse on 3 April; he also advances a jocular theory involving hypothetical inhabitants of the moon throwing a sphere to earth from the lunar atmosphere. A letter of 1810 discusses the local weights and measures used in Frankfurt and Bremen. Writing to H.W. Brandes in 1822, Olbers thanks him for ‘news of our mysterious comet’ (‘unserem rätselhaften Kometen’): he has been working on a joint paper with Schumacher on this, attempting to correct errors in Delambres’ table; he goes on to pass on a series of barometrical observations in Hanover, Altona and elsewhere. A letter of August 1823 also concerns barometric readings. In August 1824 he writes with great delight of W.G. Lohrmann’s lunar map, which he has compared with his own observations of the moon. Writing to the German-Russian astronomer F.G.W. von Struve in 1827, Olbers writes with similar admiration of the recipient’s recently-published catalogue of double stars.
The earliest letter neatly combines Olbers’ twin preoccupations of medicine and astronomy: it begins by discussing his treatment of a case of persistent constipation, before discussing the question of a nebula in Perseus, which does not appear in either Bode’s celestial map or in Herschel’s index – Olbers includes a diagram showing its position, and asks his correspondent to observe it from his position in Lilienthal. In 1789 Olbers writes to an unknown recipient about his lunar observations, specifically calculations of the heights of the lunar mountains, including a diagram to demonstrate his approach: a second, undated letter, perhaps to the same recipient, pursues the same subject, with a further illustrative diagram. On 23 April 1791, Olbers discusses two scientific instruments, including a mirrored sextant which he used for observing the solar eclipse on 3 April; he also advances a jocular theory involving hypothetical inhabitants of the moon throwing a sphere to earth from the lunar atmosphere. A letter of 1810 discusses the local weights and measures used in Frankfurt and Bremen. Writing to H.W. Brandes in 1822, Olbers thanks him for ‘news of our mysterious comet’ (‘unserem rätselhaften Kometen’): he has been working on a joint paper with Schumacher on this, attempting to correct errors in Delambres’ table; he goes on to pass on a series of barometrical observations in Hanover, Altona and elsewhere. A letter of August 1823 also concerns barometric readings. In August 1824 he writes with great delight of W.G. Lohrmann’s lunar map, which he has compared with his own observations of the moon. Writing to the German-Russian astronomer F.G.W. von Struve in 1827, Olbers writes with similar admiration of the recipient’s recently-published catalogue of double stars.
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