“The number of stands I invented for these telescopes it would not be easy to assign. …In 1781 I began to construct a thirty foot aërial reflector, and having made a stand for it, I cast the mirror thirty-six inches in diameter. This was cracked in cooling. I cast it a second time, and the furnace I had built in my house broke.”

Source: Sir William Herschel: His Life and Works (1880), Ch.4 "Life and Works".

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William Herschel 36
German-born British astronomer, technical expert, and compo… 1738–1822

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“Of my broad felt made lighter,
I cast my mantle broad,
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Context: Valvert: Villain, clod-poll, flat-foot, refuse of the earth!
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Cyrano: [continuing] And an envoi of four.
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Ballade of the duel which in Burgundy house
Monsieur de Bergerac fought with a jackanape …
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Cyrano: That is the title.
[ … ]
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