Lot 263: NASMYTH, James (1808-1890) and James CARPENTER (1840-1899). The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and A Satellite . London: John Murray, 1874.

NASMYTH, James (1808-1890) and James CARPENTER (1840-1899). The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and A Satellite. London: John Murray, 1874.

4o (282 x 220 mm). Frontispiece and 23 plates, diagrams in text. (Half-title and front free endpaper detached.) Original blue cloth, front cover with inset image of a volcanic eruption in black and gilt, spine gilt, top edge gilt (hinges cracked, some wear at corners and estremities). Provenance: James Gaston Bower, Jr. (signature on front free endpaper).

FIRST EDITION. In response to the limitations of photographing accurate images of the moon, Nasmyth and Carpenter devised a solution to the problem. Taking Nasmyth's observed drawings of the moon along with photographs, the two made large-scale plaster models of the lunar surface and photographed them under controlled conditions, allowing for close examinations of the moon's surface. Parr and Badger, The Photobook I, p.51.