Initialled 'HJS' The Great Comet of 1861, one of eight so classified in the 19th century, caused a sensation, so bright in the night sky of the Northern Hemisphere that it cast shadows on walls. At one point the Earth was understood to have been inside the tail of the Comet itself, and strands of cometary material could be seen streaming in towards its nucleus. The sense of wonder this natural phenomenom generated, as people rowed about the Thames gazing upward, is caught vividly by this unknown amateur artist and astronomer. (http://www.maasgallery.co.uk/component/joomgallery/british-pictures-2013/15-19th-century-english-811)