Special Collections
Milton S. Eisenhower Library
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland 21218
410-516-8348

Abbe (Cleveland) 1838-1916
Papers (1851-1952)
Ms. 60

Size:          (4.4 linear ft.)
                9 document boxes, 3 flat boxes

Processed:     July 1990
By:            Joan Grattan

Provenance:    The collection was given to the University  
               and acquired by Special Collections in 1972.

Access:        Access to this collection is unrestricted.

Permission:    Permission to publish material from this
               collection must be requested in writing
               from the Manuscripts Librarian at the
               address above.

Citation:      Cleveland Abbe Papers Ms. 60,
               Special Collections,
               Milton S. Eisenhower Library,
               The Johns Hopkins University

                      Cleveland Abbe Papers
                             Ms. 60

                        Table of Contents

Provenance.......................................1

Biographical Note................................1

Scope and Content Note...........................2

Container List...................................4

Index............................................13        

                   Abbe (Cleveland) 1838-1916
                        Papers (1851-1952
                             Ms. 60

Provenance

The Cleveland Abbe papers were removed to Special Collections
from storage in 1972.  In 1898, Abbe gave a meteorological
collection of 2500 volumes and serial publications, including 29 volumes of meterological pamphlets (QC852.M5) to The Johns Hopkins University which was known as the Abbe Meteorological
Library.  Since Abbe's association with the University was well
established, it is likely that his papers were later given as a
gift.

Biographical Note

Cleveland Abbe, renowned astronomer and meteorologist, was born
in New York city in 1838.  He became the first regular, official
weather forecaster of the U.S. Government and was a fervent
supporter of research in atmospheric physics.  He graduated from
the City College of New York in 1857 and later studied under
Franz Brhnow at the University of Michigan.  From 1860 to 1864,
he worked with B.A. Gould in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  At the
Nautical Almanac office in Cambridge, Abbe met American
meteorologist, William Ferrel.  Abbe spent two years, 1864-1866,
at Pulkovo, Russia working under astronomer, Otto Struve.

Returning to America, Abbe hoped to establish in New York an
observatory modeled on Pulkovo.  The project may have proved too
ambitious for the nineteenth century, and in 1868 Abbe went to
Cincinnati as director of the Observatory there.  In 1870, an Act
of Congress authorized a national weather service under the
direction of the Signal Corps of the Army.  (This was the
predecessor of the present Weather Bureau.)  Abbe organized the
forecast work and inaugurated and contributed to the Monthly
Weather Review.  Under his direction, the Corps established a
laboratory and a center for basic research. 

Abbe was known to pay close attention to new developments in the
physical sciences.  Under the auspices of the Signal Office, he
visited research laboratories and prepared reports on the
progress in geophysical experiments.  He was interested in the
work of Johns Hopkins professor, Henry A.Rowland, whose research
in 1884 centered on atmospheric electricity. As a result of a
report by Abbe, Rowland was given a sum of $200.00 from the
Signal Corps to assist with his laboratory expenses. 

Throughout his life, Abbe was committed to instruction and
research in Meteorology.  In 1891, Abbe began negotiating with
Johns Hopkins president, Daniel C. Gilman, to initiate a program
of study in Meteorology.  Abbe offered to give his private
library to the University in exchange for a commitment to
teaching and experimentation in Meteorology.  Abbe's advocacy for
the weather service combined with his connection to the
University may have resulted in the organization in May, 1891 of
the Maryland State Weather Service under the joint auspices of
The Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Agricultural College,
and the United States Weather Bureau.  In 1896, Abbe began giving
lectures on Climatology to the Geology students at the
University.    

Abbe received the Symons Memorial Gold Medal from the Royal
Meteorological Society in 1912.  Cleveland Abbe died in
Washington D.C. in 1916.

Related material of Cleveland Abbe can be found in the Daniel
Coit Gilman Papers Ms. 1.

The following volume contains a listing of the books given by
Cleveland Abbe to The Johns Hopkins University:

     Abbe, Cleveland.  Alphabetical List of Books in the Abbe
          Library.  [1902].
                (Cage QC 854.5. A12)

Scope and Content Note

The papers (1851-1952) of astronomer and meteorologist, Cleveland
Abbe (1838-1916) include correspondence, manuscript notes,
reports, meteorological observations, reprints, drawings, and
lecture notes.  A few letters to family members represent the
only personal items in the collection.  The bulk of the material,
1874-1904, is drawn from the years when Abbe served with the
Weather Service, U.S. Signal Corps.  Although Abbe lectured at
Hopkins, no substantial references to his association with the
University are included in this collection. 

Correspondence, 1878-1907, in this collection reveals Abbe's
interest in the work of colleagues and his accumulation of
information on climatology worldwide.  He corresponded with
weather service people in India, South Africa, Canada, and
Australia.  Other notable correspondents were Samuel Chapman
Armstrong, William Bullock Clark, Henry Draper, William Ferrel,
Henry Gannett, A. W. Greely, Edward C. Pickering, Charles A.
Schott, and M. I. Pupin.

When the papers were received in Special Collections, 1972, some
of the material was separated in envelopes and folders with
numerical/subject designations.  Apparently, this was Abbe's
method for filing notes and reference material specific to a
point of interest.  An example of this is Envelope 11 which he
titled "Thermodynamics Applied to Atmosphere."  This system has
been retained where possible.  Abbe's arrangement of the material
provides an overview of the beginnings of the science of
meteorology and the development of weather forecasting.  Subjects
include barometric observations (1874), weather forecasts (1893),
regulations for preparation of forecasts, and work of the Warner
Observatory (1883-1886).  Specific meteorological events are
noted: a solar eclipse of 1900, a meteor of 1873, and a hurricane
in Cuba, 1888.  Some oversize material which includes drawings by
Abbe, James Page, W.K. Sligh, and solar eclipse observations from
1900 were removed to the oversize case in the Manuscripts
workroom.

A project which absorbed Abbe's attention between 1886 and 1907
involved a book written in Russia by the meteorologist, Alexander
J. Woeikoff, a professor and astronomer at the University of St.
Petersburg.  In 1884 in Russia, Woeikoff published the original
Climates of the Earth, and Abbe hoped to have a translation
published in the United States.  Abbe engaged Alexander Ziwet, a
University of Michigan professor of Mathematics to translate the
volume into English, and Abbe intended to add observations of his
own.  Circumstances of time and distance as well as some
recession in the publishing business  prevented the eventual
publication of the project.  The holographic manuscript of
"Climates of the Earth" is included in this collection.

Final items in the collection include lecture notes of John Park
Finley who attended lectures given by Abbe in Washington D.C.,
1885-1886 and a notebook giving comparative barometric readings,
1899-1952.  Apparently, an associate of Abbe's continued the
entries after Abbe's death in 1916.

The Container List contains a complete listing of items in the
collection.

                         Container List
                             Ms. 60

Box 1     Correspondence
          Biographical sketch of Abbe included here.

Abbe family
Alden, John B.
Allen, J.
American Book Co.
Appel, T.Archibald, E.D.
Armstrong, S.C.
Ash, H.W.
Aughenbaugh, W.

Baird, S.F.
Baracchi, P.
Barnes, A.S.
Barrett, J.O.
Bellamy, J.C.
Benhamin, Marcus
Billwiler
Boorman, J. Marcus
Brait, Andrew
Buckingham, Edgar
Burnett, E.T.
Bynatcher, M.

Capello, J.
Carothers, W.F.
Carpmalb, Charles
Cassino, S.E.
Cattell, J. Mck
Chandler,
Christie, Alex S,
Christie, W.H.M.
Clark, William Bullock
Claxton, J.F,
Cleve, Richard
Cloder, Richardson
Coffin, Seldon J.
Coffin, James H.
Compton, Alfred G.
Comstock, George C.
Cook, C.S.
Cook, J.R.
Cooke, W.E.
Cosmopolitan Magazine
Croskey
Curtis, G.E.
Box 1 (Cont.)

Davies, C. Langdon
Davis, W.M.
Decker, H.M.
Diller, J.S.
Doberck, W.
Draper, Henry
Duffield, W.W.
Dupont, E.I.
Durand, W.I.

Eddy, [H.F.]
Egrnities, D.
Eliot, J.
Ennis, J.

Farrington, William H.
Fer
Fisher, Willard J.
Forney, M.N.
Ferrel, William    Ferrel lectures (1886)

Gannett, Henry
Garriott, E.B,
Gilbert, G.K.
Gilman, Daniel C.
Ginn & Co.
Goodale
Goode, G. Brown
Gould, B.A.
Greeley, Gen.

Hall, A.
Hall, Maxwell
Harrington, Mark W.
Harris, W.J.
Hasselbrink, C.
Hastings, Charles S.
Hathaway, Arthur S.
Hazen
Hepites, S.N.
Hergesell
[Heyden]. J.

Hitchings, E.F.
[Honsel]
Houston, Edwing

Jackson, S.
Jones, W.L.

Box 1, (Cont.)

King
Kirkwood, Daniel
Kirhl, W.H.
K”nig, Walter
Konkoly, W.H.E.

Langley, S.P.
Lemon, J.S.
Littehales, George W.

McDonough, P.M.
MacFarland, W.M.
McLean, John J.
McKenzie, M.
[Mallery}, Col.
Marche, Luigi de
[Marvin]
Maury, M.F.
Mendenhall, T.C.
Mohn, H.
Moore, William L.
Murry, Nicholas Butter
Myers, Carl

Box 2

Neal, J.C.
Neumayer
Nichols, Edward L.

Packard, A.S.
Paulsen, W.
Phillips, W.R
Pickering, Edward C.
Powell, J.W.
Pugh
Pupin [M.I.]

Raney, M. L.
Rees, J.K.
Richards, Mrs. Ellen H.
Rockwell
Rockwood, S.S.
Rodgers, J.F.
Rothrock
Rowland, Henry
Runkler, J.D.
Russell, B.M.
Box 2, (Cont.)

Sampson, C.L.
Schott, C.A.
Schiapparelli, J.V.
Schmidt, A.
Schreiber
Scott, Charles P.G.
Scott, R.B.
Silvado, A.
Sims, Alfred
Smith, C. Michie
Smith, E.H.
Suellen, M.
Starkweather, G.P.
Stevens, W. Leconte
Stewart, Charles
Stockbridge, F.B.
Van der Stok, J. P.
Stupert, R.F.
Symons, G.J.

Tabler, C.M.
Taylor, W.C.
Thomas, A.H.
Tillman, A.E.
Tinsley, G.W.
Todd, C.
Tower, Fred A.
Townsend, Adolph
Tuckerman

Uhl, E.F.
Upton, Winslow
Van Metre, R.F.
Vernow, R.E.
Very, F.W.

Wahl, W.C.
Waldo, Frank
Willing, James C.
Whitney, Milton
Wiley, H.W.
Wiley & Sons
Windom, William
Woeikoff, A. (1879-1886)
             (1887-1891)
             (1892)
             (1893-)
             (1897)
Wolff, Alfred R.
Woodrow
Wragge, C.L. Box 2, (Cont.)

Weather Bureau

Printing plates

Box 3

1874      Barometric observations
          Sergeant F. Meyer (Formula for reducing barometric
                   observations to sea level)

1875      Solar Computations
1884      Project report #4435  Mis 1884
          Signal office.

1891 June   Practice forecasts & verifications

     Notes, Methods of observations

1893      Weather Bureau, Weather forecasts, August 1893

1894      Rules & regulation for preparation of forecasts

Psychrometer

Notes

Notes

Notes, 1851-1893, Wm. M. Storm's patent (Cloud engine)
Notes, 1904-1905

Report on bibliographic search - meteorological literature
   Personal conference, recommendations 1884, Notes on
   Prof. Rowland's laboratory
Notes    
Notes, Patent literature
Lecture notes on meteorology

Box 4

Envelope 4     Graphic & Mechanical, 1892 -

Envelope 5     Motion affected by rotation of Earth.

Folder 5

Envelope 5

Folder 7       Fluid motion, soaring flying, 1886-1893 Box 4, (Cont.)

Envelope 7

Envelope 8     Special Studies

Envelope 10    Hydrodynamics

Envelope 10

Envelope 11    Thermodynamics applied to atmosphere.

Envelope 12    Mathematics & music

Envelope 14    Hydrodynamics. Fluid Motion.

Envelope 15    Meteorological stations in Alaska &
                  adjacent territory.

Envelope 15

Envelope 16    Japan current. California weather.

Envelope 17    Apparatus

Box 5

Envelope 18    Capillarity

Envelope 18

Fluid motions, photograph of fire (1893)

1882-1883   Report to American Meterological Soc.

Envelope 23    Dr. Schuster  (Sir Arthur Schuster, 1851-1934)

Envelope 24    Fluids and fluid motion

Envelope 25    Apparatus & methods, 1903-1904

Folder 26      Diurnal variation of atmospheric pressure, 1894

1888    Motions & fluids; Air & wind; Cuban hurricane.

Folder 27      Winds

Envelope 28    Motion on rotating earth.    

Envelope 30    Tied bunch  - Philadelphia Company, 1898-1898

Envelope 31    Hammon & Alaska, 1899 Box 5, (Cont.)

Envelope 33    Harvard College Observatory Astronomical Bulletin

Folder 34      Woeikoff Ms.

Box 6

Folder 35      Max Margules, 1904, Atmospheric Pressure

Folder 35

Folder 36      Miscellaneous notes, reprints & reports.

Envelope 37    U.S. expedition to West Africa.
               (U. S. Scientific Expedition to
               West Africa, 1899)

Envelope 38    Short meteorological memoirs - 1878.

Folder 39      O.T. Crosby - Experimental Study of
                 Atmospheric resistance - May 1890

Envelope 40    Notebook - 1886

Envelope 41    J.A. Rogers, 1911

Folder         Notes, 1887-1888

Folder         Notes

Abbe book collection (list of accession nos.)

Box 7

Articles by Abbe and I.A. Latham in The Bureau, 1869-1870.

Notes, 1898

Manuscript, "Climates of the Earth"
            Outline for chapter revisions.
            Manuscript chapters 25-29.

Box 8

Manuscript,  "Climates of the Earth"
     Chapter 9 (?), "Influence of Snow-Covered Surface on
        Climate."
     Chapter 23 (?), "Distribution of Pressure, Wind,
        Temperature, and Precipitation.
     Chapters 25-29.

Box 9

Manuscript, Titlepage: "Recent Advancement in Meteorology," by
       William Ferrel.
     (2 chapters are included here. Not verified as to author)

Box 10

1875/1876    Notes, Reprints, Correspondence, Observations
                of temperatures.

l875/1876    Meteor of 1873

1875/1876    "Meteorology"   

1875/1876    Bulletin of Philosophical Society of Washington,
                    1874.

1900         Notes, Correspondence, Observations on
               streamers during solar eclipse, May 28, 1900,

Notes, History and work of the Warner Observatory, 1883-1886.

Solar eclipse observation, lecture, May 28, 1900.

1900      Total eclipse of the sun.

1900      Eclipse - clippings.    

1899-1952 Notebook
Notes
Box 11

Monthly Weather Review, 1873.

Reprints, 1865-1907.

Lecture Notes by J.P. Finley of course of lectures delivered
     by Cleveland Abbe at Office of Chief Signal Officer,
     Washington D.C., 1885-1886

Notes.

Box 12

Notebooks from lectures given by Sir William Thomson on
Molecular Dynamics, The JHU, October 1884.

Removed to oversize case in Mss. workroom:
    
     Abbe drawings (suns, poles (?), 6 sheets
     Drawing, statement by James Page of eclipse, May 28, 1900,
        observed in Newberry, South Carolina.
     Drawing, sun as seen through telescope by W. K. Sligh.
     Drawing, W.S. Harshman, Newberry, South Carolina.
     Drawing, E. S. Whaley, 3 mi. E. of Lancaster, May 28, 1900.

                              Index
                             Ms. 60

Abbe, Cleveland               1-12
Alaska                        9
American Meteorological Soc.  9
Armstrong, Samuel Chapman     1,4

Clark, William Bullock        2,4
Climates of the Earth         3, 10
Crosby, O.T.                  10

Draper, Henry                 2,5
Eclipses, Solar, 1900-        11

Ferrel, William               1,2,5,11
Finley, John Park             3,11

Gannett, Henry                2,5
Gilman, Daniel Coit           1
Gould, B. A.                  1,5
Greely, A.W.                  2,5

Harvard College Observatory. Astronomical Bulletin     10
Harshman, W.S.                11
Hurricane--Cuba--Nineteenth century     9

Johns Hopkins University      1,2
 
Kelvin, William Thomson, Baron     12

Lantham, I. A.                10

Margules, Max                 10
Maryland State Weather Service     2
Meyer, F.                     8
Monthly Weather Review        1

National Almanac              1
Newberry, South Carolina      12

Page, James                   3,11
Philosophical Society of Washington. Bulletin     11
Pickering, Edward C.          2,6
Project report #4435          8
Pupin, M.I.                   2,6

Rogers, J.A.                  10
Rowland, Henry A.             1,6,8
Royal Meteorological Society  2

Schott, Charles A.            2,7
Schuster                      9
Sligh, W.K.                   3,11
Storm, William M.             8
Struve, Otto                  1

United States. Weather Bureau      1,2,8

Warner Observatory            11
West Africa                   10
Whaley, E.S.                  11
Woeikoff, Alexander J.        3,7,10

Ziwet, Alexander              3