Details
ROY, William (1726-1790). An Account of the Trigonometrical Operation, Whereby the Distance Between the Meridians of the Observatories of Greenwich and Paris has Been Determined... from the Philosophical Transactions. London, [1790].
4o (264 x 222 mm). Pp. [1]-162. 11 engraved folding plates and 4 folding tables. Contemporary English tree calf (rebacked). Provenance: Matthew Lewis (bookplate); Lord W. Kerr (bookplate).
FIRST SEPARATE EDITION, also issued in volume LXXX of the Philosophical Transactions. Roy was commissioned in the army in 1756 and rose to Major-General by 1781. Elected to the Royal Society in 1767, he carried out under its auspices a geodetic survey linking London to the coast of France. From 1763, he strongly advocated the establishment of an official national survey, which came into existence a year after his death and is now the Ordnance Survey. Roy used the chain designed by Ramsden which immensely improved accuracy.
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FIRST SEPARATE EDITION, also issued in volume LXXX of the Philosophical Transactions. Roy was commissioned in the army in 1756 and rose to Major-General by 1781. Elected to the Royal Society in 1767, he carried out under its auspices a geodetic survey linking London to the coast of France. From 1763, he strongly advocated the establishment of an official national survey, which came into existence a year after his death and is now the Ordnance Survey. Roy used the chain designed by Ramsden which immensely improved accuracy.