Guide to the Lick Observatory Records: Research and Publication files
UA.036.Ser.05
Alix Norton
University of California, Santa Cruz
2016
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz 95064
speccoll@library.ucsc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Lick Observatory Records: Research and Publication files
Creator:
Lick Observatory
Identifier/Call Number: UA.036.Ser.05
Physical Description:
5.75 Linear Feet
6 boxes, 3 oversize boxes
Date (inclusive): 1840-2009
Date (bulk): 1870-1970
Access
Collection is open for research.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into six series:
- 1. Research logs
- 2. Research notes and charts
- 3. Lick Observatory publications
- 4. Manuscripts and reports
- 5. Publications correspondence
- 6. Indexes
Historical note
The Lick Observatory was completed in 1888 and continues to be an active astronomy research
facility at the summit of Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California. It is named after James
Lick (1796-1876), who left $700,000 in 1875 to purchase land and build a facility that would
be home to "a powerful telescope, superior to and more powerful than any telescope yet
made". The completion of the Great Lick Refractor in 1888 made the observatory home to the
largest refracting telescope in the world for 9 years, until the completion of the 40-inch
refractor at Yerkes Observatory in 1897. Since its founding in 1887, the Lick Observatory
facility has provided on-site housing on Mount Hamilton for researchers, their families, and
staff, making it the world's oldest residential observatory.
James Lick was born in Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania in 1796, and spent much of his life
building organs and pianos in Pennsylvania and Maryland, as well as in South America. In
1847, he moved to San Francisco, where he started purchasing large amounts of real estate
that made him a sizable fortune. Near the end of his life he began discussing ways to leave
a legacy in the form of a monument of some kind, and settled on the idea of building
something that would advance science, technology, and human knowledge. In 1874, Lick set up
the first of three trusts to devote $700,000 to the construction of the most powerful and
superior telescope in the world. Richard S. Floyd was the president of the board of trustees
of the successful third Lick Trust, and Thomas Fraser was the foreman and superintendent of
the entire construction project of the observatory. In August 1875, Lick selected Mount
Hamilton in Santa Clara County, California as the site for the observatory after consulting
with Fraser. One of the conditions of Mr. Lick's donation for the observatory was that the
County would construct a suitable road to the summit of Mount Hamilton, which the County
agreed to do. Lick passed away in 1876 before the completion of the observatory, and was
later buried at the base of the pier of the Great Lick Refractor.
As chairman of the board of Lick Trustees, Richard S. Floyd was entrusted with making sure
the observatory was the greatest of its time. Having no formal training in astronomy or in
the use of its instruments, Floyd recruited astronomers Simon Newcomb and E.S. Holden as
scientific advisors in planning the buildings and the astronomical equipment. They invited
astronomer S.W. Burnham, well known for his work on double stars, to conduct tests on the
atmospheric conditions on the mountain, and he found that the observing conditions were
among the most favorable he had experienced.
The main telescope that was initially built at Lick Observatory was the 36-inch equatorial
refractor, also known as the Great Lick Refractor, completed in 1888. Alvan Clark & Sons
shaped the objective lens, and Warner & Swasey constructed the telescope mounting. With
the completion of the Great Lick Refractor and the reconstruction of the Crossley 35-inch
reflecting telescope in 1895, the Observatory has been home to some of the world's most
powerful telescopes. Early research at the Observatory made important contributions to the
development of instruments for detecting, photographing, and taking measurements of
celestial objects. The Observatory continued to pioneer research in the astronomical
applications of spectroscopy and photography throughout the 20th century with the addition
of the Carnegie 20-inch double astrograph camera (1941) and the Shane 120-inch reflector
telescope (1959), which at the time of its construction was the second largest reflector
after the 200-inch at Palomar Observatory. As of 2015, Lick Observatory leads in extrasolar
and extragalactic research with the Katzmann Automatic Imaging Telescope (1998), which
searches for supernovae, and the Automatic Planet Finder (2013), which searches for planets
capable of sustaining life.
Some other examples of notable research conducted at the Lick Observatory throughout the
decades include the double star survey initiated in 1888 by S.W. Burnham and E.E. Barnard,
and continued by director R.G. Aitken and Hamilton Jeffers through the mid-twentieth
century, as well as work in radial velocity and spectroscopy started in 1896 by W.W.
Campbell, who later became director for almost 30 years. Campbell also oversaw the majority
of the Lick Observatory's solar eclipse expeditions through the early 20th century,
traveling to multiple locations in Asia, Africa, Australia, and North and South America to
study eclipses in their areas of totality.
The Observatory is currently operated by and headquartered at the University of California,
Santa Cruz, and is part of the University of California Observatories (UCO) system. The
Observatory was originally transferred to the Regents of the University of California by the
James Lick Trust in 1888, and was an independent campus of the UC system until 1958, when it
was made part of the University of California, Berkeley. On July 1, 1965, the administration
of Lick Observatory was officially transferred from UC Berkeley to UC Santa Cruz, and the
following year the astronomers relocated their offices and residences to Santa Cruz, along
with the astronomy shops, materials from the observatory's library, and historical documents
that made up the archives of the observatory. Mary Lea Shane served as the custodian of the
archives both on Mount Hamilton and at UC Santa Cruz, preserving and indexing the
correspondence, logs, business records, photographs, and research materials from the
observatory's history. In 1982, a ceremony was held at the library to name this collection
the Mary Lea Shane Archives of the Lick Observatory. These records are now available as the
Lick Observatory Records, collection UA 36, in the Special Collections and Archives
department of the UCSC McHenry Library.
For additional references with more information on the Lick Observatory and its history,
see the Bibliography section of this finding aid.
Preferred Citation
Lick Observatory Records: Research and Publication files. UA 36 Ser.5. Special Collections
and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Related Materials
Related materials can be found in the following series of Lick Observatory records:
Related published materials can be found via the Library Catalog:
- Publications of the Lick Observatory (Call number QB82.M646 P92)
- Focus: the Lick Observatory Newsletter (Call number QB1.F62)
- Lick Observatory Bulletins (Call number QB82.M646B93)
- A Brief Account of the Lick Observatory of the University of California (Call number
QB82.L5L5)
Scope and Contents
This collection contains both research materials and publication files from the Lick
Observatory. Research materials document the work done by Lick astronomers, and contain
research logs, reduction books, albums, various notes and charts, and drawings and
photographs of astronomical objects. Publication files include mostly unpublished
manuscripts and reports by Lick astronomers, as well as some promotional publications made
by and about the Lick Observatory. Also included are various indexes from the Lick
Observatory library, and correspondence related to the delivery of the Lick Observatory
publications and bulletins to other institutions around the world.
Publication Rights
Property rights for this collection reside with the University of California. Literary
rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. The publication
or use of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use for research or
educational purposes requires written permission from the copyright owner. Responsibility
for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more
information on copyright or to order a reproduction, please visit
guides.library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/reproduction-publication.
Bibliography
Consult the following resources for more information about Lick Observatory:
-
Handbook of the Lick Observatory of the University of California. San Francisco: Bancroft, 1888.
- Holden, Edward S.
A Brief Account of the Lick Observatory of the University of California. Sacramento: State printing Office, 1895.
-
The Lick Observatory Collections Project: Building the Observatory. http://collections.ucolick.org/archives_on_line/bldg_the_obs.html
-
The Lick Observatory Collections Project: The Life of James Lick. http://collections.ucolick.org/archives_on_line/James_Lick.html
- Lick, Rosemary.
The Generous Miser: The Story of James Lick of California. Los Angeles: Ward Ritchie Press, 1967.
- Mathews, Henry E.
The James Lick Trust. San Francisco, 1918.
- Neubauer, F.J. "A Short History of the Lick Observatory."
Popular Astronomy 58.5 (1950): 201.
- Osterbrock, Donald E, John R. Gustafson, and W J. S. Unruh.
Eye on the Sky: Lick Observatory's First Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
- Shane, Mary L. H, and Elizabeth S. Calciano.
The Lick Observatory. Glen Rock, N.J: Microfilming Corp. of America, 1974.
- Wright, Helen.
James Lick's Monument: The Saga of Captain Richard Floyd and the Building of the Lick Observatory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Logs (records)
Astronomy -- Research -- United States
Registers (lists)
Lick Observatory
Research logs
1860-1863, undated
Arrangement
Materials arranged alphabetically by last name of author or by title.
Scope and Contents
Includes various research logs, notebooks, and reduction books of Lick Observatory
astronomers.
box 1, folder 1
Aitken, R.G. - Sirius
1867-1918
box 1, folder 2
Aitken, R.G. - Formulae, etc.
undated
box 9, folder 1
Burnham, S.W. - List of double stars
1881
box 1, folder 3
Burnham, S.W. - Star index
undated
box 1, folder 4
Comet orbit computations
1898-1899
box 7
Moon photographs
1888-1892
Scope and Contents
Album of sketches and photographs of different views of the moon by various
astronomers at Lick Observatory.
box 1, folder 5
Moore, J.H. and Chappelle, J.F. - Moon, 36-inch telescope
1935
box 8
Planets, Moon, etc.
1888-1893
Scope and Contents
Album of sketches and photographs of the moon and various planets by various
astronomers at the Lick Observatory.
box 10
Shane, W.W. - Supernova Search Program I-III, RS-1 - RS-703
1956 June - 1958 June
Physical Description: 3
notebooks
box 1, folder 7
Townley, S.D. - Variable stars
1913-1914
box 2, folder 1
Unidentified log
1881-1885
Scope and Contents
Possibly belonged to S.W. Burnham.
Research notes and charts
1840-1967
Arrangement
Materials arranged chronologically.
Scope and Contents
Contains various forms of research data including notes, charts, tables, atlases,
lists, etc. created by and collected by Lick astronomers.
box 2, folder 2
Star position notes from various British astronomers
1840
box 5, folder 1
Casey, Thomas - Star Atlas
1873
box 9, folder 2
Oversized charts and drawings
1892-1951
box 2, folder 3
Color curve and plate effect, 24-inch telescope
circa 1967
Lick Observatory publications
1902-2009
Arrangement
Materials arranged chronologically by date of publication.
Scope and Contents
Includes brochures and other promotional materials created by and about the Lick
Observatory, as well as publication proofs and layouts.
box 5, folder 5
Holden, Edward S. - Unidentified proof prints
1897
box 2, folder 4
A Brief Account of the Lick Observatory, 3rd edition
1902
Scope and Contents
Published pamphlet on the history of the Lick Observatory including annotations and
inserted documents.
box 2, folder 5
Publications of the Lick Observatory, catalogs
1909-1945
Scope and Contents
Contains catalogs of publications of the Lick Observatory as well as catalogs and
bulletins of University of California publications.
box 2, folder 6
120-inch telescope album, Sky Telescope
1955
box 2, folder 7
"Lick Longhairs"
1956-1967
box 2, folder 8
Announcement of the Lick Observatory
1962-1963
box 2, folder 9
New Horizons for Lick Observatory
1967
box 5, folder 6-7
Focus newsletter
1975-1986
Scope and Contents
Includes proofs and layouts for Lick Observatory's newsletter.
box 2, folder 10, box 9, folder 1
Modern Astronomy
circa 1980
Scope and Contents
Includes proofs and layouts for Modern Astronomy brochure on Lick Observatory and
120-inch telescope.
box 2, folder 11
The Shane Reflector: Celebrating the First Fifty Years
2009
Manuscripts and reports
1862-1987
Arrangement
Materials arranged alphabetically by last name of author or by title.
Scope and Contents
Includes reports and drafts of manuscripts written by Lick Observatory astronomy staff,
documenting astronomical observations as well as the history of the observatory and its
staff.
box 2, folder 12
Bobrovnikoff, N.T. - Report on Comets
1946
box 2, folder 13
Burnham, S.W. - Double Star Observations
1897
Scope and Contents
Sent to R.S. Floyd by S.W. Burnham
box 3, folder 1
Comet discovery reports
1862-1931
box 5, folder 2
Gould, Benjamin Arthorp - On the Reduction of Photographic
Observations
1870
box 5, folder 3
Keeler, James - The Lick Observatory
circa 1888
box 3, folder 2
Keeler, James - Some Photographs of Faint Spectra Taken with the Slitless
Spectrograph of the Crossley Reflector
undated
box 3, folder 3-4
Osterbrock, Donald - James E. Keeler: Pioneer American Astrophysicist, galley
proof
1984
box 3, folder 5
Osterbrock, Donald - Lick Observatory: The First Century; notes, interviews,
outline
1987
box 5, folder 4
Publications of the Lick Observatory, volume 1; manuscript and typescript
drafts
circa 1886
box 3, folder 6
Todd, David P. - Observations of the Transit of Venus made at the Lick
Observatory
1882
box 3, folder 7, box 4, folder 1-2
Townley, S.D. - Untitled manuscript
1906
box 4, folder 3, box 6
Publications correspondence
1898
Scope and Contents
Contains letters and postcards from observatories and other institutions around the
world acknowledging receipt of Lick Observatory publications, bulletins, and
indexes.
Indexes
1882-1985
Arrangement
Materials arranged chronologically.
Scope and Contents
Includes indexes, catalogs, and lists of publications at Lick Observatory.
box 4, folder 4
The Transit of Venus, record of photographs
1882
box 5, folder 8
Names and addresses index
1887-1888
Scope and Contents
As indexed in volume 1 of Publications of the Lick Observatory.
box 5, folder 9
Errata in Star Catalogues
circa 1888
box 4, folder 5
Published works of the Astronomers of the Lick Observatory
1888-1891
box 4, folder 6
Negatives, publications
1929-1949
box 4, folder 7
Observing books in Lick Observatory Plate Vault
1985
Scope and Contents
Contains inventory created by Donald Osterbrock of research logs and observing books
at Mount Hamilton.
