349
Accademia dei Lincei; Volpicelli was secretary of that Academy for more than
30 years.
A recent study on the correspondence of Annibale de Gasparis (1819–1892)
7
, in
the year of the 200th anniversary of his birth, has brought out a new core of letters
exchanged between Secchi and de Gasparis. The 41 documents found in the archives
of Naples Observatory and PUG have been described, digitized, and published on
the INAF web portal. The main topics discussed by the two astronomers are the
observations and computation of the orbital elements of new asteroids discovered
by de Gasparis and the longitude and latitude measurement program between Rome
and Naples using the telegraph (Fig. 20.3).
For a more complete picture of the survey of Angelo Secchi’s correspondence,
we publish in appendixes, in alphabetical order, the list of letters preserved in some
Italian archives, excluding the huge archival fond preserved at the Pontifical
Gregorian University which has been analytically described in the inventory by
Chinnici and Gramatowski, where a list of about 1500 correspondents is also given
(Chinnici and Gramatowski 2001). In both appendixes A and B (containing, respectively, the list of recipients and that of senders), more than 200 correspondents
(astronomers, scientists, priests, ordinary citizens, etc.) have been identified; the
letters, covering the years 1839–1878, are preserved in more than 20 scientific and
7 Annibale de Gasparis was the director of Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte in Naples
from 1864 to 1889. He discovered nine asteroids and was awarded the gold medal of the Royal
Astronomical Society and the Prix Lalande of the Science Academy of Paris among a lot of international recognitions.
Fig. 20.3 Letter by Secchi to de Gasparis, preserved at INAF-OAC (credit: M. Gargano)
20 Secchi’s Diffuse Correspondence in Italian Archives
Accademia dei Lincei; Volpicelli was secretary of that Academy for more than
30 years.
A recent study on the correspondence of Annibale de Gasparis (1819–1892)
7
, in
the year of the 200th anniversary of his birth, has brought out a new core of letters
exchanged between Secchi and de Gasparis. The 41 documents found in the archives
of Naples Observatory and PUG have been described, digitized, and published on
the INAF web portal. The main topics discussed by the two astronomers are the
observations and computation of the orbital elements of new asteroids discovered
by de Gasparis and the longitude and latitude measurement program between Rome
and Naples using the telegraph (Fig. 20.3).
For a more complete picture of the survey of Angelo Secchi’s correspondence,
we publish in appendixes, in alphabetical order, the list of letters preserved in some
Italian archives, excluding the huge archival fond preserved at the Pontifical
Gregorian University which has been analytically described in the inventory by
Chinnici and Gramatowski, where a list of about 1500 correspondents is also given
(Chinnici and Gramatowski 2001). In both appendixes A and B (containing, respectively, the list of recipients and that of senders), more than 200 correspondents
(astronomers, scientists, priests, ordinary citizens, etc.) have been identified; the
letters, covering the years 1839–1878, are preserved in more than 20 scientific and
7 Annibale de Gasparis was the director of Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte in Naples
from 1864 to 1889. He discovered nine asteroids and was awarded the gold medal of the Royal
Astronomical Society and the Prix Lalande of the Science Academy of Paris among a lot of international recognitions.
Fig. 20.3 Letter by Secchi to de Gasparis, preserved at INAF-OAC (credit: M. Gargano)
20 Secchi’s Diffuse Correspondence in Italian Archives