The U.S. Naval Astronomical Expedition to The Southern Hemisphere, during The Years 1849-'50-'51-'52 (Vols. 1 & 6 only)

Washington, D.C.: House of Representatives, A.O.P. Nicholson, Printer, 1856. First printings. Good. James Melville Gilliss (1811-1865) was an astronomer, United States naval officer and founder of the United States Naval Observatory In 1848 he obtained $5,000 from Congress for a naval astronomical expedition to Chile in order to more precisely measure the solar parallax He headed the expedition from August 1849 until his return in November 1852 The expedition successfully completed the planned astronomical observations and also made valuable observations of the earth's magnetic field, earthquakes, geography, politics and natural science The specimens of fauna and flora brought back from Chile formed the earliest part of the Smithsonian collection from Latin America The results of the expedition were published in as six-volume treatise The observatory and staff he left in Chile became the nucleus of Chile's astronomical program, previous to this there was no astronomical tradition in Chile Gilliss later led two expeditions to observe the solar eclipses in Peru in 1858 and Washington Territory in 1860

Large 4to, 13 of 14 plates noted for Vol 1, including a large folding panorama of Saint Lucia, Santiago (see photo), (missing the portrait of an Araucanian chief) Frontispiece plate is out of position, not facing title page, but bound in later in the volume Non-uniformly bound in period 1/4 calf on marbled boards Moderate scuffing and wear, primarily at corners and edges Light foxing, particularly on endpapers Text is overall clean and unmarked 556, 420 pp.