‎Description of a Forty-Feet Reflecting Telescope. - [HERSCHEL'S FAMOUS 40-FOOT TELESCOPE]‎

‎London, Peter Elmsly, 1795. 4to. In recent marbled paper wrappers. Extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"". Including title-page of volume. Leaves reinforced in margin. Light offsetting from folded plates as usual. Plate depicting the full telescope with professional repair to lower right corner. (4), 347-410 pp. + 19 folded plates.‎

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‎First appearance of William Herschel account of his great 40-foot telescope. It was the largest telescope in the world for 50 years and it was possibly used to discover Enceladus and Mimas, the 6th and 7th moons of Saturn. The plate of the 40-foot telescope fully assembled remains as one of the great icons of astronomy. ""It is well known that King George III granted £2,000 for the construction of the 40-foot reflector, and that this was supplemented by a further £2,000 plus other expenses. Only recently has it become evident that the second grant was made in the context of a serious row between monarch and astronomer. Herschel was of course in uncharted territory in attempting the construction of such a monster. The king had understood that the first £2,000 was the total required, and when this proved not to be the case he may well have suspected Herschel of deliberately underestimating the costs involved when making his original application. Although the king acceded-reluctantly-to the second request, from then on Herschel was required to account for every last penny of expenditure, and was told in no uncertain terms that no further grant would be forthcoming.The 40-foot reflector proved cumbersome and its results did not justify the labor and cost of its construction. What has only recently been appreciated is the extent to which it became a millstone around its creator's neck. From Herschel's point of view, it lost its principal raison d'être in 1790 when an observation with the 20-foot convinced him of the existence of ""true nebulosity."" But to the king it was an enduring symbol of his patronage of science, and visitors to Windsor Castle were invited to make the short journey to Slough to see the world's biggest telescope."" (DSB)‎

‎Observations and Remarks on the Figure, the Climate, and the Atmosphere of Saturn, and its Ring.‎

‎(London, Bulwer and Co., 1806). Large 4to. Without wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London."" Year 1806-Part II. Herschel's memoir pp. 455-466 a. 1 engraved plate.‎

‎First appearance of Herschel's last paper on Saturn and its ring. He determined Saturns period of rotation and he discovered two more inner satellites. One of these, Iapetus, he found to perform its rotation, but he believed, wrongly, that the rings were solid.‎

‎Observations and Remarks on the Figure, the Climate, and the Atmosphere of Saturn, and its Ring.‎

‎(London, Bulwer and Co., 1806). Large 4to. Without wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London."" Year 1806-Part II. Herschel's memoir pp. 455-466 a. 1 engraved plate. A brownspot in inner lower margin on the 3 first leaves. Some brownspots to the plate.‎

‎First appearance of Herschel's last paper on Saturn and its ring. He determined Saturns period of rotation and he discovered two more inner satellites. One of these, Iapetus, he found to perform its rotation, but he believed, wrongly, that the rings were solid.‎

‎Observations of a second Comet, with Remarks on its Construction. Read March 12, 1812.‎

‎(London, W. Bulmer and Co., 1812). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1812 - Part II. Pp. 229-237. Clean and fine.‎

‎First printing of Herschel's observations on the second comets, observed from January 1 to January 20, 1812. Another paper is printed together with Herschel's paper, William Henry: ""Additional Experiments on the Muriatic and Oxymuriatic Acids."", pp. 238-246.‎

‎Observations on the Nature of the new celestial Body discovered by Dr. Olbers, and of the Comet which was expected to appear last January in its return from the Sun.‎

‎(London, Bulwer and Co., 1807). Large 4to. Without wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London."" Year 1806-Part I. Pp. 260-266 a. 1 engraved plate.‎

‎In the paper Herschel estimates the size of Vesta which was discovered a few month before by Olbers. Together with Ceres, Pallas and Juno, he names this new heavenly bodies, asteroids. Together with Herschel's paper comes William Hasledine Pepys ""A new Eudiometer, acccompanied with Experiments, elucidating its Application"", pp. 247-259 a. 1 engraved plate.‎

‎On Nebulous Stars, properly so called.‎

‎London, Lockyer Davis, and Peter Elmsly, 1791.. 4to. In recent marbled paper wrappers. Extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"", vol. 91, read February 10, 1791. Including title-page of volume. Leaves reinforced in margin. (2), 91-88 pp.‎

‎First appearance of Herschel's seminal paper in which he stated: ""The nature of planetary nebulae, which has hitherto been involved in much darkness, may now be explained with some degree of satisfaction, since the uniform and very considerable brightness of their apparent disk accords remarkably well with a much condensed, luminous fluid"" whereas to suppose them to consist of clustering stars will not so completely account for the milkiness or soft tint of thir light, to produce which it would be required for that condensation of the stars should carried to an almost inconceivable degree of accumulation."" (From the present paper).‎

‎On the Quantity and Velocity of the Solar Motion. Read February 27, 1806.‎

‎(London, Bulwer and Co., 1806). Large 4to. Without wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London."" Year 1806-Part I. Pp. 205-236 and 6 engraved plates. Fine and clean.‎

‎Fist printing of this paper in which Herschel tries to investigate both the direction and the movement of the sun by comparing it with his observations of neighboring stars, following his investigations on the same subject from 1783 and 1805.‎

‎On the Quantity and Velocity of the Solar Motion. Read February 27, 1806.‎

‎London, Bulwer and Co., 1806. Large 4to. Without wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London."" Year 1806-Part I. Pp. 205-237 and 6 engraved plates. Some brownspots to plates. With titlepage to 1806, part I‎

‎Fist printing of this paper in which Herschel tries to investigate both the direction and the movement of the sun by comparing it with his observations of neighboring stars, following his investigations on the same subject from 1783 and 1805.‎

‎On the Satellites of the Planet Saturn, and the Rotation of its Ring on an Axis.‎

‎London, Lockyer Davis, 1790 4to. In recent marbled paper wrappers. Extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"". Including title-page of volume. Leaves reinforced in margin. Very light brownspotting through out and light offsetting from folding plate as usual. (I)-IV, 427-496 pp. + 1 folded plates.‎

‎First edition of Herschel's important paper on his observations of Saturn. ""Saturn exercised a special fascination for Herschel, and between 1789 and 1808 he devoted seven papers and part of an eighth to the planet, its ring, and its satellites.On 19 August 1787 Herschel suspected he had found a sixth and previously unknown satellite, but he was not able to confirm this until 28 August 1789, when his forty-foot telescope came into commission. A few days later he found a seventh satellite. For some months he carefully tracked the satellites, establishing for Mimas and Enceladus periods within seconds of the modern values, and giving evidence to show that Iapetus rotates in its period of revolution.He also made careful observations of the rings, which he believed to be solid. As the earth happened to be in the plane of the ring structure at the time, he compared the thickness of the ring when seen edge-on with the diameter of Jupiter's satellites"" and although his estimate exceeds modern values, his method showed that the thickness did not exceed a few hundred miles."" (DSB)‎

‎William Herschel's Observations of Variable Stars and Stars Suspected of Variability.‎

‎[No place], 1918. 8vo. In the original printed wrappers. Offprint from ""Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society"", Vol. LXXVIII, No. 8. Fine and clean. Pp. (2), 555-568.‎

‎Offprint of a catalogue of astronomer William Herschel's abservations from May 12, 1783 to May 27, 1796.‎

‎Account of the Changes that have happened, during the last Twenty-five Years, in the relative Situation of Double-stars" with an Investigation of the Cause to which they are owing. Read June 9, 1803.‎

‎(London, Bulwer and Co., 1803). 4to. Without wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London."" Year 1803-Part II. Pp. 339-382 and 2 engraved plates.‎

‎First appearance of a fundamental paper in cosmology and physics as it contains the first observational data to support that Newton's dynamical laws holds outside the solar system. Herschel shows here that the circulating motions of double-stars were under gravitational forces. Until then the validity of the law of gravity was only established within the solar system. Now, a century after the establishment of the law, it was traced out in the motion of incredibly distant stars and the theory first truly earned its title of Universal. The exact proof of the mutual gravitation of the double-stars was only obtained five years after Herschel's death, when the motions of the stars were more precisely dtermined.One of the most notable of Herschel's discoveries of double-stars, binary stars. A first cataloque of such pairs was published early in 1782 and contained 269, of which 227 were new discoveries. ""Twenty years after the publication of his first cataloque Herschel was of Michell's opinion - Michell had expressed the opinion that the odds in favour of a physical relation between the members of herschel's newly discovered double stars were ""beyond arithmetic"" - but was able to support it by evidence of an entirely novel and much more direct character. A series of observations of Castor, presented in two papers in the ""Philosophical Transaction"" in 1803 (the paper offered here) and 1804, which were fortunately supplemented by an observation of Bradley's in 1759, had shewn a progressive alteration in the direction of the line joining its two components, of such a character as to leave no doubt that the two stars were revolving round one another"" and there were five oher cases in which a similar motion was observed...it was shown that the double-star was really formed by a connected pair of stars near enough to influence one another's mortion.""(Berry in ""A Short History of Astronomy"" pp. 342-43).‎

‎Experiments for investigating the Cause of the coloured concentric Rings, discovered by Sir Isaac Newton. Read February 5, 1807. (+) Continuation of Experiments for investigating the Cause of coloured concentricRings, and other Appearances of a simila...‎

‎(London, W. Bulmer and Co., 1807 a. 1809). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1807 - Part I. Pp. 180-233 a. 1 engraved plate., pp. 259-302 a. 3 large folded engraved plates.‎

‎First appearance of the 2 first papers in which Herschel tried to establish his own theory of light.""In a less happy venture into the physics of light, Herschel devoted three papers (1807-1810)- the two first offred here - to investigating the cause of colored concentric rings (""Newton's rings""). Ignoring the explanation already given by Thomas Young wherby the rings result from interference between light waves, Herschel ceriticized Newton' theory and attempted one of his own. he brought down on his head a storm of criticism, and this may have been a cause of his poor health at this period.""(DSB VI, p.333).‎

‎Experiments for ascertaining how far Telescopes will enable us to determine very small Angles, and to distinguish the real from the spurious Diameters of celestial and terrestrial Objects: with an Application of the Result ofthese Experiments to a ser...‎

‎(London, W. Bulmer and Co., 1805). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1805 - Part I. Pp. 31-64 and 1 engraved plate. Clean and fine.‎

‎First appearance of an importent paper, founding the metric of interstellar space.It was the contemporous discoveries of the first minor planets, ceres in 1801, Pallas in 1802 and Juno in 1803, that prompted Herschel to investigate the origin of the spurious diameters of stars. ""Were their apparent diameters as real as those of planets or spurious as for stars? To address this question Herschel conducted an extensive series of experiments in his garden in Slough, examining through his telescope small globules of differing sizes and materials placed in a tree some 800 ft (ca. 244 m) away (Herschel 1805). His observations showed that for the smallest globules the diameters were all spurious and all of the same size. Furthermore, he found that, if just the inner part of the aperture of the telescope were used, the spurious diameters, whether of globules or of stars, were larger. If the whole aperture was employed, the diameters were smaller, and if only an outer annular aperture was used the diameters were smaller still. This experimental discovery that unfilled apertures can be used to obtain high angular resolution remains today the essential basis for interferometric imaging in astronomy (in particular Aperture Masking Interferometry). The theoretical justification of this result came with Airy's analysis of the diffraction pattern of a circular aperture 30 years later (Airy 1835), and it took a further 30 years before the idea of using multiple apertures was developed. In an early study the Reverend W. R. Dawes noted that he had frequently found great advantage from the use of a perforated whole aperture' and that when observing Venus this produced a central image of the planet perfectly colourless, and very sharply dened' (Dawes 1866). But it was left to Fizeau, in his submission to the Commission for the Prix Bordin the following year, to remark on une relation remarquable et n´ecessaire entre la dimension des franges et celle de la source lumineuse' and suggest that by using an interferometric combination of light from two separated slits il deviendra possible d'obtenir quelques donn´ees nouvelles sur les diametres angulaires de ces astres' (Fizeau 1868).""‎

‎Experiments for ascertaining how far Telescopes will enable us to determine very small Angles, and to distinguish the real from the spurious Diameters of celestial and terrestrial Objects: with an Application of the Result ofthese Experiments to a ser...‎

‎(London, W. Bulmer and Co., 1805). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1805 - Part I. Pp. 31-64 and 1 engraved plate. Clean and fine.‎

‎First appearance of an importent paper, founding the metric of interstellar space.It was the contemporous discoveries of the first minor planets, ceres in 1801, Pallas in 1802 and Juno in 1803, that prompted Herschel to investigate the origin of the spurious diameters of stars. ""Were their apparent diameters as real as those of planets or spurious as for stars? To address this question Herschel conducted an extensive series of experiments in his garden in Slough, examining through his telescope small globules of differing sizes and materials placed in a tree some 800 ft (ca. 244 m) away (Herschel 1805). His observations showed that for the smallest globules the diameters were all spurious and all of the same size. Furthermore, he found that, if just the inner part of the aperture of the telescope were used, the spurious diameters, whether of globules or of stars, were larger. If the whole aperture was employed, the diameters were smaller, and if only an outer annular aperture was used the diameters were smaller still. This experimental discovery that unfilled apertures can be used to obtain high angular resolution remains today the essential basis for interferometric imaging in astronomy (in particular Aperture Masking Interferometry). The theoretical justification of this result came with Airy's analysis of the diffraction pattern of a circular aperture 30 years later (Airy 1835), and it took a further 30 years before the idea of using multiple apertures was developed. In an early study the Reverend W. R. Dawes noted that he had frequently found great advantage from the use of a perforated whole aperture' and that when observing Venus this produced a central image of the planet perfectly colourless, and very sharply dened' (Dawes 1866). But it was left to Fizeau, in his submission to the Commission for the Prix Bordin the following year, to remark on une relation remarquable et n´ecessaire entre la dimension des franges et celle de la source lumineuse' and suggest that by using an interferometric combination of light from two separated slits il deviendra possible d'obtenir quelques donn´ees nouvelles sur les diametres angulaires de ces astres' (Fizeau 1868).""‎

‎Le livre de la lune‎

‎z'éditions. Non daté. In-8. Broché. Bon état, Couv. convenable, Dos satisfaisant, Intérieur frais. 63 pages augmentées de nombreuses illustrations en noir et blanc dans et hors texte.. . . A l'italienne. Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎ Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎Notre calendrier : Une sacrée histoire‎

‎Book-e-book.com 2013 14x21x1cm. 2013. Broché.‎

‎bords léfèrement frottés intérieur très frais‎

‎L'Homme parmi les étoiles. Essai.- Illustrations de Léo CAMPION.‎

‎Bruxelles-Paris, G. Delforge, 1944. in-8, 238 pages, ill. h.t. n&b, fig. in-t., reliure demi-basane à coins, dos à nerfs, titre et fleuron doré, couverture conservée.‎

‎Bel exemplaire. [109B-19] ‎

‎Observation of a Rapidly Pulsating Radio Source. - [THE DISCOVERY OF PULSARS]‎

‎London, Macmillian and Co, 1968. Royal8vo. Bound in contemporary full cloth with title to spine. In ""Nature"", Vol. 217, 1968. Library stamp to upper right corner of title page, otherwise a fine and clean copy. Pp. 709-13. [Entier volume: XL, 1298 pp.].‎

‎First printing of the discovery of pulsars. Hewish was in 1974 awarded the Nobel Prize in physics ""for his decisive role in the discovery of pulsars"".""Their discovery, reported in 1968, came as a complete surprise, and astonishingly their radio signals behave like the ticks of a super-accurate clock. The unique characteristics of pulsars have since been used to explore the behaviour of gravity, the nature of nuclear matter, the late evolutionary stages of massive stars, and the character of the interstellar medium"". (A Century of Nature). ""Antony Hewish had played a central role in the development of aperture synthesis and in 1964 began the study of the twinkling, or scintillation, of radio sources due to irregularities in the outflow of material from the Sun, what is known as the solar wind. A remarkable by-product of these studies was the discovery of pulsating radio sources, subsequently called pulsars, by Hewish and his graduate student, Jocelyn Bell. These objects were soon convincingly identified as rapidly rotating, magnetized neutrons stars, which had been predicted to exist on theoretical grounds. Their serendipitous discovery at long radio wavelengths was a crucial event for all astronomy."" (DSB).‎

‎Cours d'astronomie et de geodésie de l'école polytechnique - Première partie : Astronomie sphérique,application à la navigation,théorie des erreurs,géodésie,géographie mathématique - 2e fascicule : géodésie-géographie.‎

‎Gauthier Villars et Cie. 1928. In-8. Broché. Etat d'usage, Couv. légèrement passée, Coiffe en tête abîmée, Papier jauni. 226 pages - quelques figures en noir et blanc dans le texte - pages non coupées - rousseurs sur les plats - coiffes abîmées.. . . . Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎Revu et mis à jour par le Général R.Bourgeois - Première partie : Astronomie sphérique,application à la navigation,théorie des erreurs,géodésie,géographie mathématique - 2e fascicule : géodésie-géographie. Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎Sur l'origine du monde - Théories cosmogoniques des anciens et des modernes.‎

‎Gauthier-Villars. 1884. In-8. Broché. Etat passable, Tâchée, Dos abîmé, Quelques rousseurs. 260 pages - papier jauni - tampon sur le 1er plat - déchirures et tâches sur les plats - renfort papier recouvrant le dos - annotation et étiquette collée sur le dos - tampon sur la page de titre - petite annotation sur la page de faux titre - quelques figures en noir et blanc dans le texte.. . . . Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎ Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎A L'ASSAUT DE L'ESPACE.‎

‎EDITIONS DE LA PENSEE MODERNE. 1956. In-8. Broché. Etat d'usage, Couv. convenable, Dos satisfaisant, Intérieur acceptable. 221 pages - déchirures sur la jaquette - quelques planches en noir et blanc - quelques dessins en noir et blanc dans le texte.. Avec Jaquette. . . Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎Préface du Général Lionel M.Chassin. Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎LECONS NOUVELLES DE COSMOGRAPHIE.‎

‎DEZOBRY, E. MAGDELEINE ET Cie. 1856. In-8. Relié cuir dos-coins. Bon état, Coins frottés, Dos fané, Quelques rousseurs. 427 pages. Dos de cuir marron, titres et filets dorés. Papier tons bordeaux sur les plats. Nombreux schémas et 4 planches illustrées en noir et blanc dépliantes. Epidermures.. . . . Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎2e édition. Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎L'ASTRONOMIE D'AUJOURD'HUI‎

‎SAVOIR ET CONNAITRE. 1961. In-12. Broché. Etat d'usage, Couv. légèrement passée, Dos plié, Intérieur frais. 196 pages. Premier plat illustré en noir et blanc.. . . . Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎ Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎Soleil.‎

‎La Martinière. 2006. In-12. Relié. Etat d'usage, Coins frottés, Coiffe en pied abîmée, Intérieur frais. 239 pages, nombreuses photos en couleur dans et hors texte.. . . . Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎ Classification Dewey : 520-Astronomie et sciences connexes‎

‎Les origines de l'univers‎

‎Flammarion 1973 in8. 1973. Cartonné. 128 pages. Bon Etat‎