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History of Science Museum

Halftone Printing Block and Photograph (Gelatine Print) of Johann Gottfried Galle at the Age of 90, 1910

Inventory Number 11537


Item type
Object
Provenance
Presented by Miss Ethel Bellamy. From the effects of her uncle F. A. Bellamy (1863-1936), assistant at the University Observatory, Oxford.
Physical material
Paper
Copper
Wood
Dimensions
Height: 100mm Width: 99mm Depth: 22mm
Inventory No
11537

Description

Halftone printing block (consisting of copper plate attached to wooden block), together with an ensemble of related papers as follows: the original photograph from which the block was made; a pull from the block, with printed caption; a letter to Miss Bellamy from the Royal Astronomical Society, 1936, declining the gift of the block; an identifying note, including the name of the maker of the block; blank protector sheet; also part of an 'Autotype' printed label (saved from the discarded packaging). The photograph shows Galle seated in profile, wearing a hat, with a woman. It was taken in 1902, when he was 90, and the block presumably made in 1910 in connection with an obituary. The maker of the block was John King, of Uxbridge. Other photographs of Galle, also associated with Bellamy, are 51377 and 50479.

Johann Gottfried Galle (1812-1910) was one of the astronomers who discovered Neptune.