Main content

Princeton University Library Collection of Charles A. Young

Notifications

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Young

A professor of astronomy at Princeton (1877-1905) and the first director of its Observatory, C. A. Young was an authority on the sun and a pioneer in spectrum analysis.

The collection consists, for the most part, of letters written to Young by other astronomers, such as N. M. Paul of the United States Naval Observatory and Leonard Waldo of Harvard, and by clock, astronomical, and scientific instrument manufacturers, including Howard Grubb, Fauth and Co., E. Howard and Co., and Edward Kahler. In addition, there are some drawings of astronomical instruments and a few bank books.

Further accessions include measures (1879) of the polar and equatorial diameters of the planet Mars by Prof. Young at the Observatory of the John C. Green School of Science, Princeton University, and an autograph manuscript with 12 sheets of figures on graph paper from the G. P. Kuiper Scientific Collection. Also included are letters from Simon Newcomb concerning discussions with Stephen H. Emmens in February and March 1897, and two letters from Young to Stephen Alexander discussing equipment for the astronomical observatory to be built on the "Olden lot" on Prospect Ave. in Princeton.

Arranged in alphabetical order.

The manuscript, charts, and graphs were a gift of Mrs. Sarah Kuiper Roth, on August 20, 1979.

A list (2 pp.) of correspondents is available in the Dept.

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

The collection was formed as a result of a Departmental practice of combining into one collection material of various accessions relating to a particular person, family or subject.

Folder inventory prepared by Feng Zhu '2014 in 2011.

In 2024, Amy C. Vo updated the finding aid title for compliance with DACS.

No appraisal information is available.

Publisher
Manuscripts Division
Finding Aid Date
2008
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Collection Inventory

Correspondence: Alexander, Stephen, 1877-1883. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence: A - B, 1877-1879. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence: C - H, 1877-1885. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence: A. Clark & Sons, 1876-1878. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence: Fauth & Co, 1877-1879. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Correspondence: Grubb, Howard, 1877-1878. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence: H - M, 1876-1879. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence: E. Howard & Co, 1877-1879. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content
Correspondence: Kahler, Edward, 1877-1878. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence: Newcomb, Simon, 1897 February-March. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

ALS and LS to Charles Augustus Young from S. Newcomb.

Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence: Paul, N. M. (US Naval Observatory), 1878-1880. 2 folders.
Scope and Contents

Includes 3 charts concerning stars.

Physical Description

2 folders

Miscellaneous Correspondence and Papers, 1877-1898. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Includes maps, lists, checks and formulas.

Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence: Suppliers of Equipment, 1877-1879. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence: T - Z, 1873-1880. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence: Waldo, Leonard, 1877. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

"Measures of the Polar and Equatorial Diameters of the Planet Mars", 1879 November. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

AMs of lecture delivered at the Observatory of the John C. Green School of Science, Princeton University.

Physical Description

1 folder

Early spectroscopic plates, undated. 1 box.
Scope and Contents

Includes spectrograms of the Sun taken by Professor Young. Some of the spectra were taken lit at the solar limb and show prominences. A few of the plates have been labeled by Professor Young who scratched writing on them with a diamond. These plates were mostly taken about 1890.

Physical Description

1 box

Photograph of Solar Prominences, 1870 September 28. 1 box.
Scope and Contents

Inscription in Young's handwriting. Spectrograph taken with wide slit. Possibly one of the earliest photographs of the sun.

Physical Description

1 box

G.P. Kuiper Scientific Collection Autograph Manuscript Autograph Manuscript, undated. 1 box.
Scope and Contents

Includes 12 sheets of figures on graph paper from the G.P. Kuiper Scientific Collection.

Physical Description

1 box

Print, Suggest