Account of a Comet J. Nichols; In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 71

London: J. Nichols, 1781. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. 1st edition, 1st printing anywhere of Herschel’s paper (read Apr. 26, 1781) announcing his sighting of Uranus, the first new planet discovered since antiquity. Herschel thought what he had seen was doubtless a planet, and excitedly showed it to his sister Caroline, but as an amateur, and not a member of The Royal Society (the handcuffs on progress are made from red tape), he modestly titled his article with reserve, and referred to the object in his paper as a comet, but he included specifics pointing out its location in the solar system and assumed other, more trusted, astronomers could (truncated) find it and decide what it was with certainty. And they did so quickly and confirmed it was no comet but a new planet. The public was exhilarated, telescope sales increased fortyfold, Herschel became a rock star, and George III appointed him “The King’s Astronomer.” Our book is the entire, 582–page vol. 71 of the Royal Society’s Transactions, with Herschel’s paper and all 3 folding plates on pages 492–501. Contemporary full calf, rebacked in the 19th century, original ornately gilt spine preserved and laid down, endpapers replaced at the same time, some petty scuffs and wear, else very good, a beautiful book with boardwalk margins, the sheets 10 13/16” tall. Ex–Henry Beaufoy (an MP and a member of The Royal Society). See Printing and the Mind of Man number 227, who exhibited (and cataloged) a later paper by Herschel (On the Proper Motion of the Sun and Solar System, published in the 1783 volume of the Royal Society’s Transactions), but the PMM entry is headed “A New Planet,” and it emphasizes his 1781 discovery, and it details how he accomplished it, but it is our book, not theirs, that contains the paper proclaiming it. And our book is rare. RBH lists no copies of it as having sold at auction going back to 1975, and only one sale for any scrap of our 1781 paper, a fragment of torn out pages, 14 years ago, and even apprentice collectors know that torn out pages are not comparable to complete books. What seems doubtful, despite the rarity, is that PMM could not locate a copy of our 1781 Account of a Comet when they assembled the books for their exhibition, yet the alternative (that the 1783 book they did exhibit was just a poor choice) would have been such an obvious mistake that it seems equally doubtful. Whatever the cause, their 1783 book was a placebo. Our book is not. And though it isn’t The Starry Messenger, it is a something. A huge something. (Inventory #: 730)