Letters from Nevil Maskelyne to Joseph Banks.

Letter dated 16 April 1781, includes specimen of paper for printing new lunar tables by Mr Mason which needs Banks’s approval; discusses ‘comet’ observed by Herschel, not yet ready to call it a planet, but acknowledging it lacks coma and tail and states that Herschel's lucky to have the instruments he does to ‘look accidentally’ at the fixt stars. A;so contains greetings to family Banks' family.

Administrative / biographical background
Nevil Maskelyne and Joseph Banks were both key members of the Board of Longitude.

Record Details

Item reference: MSK/3/1/5
Catalogue Section: Personal collections
Level: ITEM
Extent: 1 letter
Date made: 1781-04-16
Creator: Maskelyne, Nevil
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London