A new edition of The System of the Stars

As soon as Problems in Astrophysics had been reviewed in 1903 Agnes Clerke decided to bring out a second edition of her earlier book, The System of the Stars. The first edition of 1890 had been published by Longmans, but as that firm was not interested in a second edition Agnes Clerke arranged with Blacks, the publishers of her other two major books, to take it on.

‘I want to make the book essentially of the twentieth century, retaining the old form yet little of the substance’, Agnes Clerke told Gill, adding ‘I shall be covetous of photographs, advice, information – nothing that you will be kind enough to tell me will come amiss’. A few days later she wrote to Campbell at Lick, telling him also of her plan for the new edition, having first thanked him for his kind review of her Problems which had appeared in the last number of Astrophysical Journal. ‘I do not venture to ask for loan of any valuable photos which you are reserving for separate and special publication, but may beg leave to use your diagrams from Bulletins.’ Campbell replied positively, saying that he hoped to be in a position to allow her to use the Lick nebula photographs.

Agnes Clerke wrote in a similar vein to Pickering, asking for permission to reproduce certain sets of Harvard spectra among her full-page photographic illustrations.