Letter from SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD to GEORGE PERKINS MARSH, dated December 13, 1870.
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My Dear Mr Marsh.
Knowing your interest in Mr Richard's peculiar orthography, I sent you one of his latest--& most characteristic productions. You can keep this if you desire for future reference in your philological investigations.
We are all well this winter, & busily engaged in our various duties. I do not know whether I have informed you of my having undertaken the preparation of an article, monthly, for Harper's Magazine, entitled the "Editor's Scientific Record."
This is intended to convey in a brief & popular form an account of the more interesting of the various scientific discoveries of the day. It has proved quite a successful feature, & has induced a considerable increase to the subscription list of the Magazine. It has appeared during the whole of the present year, & I trust I may be able to continue it for a good while to come.
I have also just commenced a series of articles entitled "Scientific Miscellany," for Harper's Weekly. These are to contain announcements of explorations at home & abroad & current scientific gossip, such as would perhaps be out of place in the more elaborate "Record."
The preparation of these works does not involve a great deal of labor on my part, & I am very willing to carry them on for the respectable compensation made me by Mr Harper.
Mr & Mrs Edmunds are comfortably fixed in their new house, & we have great pleasure in meeting them very frequently. They are our most intimate friends in Washington, & in fact form the only household in which we feel at all at home, always excepting the Henrys.
With much love to Mrs Marsh from all of us, believe me,
Sincerely Yours,Spencer F. Baird
Hon. Geo. P. Marsh. U.S. Minister,
Florence, Italy.
References in this letter:
John H. Richard (b. ca. 1807) was a proponent of "Simplified Spelling," a spelling reform movement based on phonetics.
Harper's Magazine. New York: 1850-present. Monthly.
Harper's Weekly. New York: 1857-1916; 62 vols. Baird contributed his regular column, "Scientific Intelligence," from 1877 to 1879.
George Franklin Edmunds (1828-1919) began his career practicing law in Burlington. He served in the Vermont State House of Representatives and in the State Senate. In 1866 he was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican to fill the vacancy caused by Solomon Foot's death and served for four terms. He resigned in 1891. Edmunds was married to Susan Edmunds, the daughter of Marsh's sister and Wyllys Lyman, his Burlington friend.
Trained as a physicist, Joseph Henry (1797-1878) was professor of natural philosophy at Princeton University where he conducted original research on electricity and magnetism. When the Smithsonian Institution was created, he was chosen as its first Secretary. From 1846 to 1878 Henry established basic policies and defined the scope of the Smithsonian's activities.