John Dovaston, Astronomical Notebook, American Philosophical Society

Table of contents

Abstract

The amateur astronomer and scientific instrument maker John Dovaston was born into a long-established Shropshire family on April 25, 1740, the son of John Dovaston and Margaret (Rogers). While still in his twenties, Dovaston used the proceeds from his sugar plantations in Jamaica to build "The Nursery," an estate near West Felton, near Shrewsbury, where he lived until his death on April 4, 1808.

Dovaston's astronomical notebook contains observations on the transits of Venus and Mercury, 1761-1799; the eclipse of the moon, July 1776; and the comet of August 1797; as well as more general notes on stellar positions, astronomical instruments, calendars, and the measurement of latitude and longitude. The volume is illustrated, and includes copies of two letters received from his fellow amateur astronomer, Waldron Hill. Dovaston's interest in astrology is suggested by his detailed notes on casting a horoscope ("The Manner of Erecting a scheme or figure of the Heavens"), as well as by the presence of nativities for his son (1782) and for William Dovaston (1765).

Background note
Scope & content
Administrative information
Additional information
- Bibliography
Added entries
Contact information

Background note

Nativity chart of J. F. M. Dovaston

A polymath and man of varied scientific interests, John Dovaston developed a large arboretum at the Nursery, introducing a cultivar of yew in 1777 that now bears his name, and he was an ardent amateur astronomer and instrument maker. Both in England and during his voyages to Jamaica, he recorded careful observations of heavenly phenomena including comets and the transits of Venus and Mercury, and he was apparently a keen astrologer as well.

A friend of the engraver Thomas Bewick, John Freeman Millward Dovaston was a respected naturalist and a romantic poet known for his sonnets. His best known publication was Poems, Legendary, Incidental, and Humourous (Shrewsbury: W. Morris, 1825).

Scope and content

John Dovaston's astronomical notebook contains observations on the transits of Venus and Mercury, 1761-1799; the eclipse of the moon, July 1776; and the comet of August 1797; as well as more general notes on stellar positions, astronomical instruments, calendars, and the measurement of latitude and longitude. The volume is illustrated, and includes copies of two letters received from his fellow amateur astronomer, Waldron Hill.

Dovaston's interest in astrology is suggested by his detailed notes on casting a horoscope ("The Manner of Erecting a scheme or figure of the Heavens"), as well as by the presence of nativities for his son (1782) and for William Dovaston (1765). The chart for Dovaston's son includes interpretative notes, the other is tipped in to the end of the volume without additional comment. William Dovaston is of unknown relationship to John.

The volume is bound in half leather over marbled paper boards, with a note by Dovaston dated 1764, indicated that he had had it bound for 2 shillings. J.F.M. Dovaston's elaborate bookplate is pasted on the inside front cover.


Contents	Pages
"Tables of perpetual use"	1-48
"To find the southing of a planet"	49-50
"...Circles of the sphere projected on the Meridian Stereographically" [Illus.]	52-53
"Of the Stella Mira or Wonderfull Star in the Whale's Neck" [Illus.]	55-57
"Of the Retrogradation of the Planet Mars" [Illus.]	57-66
"To Draw a Meridian Line on a Horizontal plane by a style or needle set up at random" [Illus.]	67-70
"The construction of a quadrant" [Illus.]	72-75
"A View of the Transits of the planet Venus and Mercury over the Sun's Dick for the year 1761 to the year 1799"	76-77
"An Account of the Sun's Enlightening the planet Venus from Observations in the Year 1762" [from Waldron Hill; illustr.]	78-81
"To find the situation of all or any of Jupiter's Satellites at any time required" [Illus.]	81-84
"Concerning the appearance of a Comett"	84-85
"The Manner of Erecting a scheme or figure of the Heavens" [Illus.]	86-89
"Letter from Waldron Hill to [John] Dovaston, April 23, 1764"	89-92
"To find the Latitude of any place"	93
"Astronomical problems" [Illus.]	94-110
Perpetual calendars, etc.	112-121
"A short account of the Old Style [Gregorian calendar] with the reason given for the new"	122-123
"To find what time any fixed star will be upon the meridian"	123-124
"Description of eclipse of the Moon, July 30, 1776"	124-125
"A perpetual Almanac, by which may be found the day of the month in any year" [Illus.]	127-128
"Account of a Comet Observed by Mr. Walker of Gruston on the 18th Aug., 1797" [Shrewsbury Chronicle]	129
"John Freeman Millward Dovaston's nativity, calculated by Ed. Francis" [Illus.]	130-131

Administrative information

Restrictions

None.

Provenance

Acquired from Sotheby's, October 1980.

Preferred citation

Cite as: John Dovaston Astronomical Notebook, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Recatalogued by rsc, 2003.

Additional information

References

Edell, Stephen, "An 18th Century Yeoman-polymath and a Pair of Manuscript Globes 'intended for the wife of his son'," Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society 65 (2000): 10-13. Mentions globes signed 'John Dovaston fecit c. 1786'.