FITZROY, Robert.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Weather Book: A Manual of Practical Meteorology. Second edition, revised and enlarged, presentation copy, inscribed from the author on the half-title, "Mrs Farrer with the kind compliments of the author March 1863". FitzRoy was the founder of the Met Office and the first meteorologist to issue regular weather forecasts, a term he helped to popularize. First published earlier the same year, The Weather Book, with its fine set of plates, is the culmination of his work in weather prediction, and includes some of the first weather charts produced.The recipient is likely Frances Farrer (1825-1870, née Erskine), daughter of the historian and orientalist William Erskine and wife of Thomas Henry Farrer, a senior government official at the Board of Trade who handled marine business; FitzRoy was appointed to run the newly created meteorological department of the Board of Trade in 1854. The Met Office archives preserve a large amount of correspondence between FitzRoy, Farrer, and Milner Gibson (president of the Board of Trade) from the early 1860s, while they worked closely together to shape the new department.Robert FitzRoy (1805-1865), who captained HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's famous voyage (1831-6), made his most important scientific contributions in the fields of hydrography and meteorology. After establishing the Meteorological Office FitzRoy "launched himself vigorously into his new job, persuading ships' captains to send in weather logs, from which he compiled charts o

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