Cavendish Laboratory : Essay entitled “Headstone in search of a new sensation” by Maxwell, 28.8.1879
Cavendish Laboratory
<p style='text-align: justify;'>The essay appears to be an imitation of a monologue by Tait ('Guthrie Headstone' was his pseudonym). 'The noble Viscount' refers to Francis Bacon and St Alban is 'the Protomartyr of Britain'. The visitor from Dresden mentioned in the last paragraph depicts Otto Schmitz-Dumont who presented his own theories of vector calculus in 1879. For more details see: P.M. Harman, 'The scientific letters and papers of James Clerk Maxwell', Vol.III, CUP 2002, p.840. This photograph of the manuscript was probably taken on the occasion of the Maxwell Centenary Celebration in 1931.</p>