The masterpiece by the first really great lunar observer; Edmund Weiss' copy

SCHRÖTER, Johann Hieronymus.

Selenotopographische Fragmente zur genauern Kenntniss der Mondfläche, ihrer erlittenen Veränderungen und Atmosphäre, sammt den dazu gehörigen Specialcharten und Zeichnungen.

Lilienthal & Göttingen: Auf Kosten des Verfassers, 1791.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine. Item #002212

1791-1802. Two volumes, 4to (256 x 206 mm). pp. [12], xx, 676, [1, "Verbesserungen"], [1, blank]; [8], xxii, 565, [1, colophon], [2, "Druckverbesserungen"]. Vol. I with 43 engraved plates and vol. II with 32 engraved plates, engraved devices on title-pages. Bound with the list of subscribers in vol. I. Contemporary full calf, spines gilt, red-dyed edges (boards slightly soiled and leather slightly abraded and cracky). Very minor browning of text and plates only, occasional minor spotting, first title and following leaves with light waterstain marks. Provenance: Austrian astronomer Edmund Weiss, director of the Vienna observatory, with his ownership inscription on first free endpaper of vol. I, shelf mark and (erased) ink stamps elsewhere, old paper over paste on signature of first title. A fine copy of an important and rare astronomical work, with notably clean and bright plates. ----

Ashworth, The face of the moon, Linda Hall 14; Whitaker, Mapping and Naming the Moon, p. 98-109. - FIRST AND ONLY EDITION, AND OF GREAT RARITY. Although somewhat limited by the technology available at the time, Schröter is recognized by astronomers for his perseverance, scrupulous observations, and fastidious measurements. The excellent plates in Selenotopographische Fragmente, in addition to being remarkably faithful renderings of lunar topography, also represent the first systematic maps of the surface of the Moon.
German astronomer Johann Hieronymus Schröter (1745-1816) was trained as a lawyer but became interested in astronomy after meeting the brothers of British astronomer William Herschel at the Royal Chamber of George III in Hanover, where Schröter had been appointed secretary in 1777. From 1779 to 1786, he purchased increasingly powerful telescopes to observe the Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and soon became known in astronomical circles for his contributions to scientific journals. In 1791, he published the seminal Selenotopographische Fragmente, the work for which he is most well-known, and which represents the first accurate mapping of the Moon's surface. For his contributions to astronomy, and in particular to the science of selenography, the Moon's Schröter Crater and Vallis Schröteri are named in his honor.
"The 75 engraved plates published in the two volumes include anything from whole-page drawings of larger areas to groups of twelve or more sketches of specific small details. Examination shows that while a few drawings appear quite amateurish ... others are reasonably accurate in their portrayal. Schröter consistently gives the rims of craters the appearance of an overhead view of a ring of closely spaced trees ... even though many of those craters display sharp rims as viewed in the telescope. Nevertheless, comparing the many drawings with modern photos shows that they include virtually all of the more important details of each region except in only one or two rare cases where he apparently became confused by what he observed. Whatever criticisms may be leveled against Schröter's work. it can fairly be said that he pioneered the science of detailed and comprehensive selenography which, with Mayer's pioneering attention to positional accuracy, laid the ground for an unprecedened burst of lunar observation and cartography in Germany." (Whitaker, p.107-9).
Selenotopographische Fragmente, especially the volume 2 (most of this edition was lost in a fire), is a very rare book; indeed, just fifty years after the publication of the second volume, John Russell Hind observed that "This work has become somewhat rare" (The Solar System (New York: Putnam); p. 79). - Visit our website to see more images!

Price: 26,000 €  *  convert currency