Search Results: Astronomy from Pages Past Used and Rare Books

Cambridge: At the University Press, 1896. First Edition First Printing . Hardcover. Good. 8vo. 414 pages, indexed. Hardcover bound in blue cloth. Rubbing and wear to the binding, with the spine of the headcap a bit chipped or frayed. An ex-library copy with minimal markings. Bookplate on front pastedown, empty pocket on rear pastedown, and a scratched-out number at the lower left corner of the title page. The top right corner of the title page is clipped. A sound copy with secure inner hinges. Text is clean. George Biddle Airy (1801-1892) was an English mathematician and an astronomer who helped map the courses of a number of planets. He also helped establish Greenwich as the prime meridian.

New York: The Free Press, 1996. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good. 8vo. 328 pages, indexed. Hardcover in colour illustrated dust jacket. White mark on spine. Light scuffing and rubbing. Text is clean.

New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1987. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Near Fine/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Octavo. 569 pages. Hardcover bound in blue cloth. Minimal wear to the binding. A sound, clean copy. Contains a few photographs and figures as well as mathematical equations. A nice copy. Scarce in hardback.

Edinburgh and London: Printed by John Moir, Royal Bank Close, for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, 1813. First Edition First Printing . Leather Bound. Very Good/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Octavo. viii, [9]-529 pages. Copperplate engraved frontis. Hardcover bound in full brown leather, rebacked in darker brown leather with raised bands on the spine. Spine bands ruled in gilt. Burgundy leather label (appears original) laid down on spine. Moderate rubbing and wear to the binding, which has a some stains from handling. Hinges secure and supple. New flyleaves. A simple bookplate with "Fasque" is upside-down on the rear pastedown (this board may have originally be the front board). A sound copy with a sturdy text block. Text is toned and has some sporadic foxing. Scarce First Edition. Has accounts of Henry Morgan. John Falstaff, Robin Hood, Blackbeard, Mary Read and others. "Captain" Charles Johnson was a pseudonym. Some have suggested… Read More

New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1876. First Edition First Printing . Hardcover. Good/No Jacket. 12mo. xii, 355, (4) pages. Complete with a frontis and two other plates. Hardcover bound in original green cloth with cover designs in black and with titles in gilt. The binding is worn but sound. Some splitting to the cloth at the right corner of the headcap on the front hinge. The binding is a bit dusty and soiled from handling. Inner hinges secure, and the text block is sound. Endpapers foxed, and the title and frontis are quite foxed. The text is generally clean. SIGNED at the top of the title page, "Mary F. Thomas." This appears to be Mary F. Thomas (1818-1888) the American physician, abolitionist, and Women's Rights leader. She would doubtless have held interest in Caroline Herschel (1750-1848), the German astronomer who discovered several comets. She was also the sister of William Herschel, with whom she worked. A scarce book with a nice association.

Philadelphia: Published by Jacob Johnson, 1803. First American Edition . Hardcover. Good. 16mo - over 5¾ - 6¾" tall. 16mo. 137, [3] pages. Hardcover bound in original full brown leather. The binding shows wear and bumping but is sound with rubbed but secure hinges. Headcap of the spine is chipped. Small wormhole near the foot of the spine. Complete with endpapers and illustrated with 5 full-page copperplate engravings (collates complete) as well as several smaller text woodcuts. Early owner's signature on the recto of the frontis reads, "Solomon Mordecai / Warrenton [North Carolina] Jan.y. 1st 1804." Another early signature for "Jos. Mordecai" is at the top of the title page. The Mordecai family was an important Jewish family in eastern North Carolina in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Jacob Mordecai founded the Warrenton Female Academy in 1809 and was assisted by his son Solomon and several daughters. This title was first published in… Read More

Boston: Estes and Lauriat, 1872. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. 12mo. Offprint (or continued) publication of a larger work. Pages 55-177, (3), as issued. Hardcover bound in original brown cloth with spine titles in gilt. Moderate rubbing and wear to the binding. The spine has some white shelf numbers partly rubbed off at the headcap. An ex-library copy with a removed bookplate on the front pastedown and a library blind stamp on the title page.. A sound copy with secure inner hinges and clean text. Contains two color plates (including the frontis) and several black and white text illustrations. This appears as an offprint, but in fact it was published this way as a regularly published stand-alone work. It details the science of ascertaining information of distant stars (the composition of their gasses, etc.) through analysis of the the light through telescopes. This was a ground-breaking tool in observing the universe beyond our solar system in the 19th century.

London: Printed for and Sold by the Author, 1777. Fourth Edition . Leather Bound. Very Good/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Octavo. xxviii, 345, 14 pages. Hardcover bound in original full brown leather with raised bands on the spine. Moderate rubbing and wear to the binding, which has a few stains from handling. Hinges secure and supple. Some water spots near the fore edge of the boards, but the text is clean an unaffected. Early owner's notations (on finding longitude) is neatly written in the margin of page 72. Otherwise the text is sound and generally quite clean. Illustrated with 14 full-page or folding copperplate engravings. Contains a 14 page publisher's catalogue at the rear. A nice copy.

New York, Cincinnati, Toronto, London, Melbourne: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1976. First Edition First Printing . Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo. 173 pages, indexed. First edition SIGNED hardcover in colour illustrated dust jacket. DJ is lightly rubbed, some scuffs. Some toning to edges of cover, as well as spine. Author has written inscription on front flyleaf. Text has occasional small pencil marks by some entries. Otherwise sound.

London: Ward, Lock, & Co., 1877. First Edition First Printing . Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. 12mo. 280, 32 pages. Hardcover bound in brown cloth with elaborate cover designs embossed in black and in gilt. Light to moderate wear to the binding. A sound copy with secure inner hinges and clean text. Contains a frontis illustration. Advertisements in yellow paper as endpapers. There is a bit of damping at the top edge and the fore edge on the frontis and the title page. The text itself is a bit toned but sound and clean. A nice copy.