Frank R. Fisher's notes contain observations, drawings, and photographs relating to scientific studies, particularly astronomical observations made while Fisher was a resident in Charleston, S.C., during the 1880s. Fisher, a cashier at the South Carolina Railroad Company in Charleston, was an amateur scientist and inventor who occasionally worked in consultation with longtime College of Charleston professor Lewis R. Gibbes. Fisher's astronomical observations begin in Charleston in 1882 with the sighting of a comet. He also records his observations of the transit of Venus (1883), an aurora and sun spots (1892), and discusses new theories concerning Jupiter (1894) and the nature of the sun's corona (1892). He includes charts, drawings, and diagrams. Of particular interest are observations made during the Charleston earthquake in Aug. 1886 (pages 41-73). Other notes include inscriptions from buildings in Nineveh, Hebrew alphabets, the "hieroglyphic alphabet" and discussions on the Rosetta Stone and the statue of Memnon at Thebes. 123p. Full text.
