{"id":9176,"date":"2018-06-06T14:11:51","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T13:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=9176"},"modified":"2020-09-04T15:33:07","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T14:33:07","slug":"sedgwicks-paper-time-machines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/2018\/06\/06\/sedgwicks-paper-time-machines\/","title":{"rendered":"Sedgwick&#8217;s paper &#8220;time machines&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>21 May 2018 marked two hundred years since Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873) became the Woodwardian Professor of Geology in Cambridge. Staff at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sedgwickmuseum.org\/\">Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences<\/a> have organised events and displays to celebrate this special anniversary. In this blog we look at the Archive \u2013 beginning with Sedgwick\u2019s early journals.<\/h2>\n<p>There are more than 60 journals and sketchbooks in Adam Sedgwick\u2019s Archive. \u00a0They provide the contextual information which cannot be determined from the objects Sedgwick collected.\u00a0 I have started to spend some time working on these \u2018paper time capsules\u2019 and getting to know Sedgwick (and his handwriting) a little better!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9274\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9274\" style=\"width: 801px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-9274\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/1-ADSW-01_02_01-Dorset-Stratigraphy-1821.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"801\" height=\"224\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9274\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stratigraphy, Dorset 1821<br \/>\u2018Almost the whole coast of Dorsetshire presents a succession of rugged precipices of varied forms, arising from the peculiar disposition of the strata\u2019. Reference: ADSW 01\/02\/01<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>What do the journals tell us about?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The development of Sedgwick\u2019s geological ideas, and information about the structural geology of the areas he explored.<\/li>\n<li>The places Sedgwick visited, which included working copper\/lead\/tin mines and quarries. In one journal, he notes: \u2018500 men employed and present expenses not less than \u00a33000 per month, at present a very losing concern\u2019.<\/li>\n<li>The specimens Sedgwick (or others) collected or purchased. In 1819, he noted the \u2018purchase of Mr Phillips the toad&#8217;s eye tin\u2019 (Cassiterite) and in 1831 \u2018madrepores were found by Mr Darwin\u2019 (stony coral).<\/li>\n<li>The people Sedgwick met: the first 3 notebooks mention at least 60 individuals. Those identified so far include White Watson (1760-1835), Sir John Forbes (1787-1861), William Rashleigh (1777-1855), and John Josias Conybeare (1779-1824).<\/li>\n<li>Sedgwick\u2019s expenses. In July 1819 he spent 7 shillings and 6 pence on minerals. This would be approximately \u00a326 today.<\/li>\n<li>Sedgwick\u2019s health &#8211; he mentions being \u2018fatigued\u2019 and \u2018out of spirits\u2019, and in 1819 records that he was \u2018taking rhubarb\u2026.\u2019. This was often used to ease digestive problems.<\/li>\n<li>Social history. In 1818 Sedgwick \u2018passed the house where [Jane Grant]\u2026.was murdered\u2019 and in 1831 \u2018(heard) of the loss of the Rothsay Castle\u2019 [boat].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9275\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9275\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-9275\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/2-ADWS-01_01_02-Marks-on-specimens-Cornwall-1819.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1207\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9275\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marks on specimens 1819<br \/>Sedgwick made \u2018lists\u2019 of the marks he made on specimens for accurate identification later on.<br \/>Reference: ADWS 01\/01\/02<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Sedgwick&#8217;s words, spelling and abbreviations<\/h3>\n<p>Sedgwick&#8217;s handwriting can be quite intimidating upon first glance. He uses shorthand and abbreviations throughout his journals, for example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use of long \u2018ds\u2019 \u2013 this is a superfluous stroke, which does not form part of the letter, or depict an abbreviation.<\/li>\n<li>Shorthand for the word \u2018the\u2019 (see image)<\/li>\n<li>Abbreviations for specimens, for example <em>\u2018Do.\u2019<\/em> for Dolerite, <em>\u2018L.S\u2019<\/em> for limestone and <em>\u2018g.w\u2019<\/em> for greywacke.<\/li>\n<li>Cornish names, <em>wheal<\/em> or <em>huel<\/em> for a mine, and miner\u2019s terms such as <em>Killas<\/em> for slaty rock.<\/li>\n<li>Spellings vary for locations and specimens. He spells Lias (a stratigraphic group) <em>\u2018Lyas\u2019<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9276\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9276\" style=\"width: 711px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9276\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/3-ADSW-01_01_03-Killas-in-Granite-Cornwall-1819.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"711\" height=\"1134\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9276\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Killas in Granite Cornwall 1819<br \/>Killas is a Cornish miner\u2019s term for a sedimentary rock like sandstone or shale, caught up in granite, baked and cooked. Reference: ADSW 01\/01\/03<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>What else is in Sedgwick&#8217;s archive?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>handwritten and typed transcripts of some of Sedgwick\u2019s journals<\/li>\n<li>annotated maps of Sedgwick\u2019s field work<\/li>\n<li>manuscript drafts of Sedgwick\u2019s lectures (his \u2018syllabus\u2019 for teaching)<\/li>\n<li>photographs, sketches and paintings of Sedgwick throughout his life<\/li>\n<li>Sedgwick\u2019s specimen \u2018catalogue\u2019 &#8211; a collection of 1200 specimens, 1819-1820.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Cambridge University Library is the repository for the correspondence of Adam Sedgwick. <em>The life and letters of the Reverend Adam Sedgwick <\/em>by John Willis Clark (1833-1910) and Professor Thomas McKenny Hughes (1832-1917) was published in 1890.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9277\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9277\" style=\"width: 799px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-9277\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/4-ADSW-01_01_21-Winding-to-the-top.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"799\" height=\"90\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9277\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Handwriting \u2013 \u2018winding to the top\u2019 &#8211; one of Sedgwick\u2019s long \u2018ds\u2019, and shorthand for the word \u2018the\u2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Making the Collection Discoverable<\/h3>\n<p>We are cataloguing Sedgwick\u2019s archive, which will be made available on the <a href=\"https:\/\/archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk\/\">Archives Hub<\/a><em>.\u00a0<\/em>In celebration of the anniversary, a selection of documents from the archive is now available on the Museum&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sedgwickmuseum.org\/index.php?page=adam-sedgwick-1818\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Staff are also using <a href=\"https:\/\/transkribus.eu\/Transkribus\/\">Transkribus<\/a>. This is a web based platform which can train a &#8216;handwritten text recognition&#8217; (HTR) engine to create a model. Transcriptions of others pages may then be possible.<\/p>\n<p><em>If you want to know more about the project, then please get in touch with <a href=\"mailto: Sjm259@cam.ac.uk\">Sandra Freshnay<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>21 May 2018 marked two hundred years since Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873) became the Woodwardian Professor of Geology in Cambridge. Staff at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences have organised events and displays to celebrate this special anniversary. In this blog we look at the Archive \u2013 beginning with Sedgwick\u2019s early journals. There are more than 60 journals and sketchbooks in&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/2018\/06\/06\/sedgwicks-paper-time-machines\/\" class=\"excerpt-more hide-for-medium\">Read full article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":9278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[369,173],"tags":[219,218],"coauthors":[268],"class_list":["post-9176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-museum-life","category-sedgwick-museum-of-earth-sciences","tag-collections-engagement","tag-cultural-value"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9176"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9281,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9176\/revisions\/9281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9176"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}