Reverend Webb and The English Mechanic
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at 10:10AM 
A few moments ago (literally as I start to write this) there was a knock at my front door and the postman handed me a parcel. I had forgotten that I was expecting a delivery from eBay of a bound copy of volume 19 of "The English Mechanic" from 1874. (A4 size hardback 679 pages- cost £9.75!) I opened the package and flipped through to page 66 (Issue 471 April 3rd 1874), where I noticed a letter entitled " Jupiter and his Satellites - Red Stars." I then noticed it was from a T.W. Webb, Hardwick Vicarage dated 26th March 1874. It then dawned on me that this was the Webb who had written "Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes" fifteen years earlier in the Hardwick Vicarage. if you are a BAA member you can download the 1975 (85,5) issue of the BAA Journal which has a good article about Webb by E. G. Moore. This is a quote from that article:
His letter to the English Mechanic was also about Jupiter and red stars.- in particular S Orionis!
