Collection of Agnes Mary Clerke Materials

Agnes Mary Clerke was an astronomer and writer; born at Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland, February 10, 1842; died in London, January 20, 1907. From an early age she showed a marked interest in astronomy and began a history of that subject before she was fifteen years old. In 1861 the family moved to Dublin, and in 1863 to Queenstown. Several years later she went to Italy where she stayed until 1877, chiefly at Florence, studying and writing at the public library. In 1877 she settled in London. Her first important article, "Copernicus in Italy", was published in the “Edinburgh Review” (October, 1877). She achieved a world-wide reputation in 1885, on the appearance of her authoritative work, “A Popular History of Astronomy in the Nineteenth Century.” In 1892 the Royal Institution awarded to her the Actonian Prize. She was a member of the British Astronomical Association and was elected an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1903. Other works, all published in London, include: “The System of the Stars” (1890; 2nd ed., 1905); “The Herschels and Modern Astronomy” (1895); “The Concise Knowledge Astronomy” — in conjunction with J. E. Gore and A. Fowler (1898); “Problems in Astrophysics” (1903); and “Modern Cosmogonies” (1906). To the “Edinburgh Review” she contributed fifty-five articles, and was a contributor on subjects connected with astrophysics to the “Dictionary of National Biography” and the “Encyclopaedia Britannica.”