1878 Astronomy/Telescopes/Spectra/Very Scarce/Illustr.

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1878 Astronomy/Telescopes/Spectra/Very Scarce/Illustr. 217 Black and White Illustrations--Telescopes/Spectroscopes/Transit Instruments Description: J. Norman Lockyer STARGAZING: Past and Present: Expanded from Shorthand notes of a course of Royal Institution Lectures, with the Assistance of G.M. Seabroke, F.R.A.S. London: Macmillan and Co, 1878 (first ed), 6 x 9 in., 496 pp.217 illustrations including frontispiece photo of R.S. Newall's Telescope. Condition: Hardbound in decorated gilt and blindstamped cloth. Top page edges gilt. Corners slightly bumped, moderate scuffing and edgewear. Front and back hinges slightly split near top, an inch or so, but well attached. Front signature cracked at frontispiece, but again well bound. Spine ends slightly frayed with slight loss of cloth from margins. First half of book has a marginal stain at the bottom corner and slightly at the bottom edges, getting fainter on the later pages (see photos on this listing). Interior clean,tightly bound, and otherwise unmarked throughout. VG- condition overall. Information: This is one of the scarcest and most appealing of the roughly half-dozen popular astronomy books by the great Victorian astronomer Lockyer, known for his applications of modern physical techniques to the study of the sun, and also known as the founder of the journal Nature . It is prized by both astronomy book collectors and collectors of scientific instruments because of its pioneering discussion of the methods of what was then the new astrophysics, which used telescopes not just to measure the positions of stars, but applied photography to measuring brightness and spectroscopy to determining the chemistry of the stars. Filled with lovely and informative woodcuts of old telescopes, spectroscopes, cameras, etc., this is a book seldom found for sale on the internet. Chapters included: The Dawn of Star-Gazing, the First Instruments; Hipparchus and Ptolemy; Tycho Brahe; The refraction of Light; The Refractor; The Reflection of Light; The Reflector; Eyepieces; Production of lenses and Specula; The "Optick Tube"; The Modern Telescope; The Clock and Chronometer; Circle Reading; The Micrometer; The Transit Circle; The Transit Clock and Chronograph; "Greenwich Time" and the use made of it; Other Instruments used in Astronomy of Precision; Various Methods of Mounting Large Telescopes; The Adjustments of the Equatorial; The Equatorial Observatory; The Siderostat; The Ordinary work of the Equatorial; The General Field of Physical inquiry; The Determination of the Light and Heat of the Stars; The Chemistry of the Stars: The Construction of the Spectroscope; Principles of Spectrum Analysis; The Telespectroscope; The Telepolariscope; Celestial Photography: The Ways and Means; Some Results and Recent Results of Celestial Photography. A highly collectible book that belongs in every good library of Victorian astronomy books (if you can find one--none listed on the web for quite a while). Shipping: High bidder pays $4.00 media rate shipping in US. Priority Rates available on request. Higher international postage as appropriate.All buyers must pay according to eBay policies. If you have any questions about this, please email me. International bidders should contact me for a quote on shipping before bidding. Whenever possible, international shipping will be in Priority flat rate envelopes. Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying. read more

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