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MAURICE M. LOEWY AND M. PIERRE PUISEUX
Atlas photographique de la lune -- Photographic Atlas of the Moon. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale for L'Observatoire de Paris, 1896-1910. 24 vols. consisting of 12 atlas vols. 2° (815 x 600mm) and 12 (of 13) text vols. 4° (325 x 250mm) (with general index, but without text fascicle number 7). 82 (all published) heliogravures, consisting of 11 title vignettes and 71 full page heliogravures with tissue overlays naming features on each plate, and one lithographic title vignette. (Some overlays with short tears and wear, some plates with occasional, mostly marginal dampstain, occasional, mostly marginal spotting, a very few margins with short tears or chips.) ORIGINAL PUBLISHER'S PRINTED WRAPPERS, atlas plates loose in wrappers as issued (atlas vols. with repairs to spines and extremities, others with small chips and light wear, occasional spotting and or sunning). Buckram clamshell case.
FIRST EDITION, WITH A FULL SET OF THE RARE HELIOGRAVURES. THE FIRST ATLAS OF THE MOON ON A LARGE SCALE AND 'THE ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY ASTRONOMICAL PHOTOGRAPHY, and can be regarded, along with Muybridge's Animal Locomotion (1887) and Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian (1907-30), as ONE OF THE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHIC PUBLISHING VENTURES... THE INDIVIDUAL PHOTOGRAVURE PLATES, AMONGST THE LARGEST AND FINEST EVER MADE, ARE PRIZED BY COLLECTORS FOR THEIR SHEER AESTHETIC BEAUTY' (The Photobook). It was only in the 1970s that images substantially better than those of Loewy and Puiseux were obtained. Because perfect weather conditions were needed the project was only completed over the course of 14 years. During this period only 50 or 60 nights per year exhibited the ideal weather conditions, and from those nights suitable for photography only 4 or 5 usable negatives would be produced. The publication of the work in parts over such a long period has made complete sets very rare. ABPC records no copy, complete or incomplete, selling at auction for over 30 years. COPAC records only individual fascicles or very fragmentary sets in the UK. The Photobook, pp.54-55; cf. The Face of the Moon, Galileo to Apollo. An exhibition of rare books and maps (Kansas City, Linda Hall Library, 1989: 'UNEQUALLED AS A PHOTOGRAPHIC ATLAS UNTIL 1960, AND THE QUALITY OF THE PLATES HAS PERHAPS NEVER BEEN SURPASSED'). (24)
Atlas photographique de la lune -- Photographic Atlas of the Moon. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale for L'Observatoire de Paris, 1896-1910. 24 vols. consisting of 12 atlas vols. 2° (815 x 600mm) and 12 (of 13) text vols. 4° (325 x 250mm) (with general index, but without text fascicle number 7). 82 (all published) heliogravures, consisting of 11 title vignettes and 71 full page heliogravures with tissue overlays naming features on each plate, and one lithographic title vignette. (Some overlays with short tears and wear, some plates with occasional, mostly marginal dampstain, occasional, mostly marginal spotting, a very few margins with short tears or chips.) ORIGINAL PUBLISHER'S PRINTED WRAPPERS, atlas plates loose in wrappers as issued (atlas vols. with repairs to spines and extremities, others with small chips and light wear, occasional spotting and or sunning). Buckram clamshell case.
FIRST EDITION, WITH A FULL SET OF THE RARE HELIOGRAVURES. THE FIRST ATLAS OF THE MOON ON A LARGE SCALE AND 'THE ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY ASTRONOMICAL PHOTOGRAPHY, and can be regarded, along with Muybridge's Animal Locomotion (1887) and Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian (1907-30), as ONE OF THE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHIC PUBLISHING VENTURES... THE INDIVIDUAL PHOTOGRAVURE PLATES, AMONGST THE LARGEST AND FINEST EVER MADE, ARE PRIZED BY COLLECTORS FOR THEIR SHEER AESTHETIC BEAUTY' (The Photobook). It was only in the 1970s that images substantially better than those of Loewy and Puiseux were obtained. Because perfect weather conditions were needed the project was only completed over the course of 14 years. During this period only 50 or 60 nights per year exhibited the ideal weather conditions, and from those nights suitable for photography only 4 or 5 usable negatives would be produced. The publication of the work in parts over such a long period has made complete sets very rare. ABPC records no copy, complete or incomplete, selling at auction for over 30 years. COPAC records only individual fascicles or very fragmentary sets in the UK. The Photobook, pp.54-55; cf. The Face of the Moon, Galileo to Apollo. An exhibition of rare books and maps (Kansas City, Linda Hall Library, 1989: 'UNEQUALLED AS A PHOTOGRAPHIC ATLAS UNTIL 1960, AND THE QUALITY OF THE PLATES HAS PERHAPS NEVER BEEN SURPASSED'). (24)
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