Six sepia photographic prints of spectrum of Nova Persei, with notes in the portfolio. The portfolio is labelled 'Photographs of the SPECTRUM OF NOVA PERSEI By the late FRANK McCLEAN, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.' The plates are labelled i, ii, iii, iia, iiia. Each sheet measures 341 x 460mm. One tape is missing.

Frank McClean was at Trinity College, Cambridge at the same time as Alexander Stewart Herschel and like Herschel spent much of his researching life working in spectroscopy.

Nova Persei was discovered in February 1901 by Scottish clergyman, Thomas David Anderson, a bright supposedly new star in the constellation Perseus. It was the first new star of the 20th century, except that closer inspection showed that it was not in fact a new start at all, but a dim star that had suddenly become much brighter (that is, its magnitude had gone from 13 to 0.2). Its brightness continued to vary, returning to its original magnitude of 13 eleven years later.