Old and New Astronomy.

lovely publisher's cloth

First edition and a very attractive copy in the publisher's elaborate gilt binding. Uncommon in such nice condition.

Though originally trained as a lawyer, Richard Proctor (1837-1888) took up astronomy in mid-life. His first publication was an exhaustive monograph on Saturn that made his scientific reputation, and he came to be 'held in high esteem by contemporaries as an original investigator' (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). His contributions include observational proof that the aggregation of stars in the Milky Way is real rather than an optical illusion, and the discovery of the phenomenon of star drift.

He was best known, however, as a popular author. 'A man of unbounded energy and wide interests, Proctor's gifts of vivid clarity, lecturing style, and scientific exactness in writing on many subjects gained him renown. He wrote at least 500 essays, 83 technical astronomy papers, and 57 books. His Old and New Astronomy, a systematic work embodying his studies over a quarter century, was completed by his friend Arthur Cowper Ranyard in 1892. Between 1870 and 1914 "the impact of his publications was immense; thousands were introduced to astronomy by them"' (Crowe, 548) (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).

First edition; large 8vo; frontispiece and 31 plates of which 4 are in colour, 3 are folding, and 5 are from photographs, illustrations throughout the text, Fothergill heraldic bookplate, partially unopened, contents unevenly spotted; original blue cloth elaborately blocked in gilt with a design of a window and telescope to the upper board, black coated endpapers, top edge gilt, corners bumped, dampstain affecting the lower joint, cloth lightly rubbed at extremities, a very good copy; 816pp.