REQUESTING A TOUR OF WILLET'S POINT, NY, and offering to host his correspondent's son on a return visit to Washington, D.C., in two autograph letters, signed Nov. 1, 1881 and Feb. 21, 1882, on "National Almanac Office" letterhead, to Gen. Henry L. Abbot, founder and commander of the army's "Engineer School of Application" at Willet's Point

8vo. 5 total pages, approximately 175 words. Newcomb, born in Nova Scotia, studied at Harvard and began work at the Naval Observatory in 1861, publishing studies of planetary orbits, the motions of the moon, and other subjects during his service there (see a long entry in DAB). Abbot (1831-1927) graduated second in the West Point class of 1854, commanded artillery at a high level during the Civil War, and spent most of his later service directing the army's advance school of engineering at Willet's Point, ending his career on the Panama Canal project, 1897-1915. Folded for mailing. Very good.