Letter, regarding the establishment of a central observatory at St Petersburg [Russia] from Adolph Theodor Kupffer to Edward Sabine Kupffer writes to share the news that the St Petersburg observatory has been established, with its activity beginning on 1 July 1849. He describes the objectives of the observatory. Subject: Astronomy / Meteorology Received 3 October 1849. Written by Kupffer in St Petersburg. The letter is dated 21 July / 2 August 1849 to account for both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. This letter was published in full in volume 5 of Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London [later Proceedings of the Royal Society] as 'A letter from M. Kupffer, to Lieut.-Col. Sabine, For. Sec. R. S., On the establishment of a Central Physical Observatory at St. Petersburg. Communicated by Lieut.-Col. Sabine'. 2 August 1849