THE 1874 TRANSIT of VENUS in HOBART
The Anglesea Barracks Hobart was the focus of attention for photographers in 1874 with the arrival of the American scientific expedition under Captain Harkness to record the Transit of Venus.
This stereograph taken of the American team on site is unattributed, but it may have been by Henry Hall Baily, whose photographs of the American expedition were exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876.
State Library of Tasmania
Title: [Hobart, Barrack Square]
Publisher: 1874
Description: 1 stereoscopic pair of photographs : sepia toned ; 11 x 18 cm. (mount)
Format: [picture]. Photograph
ADRI: AUTAS001125299032
Source: W.L. Crowther Library
Notes: On printed label on verso: U.S. Transit of Venus expeditions, Southern Division. G.–U.S. Transit of Venus Station in Barrack Square, Hobart Town, Tasmania, December, 1874. Transit House, and monument to British soldiers killed in the New Zealand war.
Image size 99 x 76 mm. each.
The New York Times ran a report of the expedition in February 1875: read the full account here: New York Times on Transit of Venus in Hobart 1874 [pdf].
The purpose of the expedition and its success was reported in The New York Times, August 5, 1875:
This is the only surviving photograph of 39 taken of the 1874 transit from Australia by the large US expedition to Tasmania. Venus is the large black disc near the top of the Sun in the photograph.
Source: QVMAG and CSIRO
Title: Transit of Venus on 9 December 1874 “carte-de-visite”
Description: 1 photographic print
Format: Photograph
ADRI: PH30-1-7227
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
THE PEDESTAL at ANGLESEA BARRACKS
Photos © TP for Pinnacle Times 2012
“This Pedestal was erected in 1874 by an American Expedition which visited Tasmania to observe the Transit of Venus. The scientist in charge was Professor Harkness. Its exact position is
Lat. 42°53′ 24.99″ S.
Long. 147°19′ 4.59″ E.”
VIEW from HAWAII 1874
