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Francis Gladheim Pease Addenda: Finding Aid
mssPease addenda  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Overview of the Collection
  • Access
  • Administrative Information
  • Related Materials in the Huntington Library
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content
  • Arrangement
  • Indexing Terms

  • Overview of the Collection

    Title: Francis Gladheim Pease Addenda
    Dates (inclusive): 1908-2001
    Bulk dates: 1908-1937
    Collection Number: mssPease addenda
    Creator: Pease, F. G. (Francis Gladheim), 1881-
    Extent: 90 items in 1 box
    Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department
    1151 Oxford Road
    San Marino, California 91108
    Phone: (626) 405-2129
    Email: reference@huntington.org
    URL: http://www.huntington.org
    Abstract: This collection includes correspondence, manuscripts, printed material, and ephemera all related to Mount Wilson Solar Observatory astronomer Francis Gladheim Pease (1881-1938), his astronomy work, and the telescopes he designed (bulk dating from 1908-1937).
    Language: English.

    Access

    Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

    Administrative Information

    Publication Rights

    The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item]. Francis Gladheim Pease Addenda, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Provenance

    Purchased from Paul Ross, September 7, 2012.

    Related Materials in the Huntington Library

    Biographical Note

    Francis Gladheim Pease was one of the original staff members of the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory when it was formed in 1904. His most important contribution to the Observatory was his expertise in the design and use of astronomical instruments. Together with George W. Ritchey, Pease designed most of the equipment for the new Observatory. His most significant work was in the design of the 100-inch Hooker Telescope, the 20-foot and 50-foot Interferometers, and the 200-inch Hale Telescope. In the field of astronomical observations, Pease is best remembered for his collaborations with Albert A. Michelson, the Nobel Laureate physicist at the University of Chicago. Together, they developed new experiments for determining the diameters of stars, the velocity of light, and the non-existence of the "ether."

    Scope and Content

    The collection includes correspondence, manuscripts, printed material and ephemera all related to astronomer Francis Gladheim Pease, his astronomy work, and the telescopes he designed. There are 13 letters by George Ellery Hale as well as a copy of an offprint of “Building the 200- Inch Telescope” by Hale (originally published in Harper’s Magazine, November 1929). There is an offprint of “The Spectra of Four of the Temporary Stars” written by Pease and Walter S. Adams (published in Contributions from the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory No. 87 in 1914).
    The correspondence includes several prominent individuals including: Giorgio Abetti, Walter S. Adams, John A. Anderson, Andrew Carnegie (typed copy), Edward H. Davis, Elmer Grey, George Ellery Hale, Fred E. Harvey, Herbert E. Ives, Thornwell Jacobs, George Wharton James, Helen Keller (photocopy of letter), Albert A. Michelson, Robert A. Millikan, James R. Page, F. E. Wright, and the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company. There is also one letter addressed to Thomas Edison.
    The manuscripts include several items by F. G. Pease including a “Figuring Book” which contains his work on various telescopes and contains blueprints and a manuscript entitled “Notes on a 25-Foot Reflector.”
    The ephemera is made up of printed offprints, a blueprint of the telescope at Mt. Wilson, newspaper clippings, miscellaneous items, and material from several websites (Caltech Astronomy, JPL, and Mount Wilson; printed 1999-2001) regarding Einstein, telescopes, Mt. Wilson, the Palomar Observatory and the Comet Hale-Bopp.
    The photographs include a portrait of George Ellery Hale (1929), three photographs of the construction of the telescope at Palomar Observatory (1937), and a photograph of Albert Einstein with Charles St. John, Ferdinand Ellerman, Walther Mayer, and Edwin Hubble on the steps outside the 150-foot tower telescope during Einstein’s second visit to Mt. Wilson (January 1931: the Huntington has another copy of this photograph: COPC 2787).
    The collection is arranged alphabetically by author: correspondence and manuscripts, folders 1- 32; followed by ephemera, folders 33-41.

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged alphabetically by author: correspondence and manuscripts, folders 1-32; followed by ephemera, folders 33-41.

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

    Subjects

    Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955.
    Hubble, Edwin Powell, 1889-1953.
    Pease, F. G. (Francis Gladheim), b. 1881 -- Archives.
    California Institute of Technology.
    Carnegie Institution of Washington.
    Corning Glass Works.
    Mount Wilson and Palomar Ovservatories -- History -- Sources.
    Mount Wilson Observatory -- History -- Sources.
    Mount Wilson Solar Observatory.
    Palomar Observatory.
    Yerkes Observatory.
    Astronomers -- United States -- Archives.
    Astronomical observatories -- California -- Wilson, Mount (Mountain)
    Astronomy -- Research.
    Astronomy -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources.
    Stars.
    Telescopes -- Design and construction -- History -- Sources.
    Hale-Bopp comet.

    Forms/Genres

    Blueprints (reprographic copies)
    Letters (correspondence)
    Manuscripts

    Additional Contributors

    Abetti, Giorgio, 1882-1982.
    Adams, Walter S. (Walter Sydney), 1876-1956.
    Anderson, John A. (John Augustus), 1876-1959, recipient.
    Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919.
    Davis, Edward H., . 1862.
    Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931, recipient.
    Grey, Elmer, 1871-1962, recipient.
    Hale, George Ellery, 1868-1938.
    Harvey, Fred E., 1895-1961.
    Ives, Herbert Eugene, 1882-1953.
    Jacobs, Thornwell, 1877-1956.
    James, George Wharton, 1858-1923.
    Keller, Helen, 1880-1968.
    Michelson, Albert A. (Albert Abraham), 1852-1931.
    Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953.
    Page, James Rathwell, 1884-1962.
    Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953, recipient.
    Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, recipient.