Although Newton's reputation was used to emphasize the ‘decline of science’ agenda, one of the reformers adopted a different hero. Francis Baily's 1835 Account of the Revd. John Flamsteed appeared to some as much an attack on Newton and Edmund Halley as it was a vindication of the first Astronomer Royal and, although Baily always claimed neutrality, it is clear where his sympathies lay. Because of the controversy surrounding the publication and the importance of its contents to Newtonian biography, Baily's work is an integral part of the story that relates the increase in knowledge about Newton and the sources that described his life. This chapter first concentrates on the production of the work, drawing particular attention to tactics used in the presentation of controversial material. Baily's motivations in publishing can be seen to reflect his scientific interests and the sphere of the scientific community with which he was identified. Only 250 copies of the Account were printed and the chosen audience largely overlaps with the scientific constituency of the RAS, of which Baily was a key member. Baily used the Account to advertise a particular set of values that he thought fundamental to both practical astronomy and documentary history.

The Account was extensively commented on in the press and in private correspondence. Most notoriously, some, particularly the Cambridge-based William Whewell and the Oxford Savilian Professor Stephen Rigaud, reacted with alarm to the apparent attack on Newton's character. This hostile reception has been discussed by a number of historians. Richard Yeo has highlighted the debate's ‘appeal to assessments of character, both intellectual and moral, as a means of attributing blame’ and its implications for notions of the relationship between observers and theorists and the nature of private and public scientific property. William Ashworth has developed these themes, asserting that the debate