The World of Comets, 1877

London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1877. 1st Edition. First English edition a comprehensive, scientifically oriented work - by which I mean this is not a "popular" history. As the mathematician and astronomer, James Glaisher notes in the preface, no work prior to this one had covered all the ground that Guillemin's did.

Profusely illustrated with beautiful chromolithographic plates of Donati's Comet, Cheseaux's Comet, and the Large Comet of 1843, 2 reproductions of Warren De La Rue's photos of the Great Comet of 1861; in total there are 4 plates, this volume also includes 5 whole-page woodcuts, 1 large fold-out, & 75 figures and tables.

"Written in 1877 by the French journalist Amédée Guillemin (1826-1893), this volume appeared on British bookshelves at a time of intense interest in space, the solar system and stars. In the same year, Schiaparelli made his infamous 'discovery' of Martian canals, whetting the public's appetite for all things astronomical. Guillemin's account of comets was equally ambitious and, ultimately, more valuable" (CUP). His subjects range from modern theories and mathematical projections of periodic comets to Renaissance superstitions, to accessible explanations of the orbits, constitution, and brilliance of comets. CONDITION & DETAILS: London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1877. Translated and edited by James Glaisher. 4to. xxxvii, 548pp. Frontispiece, 4 plates (one repaired on the versa and one with a very small missing area at the lower left and outside the illustration, 5 whole-page woodcuts, 1 fold-out, 75 figs., tables. Ex-libris (Royal Holloway) bearing very few markings and none at the spine. Very solidly and tightly bound in tan buckram with gilt-lettering at the spine. Bright and clean inside and out. Very good condition.