The Moon, Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite

Hardcover. Condition: Overall Very Good. Slight damage to top of spine (illustrated) and some rubbing to corners. 3rd Edition. 4to (22.4 x 16.2 cm). Collation: xvi, 213 [1] pp. including half-title. With Woodburytype frontispiece, and 24 mounted Woodburytypes. (Each Woodburytype illustrating the plaster models is 9.5x13 cm. laid down on heavy stock). With one chromolithograph and many text line illustrations. Original blue cloth binding with silver embossed image of lunar craters on front board. New York: Scribner & Welford, 1885.
This smaller third edition was produced to make it less expensive than the larger first and second editions, but (truncated) has the full number of Woodburytype plates. The Woodbury plates are tipped onto heavier paper and there is occasional weakening of the binding as illustrated. Remarkably free of the foxing that is frequently found in The Moon. Despite the obvious expense that went into producing The Moon the bindings of all three editions have not fared well and it is common to have loose signatures and cracked joints as well as foxing and staining. I have selected illustrations that show the major deficiencies.
Nasmyth built plaster models of lunar features and photographed them under different light conditions, producing some of the most esthetically pleasing images but ones that gave false authority to their substance. The Moon had a large influence in promoting the volcanic theory of crater formation.Member: ABAA (Inventory #: 20812)