Map of a Nation (62 page)

71
the dining room of the Spaniard’s Inn
Roy, 1777, p. 717.

72
amateur astronomer James Lind
Roy, 1777, p. 720.

73
a mere lath who was married to a fat handsome wife
Charles Burney, cited in Cooper.

74
the summit of Arthur’s Seat
Roy, 1777, p. 720.

75
the observatory of Hawk-hill westward
Roy, 1777, p. 720.

76
spirit of the kindest tolerance
Percy Bysshe Shelley, cited in Cooper.

77
The laws of motion
See Smith, James Raymond, 1996, p. 23; Torge, p. 8.

78
In 1735 and 1736
For further discussions of the attraction of mountains, see Anon., 1816, pp. 36–51; Maskelyne, 1775a, pp. 495–9; Maskelyne, 1775b; Pringle; Smith, James Raymond, 1986, p. 95.

79
Nevil Maskelyne
An account of the life and achievements of Maskelyne can be found in Howse, 1989. For his role in investigating the attraction of mountains, see Maskelyne, 1775a and 1775b; Danson, 2006, pp. 141–54; Howse, 1989, pp. 129–41; Reeves, 2009b; Taylor, E.G.R., 1966, pp. 59–61.

80
Charles Mason […] Jeremiah Dixon
For an account of Mason and Dixon’s measurement of the ‘Mason–Dixon Line’, see Danson, 2001. Pynchon offers a post-modern fictional retelling of some of the principal concerns of Enlightenment geodesy, such as the nature of truth.

81
n
Who claims Truth
Pynchon, p. 350.

82
a broad-back’d massy hill
Nevil Maskelyne to James Lind, RS, MS/244, no. 12, 3 August 1773.

83
a remarkable hill
Maskelyne, 1775b, pp. 502–3.

84
Mason pulled out of the experiment
Howse, 2004.

85
the badness of the weather
Cited in Sillito.

86
it is not but a week ago
Nevil Maskelyne to James Lind, RS, MS/244, no. 13, 18 July 1774.

87
to ascertain [Schiehallion’s] dimensions
Maskelyne, 1775b, p. 508.

88
to determine the position
Nevil Maskelyne to William Roy, NA, OS 3/2, 16 August 1774.

89
was honoured
…
by visits
Maskelyne, 1775b, pp. 524–5. See also Howse, 1989, p. 138.

90
In August Maskelyne’s trial
Nevil Maskelyne to William Roy, NA, OS 3/2, 16 August 1774; Roy, 1777, pp. 721–2.

91
the difference between Roy and Maskelyne’s calculations
Roy, 1777, pp. 721–2.

92
they often paid me visits on the hill
Cited in Sillito.

93
a local boy called Duncan Robertson
Howse, 1989, pp. 137–8.

94
seek you out a new fiddle
Cited in Howse, 1989, p. 137.

95
On the trip I took to Schiehallion
Cited in Howse, 1989, pp. 137–8.

96
the mountain Schehallien
Maskelyne, 1775b, p. 532.

97
the mean density of the earth
Maskelyne, 1775b, p. 533.

98
totally contrary to the hypothesis
Maskelyne, 1775b, p. 533.

99
a residence of four months
Pringle, 1775, p. 28, cited in Reeves, 2009b, p. 323.

100
Hutton adopted a map-making technique
See Hutton.

101
concealed pattern and
…
obscure plan
Pope, Epistle 1, l. 6.

102
an upsurge of nationalistic feeling in Britain
For a discussion of nationalism in the second half of the eighteenth century, see Colley, 2003; and for a discussion of nationalist feeling in relation to King George III, see Colley, 1984.

1
Le Ministre des affaires philosophiques
Lord Auckland to Lord Grenville, 6 November 1791, cited in Gascoigne, p. 3; and McConnell, p. 9 (note 13).

2
an ashy fog
Stothers.

3
The politician Charles James Fox
Joseph Banks to Charles Blagden, Royal Society, CB1/1/92, 31 October 1783.

4
il est interessant
César François Cassini de Thury, Memoir sur la jonction de Douvres à Londres, RS, DM4, f. 3, [1783].

5
a dynasty of astronomers
For accounts of the history of the Cassini dynasty, the Paris Meridian and the
Carte de France
, see Godlewska; Konvitz, pp. 1–31; Murdin; Pelletier.

6
Libellus de locorum describendorum
See Frisius.

7
The French meridian arc’s triangulation
Murdin, pp. 17–20.

8
By the end of 1681
For descriptions of this early triangulation, see Taylor, E.G.R., 1937; Taylor, E.G.R., 1941 and Ravenhill, 1994, p. 162.

9
Triangulation was the surveying technique
Edney, 1997, pp. 19–21, 236–92.

10
Since 1767
See Howse, 1989, pp. 85–96.

11
John Bull
See Rogers, pp. 31–40.

12
In the face of this deep-rooted
See Crosland; and de Beer.

13
I believe that it is not strictly the case
Charles Blagden to Joseph Banks, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Perceval Collection H-191, 10 October 1783; cited in Martin and McConnell, p. 357.

14
without sufficient reason
‘Domestic Literature’,
The New Annual Register, or General Repository of History, Politics, and Literature for the Year 1787
, 1788, pp. 240–1.

15
that you might consider it fully
William Roy to Nevil Maskelyne, RS, DM4, f. 14, 11 December 1786.

16
A small, marbled notebook
Martin and McConnell, pp. 151–3.

17
as doing honor to our scientific character
Joseph Banks to Charles Blagden, RS, CB1/1/92, 31 October 1783.

18
He had spent much of that summer measuring
Roy, 1785, p. 388.

19
that an operation of the same nature
Roy, 1785, p. 388.

20
the first of the kind
Roy, 1785, p. 390.

21
accurate Survey of the British Dominions
[William Roy], ‘On the Advantages that are Likely to Arise from the Operations on Hounslow Heath’, RS, DM4, f. 6.

22
redound to the credit of the Nation
Roy, 1785, p. 390.

23
a sum of £2000
Cotton to Joseph Banks, RS, DM4, f. 39, 21 February 1793.

24
one of the open level Counties
William Roy to King George III, 24 May 1766, in Fortescue, I, p. 331.

25
in all the Tours I have made
William Roy to Joseph Banks, RS, DM4, f. 12, 28 June 1784.

26
Because … of its vicinity to the Capital
Roy, 1785, p. 390.

27
natural obstacles at every turn World and Fashionable Advertiser
, 174, 21 July 1787.

28
On 16 April 1784
Roy, 1785, p. 391.

29
the site of Hampton Poor House
Roy, 1785, p. 391.

30
upwards of five miles
Roy, 1785, p. 391.

31
Roy marked the baseline’s ends
Roy, 1785, pp. 414–15.

32
country labourers
Roy, 1785, pp. 391–2.

33
a narrow tract along the heath
Roy, 1785, pp. 391–3.

34
through brushwood
Roy, 1785, p. 393.

35
certain ponds, or gravel-pits
Roy, 1785, p. 392.

36
extreme wetness
Roy, 1785, p. 393.

37
guarding such parts of the apparatus
Roy, 1785, p. 392.

38
On 16 June the base
Roy, 1785, pp. 416–17.

39
100-foot steel chain
McConnell, p. 194.

40
15 July 1784
Roy, 1785, p. 425.

41
met with the most hospitable supply
Roy, 1785, pp. 425–6.

42
rather too unwieldy
Roy, 1785, p. 398.

43
Roy inched along
Roy, 1785, pp. 402–3.

44
a short distance of 300 feet
Roy, 1785, p. 427.

45
they expanded and warped
Roy, 1785, pp. 428–9.

46
William Calderwood
Calderwood was the son of Margaret Steuart Calderwood, a characterful woman who took on the management of her husband’s estate at Polton, and took her sons travelling around Europe to see her exiled Jacobite brother. The Polton estate was not too far from the Dundases at Arniston and Sir John Clerk at Penicuik, and it is possible that William Roy met the Calderwoods while conducting the Military Survey of Scotland. Later the Calderwoods and the Dundases would intermarry, when William Calderwood’s grand-niece Lilias Calderwood-Durham would marry Robert Dundas, the great-grandson of Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President).

47
8.30 a.m.
Roy, 1785, p. 429–32.

48
so straight that, when laid on a table
Roy, 1785, p. 441.

49
On 30 August
Roy, 1785, pp. 458–9.

50
Journalists for national newspapers St James’s Chronicle, or the British Evening Post
, 3644, 13 July 1784;
Felix Farley’s Bristol Journal
, 1864, 17 July 1784;
Whitehall Evening Post
, 5782, 13 July 1784.

51
The frenzy came to a head
Roy, 1785, p. 456; McConnell, p. 195.

52
the space of two hours
Roy, 1785, p. 456.

53
his Majesty (who is ever ready St James’s Chronicle, or the British Evening Post
, 3644, 13 July 1784.

54
his attendance from morning
Roy, 1785, p. 425.

55
27,404.7 feet
Roy, 1785, p. 477–8.

56
there has never been so great a proportion
[William Roy], ‘On the Advantages that are Likely to Arise from the Operations on Hounslow Heath’, RS, DM4, f. 6.

57
Ramsden was an innkeeper’s son
For an account of Jesse Ramsden’s history, see Anita McConnell’s wonderful biography.

58
John Dollond
For an account of Dollond’s life and achievements, see Clifton.

59
In 1766
McConnell, p. 17.

60
at the sign of the Golden Spectacles
McConnell, p. 18.

61
dividing engine
McConnell, pp. 18, 29, 36, 39–51.

62
the natural philosopher Robert Hooke
Hooke, p. 7, cited in Chapman, p. 135.

63
micrometer
See Chapman, pp. 134–5; McConnell, pp. 173–90; Roy, 1790, pp. 145–54.

64
full of intelligence and sweetness
Louis Dutens, cited in McConnell, p. 20.

65
an expression of cheerfulness
Louis Dutens, cited in McConnell, p. 20.

66
Ramsden was late for almost everything
McConnell, pp. 77, 87–8, 114.

67
there are few lively persons
Johan Lexell, May 1781, cited in Nevskaya, p. 201. Cited also in McConnell, p. 113.

68
punctual as to the day and the hour
Cited in McConnell, pp. 275–6.

69
the best Instrument [he] could
Jesse Ramsden to Royal Society, RS, MM.3.30, p. 2, 13 May 1790.

70
might be rendered superior
Jesse Ramsden to Royal Society, RS, MM.3.30, p. 3, 13 May 1790.

71
The instrument that Ramsden began
For descriptions of Jesse Ramsden’s
three-foot
theodolite, see McConnell, pp. 191–221; Roy, 1790, pp. 135–60.

72
brass circle, three feet
Roy, 1790, p. 136.

73
about 1/24,000 part of an inch
Jesse Ramsden to Royal Society, RS, MM.3.30, p. 3, 13 May 1790.

74
Dollond’s famous achromatic lenses
Roy, 1790, pp. 140–1.

75
turn round very smoothly
Roy, 1790, p. 137.

76
large brass ruler
Joseph Banks to John Lloyd, National Library of Wales, MS 12415.28, August 1786; cited in McConnell, p. 201.

77
obliged … to take out
Jesse Ramsden to Royal Society, RS, MM.3.30, p. 4, 13 May 1790.

78
Ramsden is hard at work
Charles Blagden to Joseph Banks, BL, Add. MS 33272, f. 27, 1 June 1787.

79
He read his account
Roy, 1785, p. 385.

80
incomparable Engineer World and Fashionable Advertiser
, 5, 5 January 1787.

81
kissed the King’s hand Morning Herald
, 1899, 25 November 1786.

82
our trusty and well-beloved Whitehall Evening Post
, 5766, 21 September 1784.

83
ought not to hate one another
Cited in de Beer, p. 111.

84
owing I suppose to the difficulty
Joseph Banks to Cassini de Thury, Paris Observatory, D5-7, 4 June 1784.

85
fellow Labourers
William Roy to Jean-Dominique Cassini, PO, D5-7, 3 December 1788.

86
some pains to investigate
[Gen Roy’s] Remarks on a Paper [put into his majesties hands by the Duke of Marlborough], RS, DM4, f. 45, 1786/7.

87
The younger Cassini
Charles Blagden to Joseph Banks, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Perceval Collection H-191, 10 October 1783; cited in Martin and McConnell, p. 357.

88
charmed at the prospect
Jean-Dominique Cassini to Charles Blagden, RS, DM4, f. 18, 29 May 1787.

89
this man is an electrical machine
Jean-Dominique Cassini, cited in McConnell, p. 143.

90
In July
1787
Roy, 1790, p. 112.