The Principles of Astronomy. Part I. Containing Plane Astronomy SIGNED.
London: Cambridge: Printed by J. Smith.sold by T. Stevenson, Cambridge and Longman and Co., London, 1832.
First Edition. Soft cover. Signed by Author. PRESENTATION COPY: Inscribed on the front free end-papers: "Sir JOHN HERSCHEL with the author's compts," Dr. Sydney Ross's Copy. Part I only (Part II published separately in 1833), 8vo, ix (ii blank), [i] errata, 248 pp. Engraved illustrations and woodcut diagrams within the text. Occasional light spotting; repaired tear to title page. Original navy blue cloth, extremities bumped, spine slightly faded, paper label on spine. Entirely uncut and unopened. PRESENTATION COPY & with the Herschel Collingwood stamp at the head of the title & of page 1. FIRST EDITION. In his Preface the author states that he has taken "much curious information" from the Philosophical Transactions, more particularly from the papers of Sir W. Herschel. Sir John Herschel [1792 - 1871]. Sir John Herschel was a scientist and astronomer like his father, Sir William Herschel [ who discovered the planet Uranus] . In 1809 he entered the University of Cambridge; in 1812 he submitted his first mathematical paper to the Royal Society, of which he was elected a fellow the following year. An accomplished chemist, Herschel discovered the action of hyposulfite of soda on otherwise insoluble silver salts in 1819, which led to the use of "hypo" as a fixing agent in photography. In 1839, independently of William Henry Fox Talbot, Herschel also invented a photographic process using sensitized paper. It was Herschel who coined the use of the terms photography, positive, and negative to refer to photographic images. In 1820 Herschel became a founding member of the Royal Astronomical Society. From 1833 until 1838, his astronomical investigations brought him and his family to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, where he met Julia Margaret Cameron, who became a lifelong friend. In 1850 Herschel was appointed master of the Mint, but he resigned six years later due to poor health. His remaining years were spent working on his catalogs of double stars and of nebulae and star clusters. From the library of noted scholar, Dr. Sydney Ross, Emeritus Professor of Colloid Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with his elegant small gilt & crimson bookplate on the front pastedown. In his later years, amongst other projects, he compiled the Catalogue of the Libraries of Sir William Herschel, Kt. & Sir John F.W. Herschel, Bart. A meaningful double association copy.
Item #33197 Price: US$3,780.00