| RefNo | HSF/1/1/4 |
| Previous numbers | 600/31/37 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Letter from J F W [John Frederick William] Herschel, Collingwood, to [William] Whewell |
| Creator | Herschel; Sir; John Frederick William (1792 - 1871); astronomer and mathematician |
| Date | 10 January 1862 [dated in error, 10 December 1862] |
| Description | Herschel sends a little more of his Homer translation, down to the exit of Achilles in book 1. He agrees with Whewell in not liking the first twelve lines and he has attended to some of the crtiticisms, giving examples. He asks for Whewell's opinion 'about two or 3 things', including his substitution of Gods' names, such as Hera for Juno and Poseidon for Neptune. He considers Homeric epithets to be 'intolerable bores'. He sees that there is a hexameter translation of 'The Iliad of Homer' by [Joseph Henry] Dart in the press and wonders if Whewell has heard of it and if it is likely to be done well. Dean Alford's specimens of hendecasyllables in the London Review are not blank verse lines prolonged by a supernumerary syllable, and he comments on these, and on sapphic metre. |
| Extent | 4p. |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Ink on paper |
| AccessStatus | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA8238 | Herschel; Sir; John Frederick William (1792 - 1871); mathematician and astronomer | 1792 - 1871 |