Herschel, John F. W., Sir

Results of Astronomical Observations Made during the Years 1834, 5, 6, 7, 8, at the Cape of Good Hope; being the completion of a telescopic survey of the whole surface of the visible heavens, commenced in 1825.  London: Smith, Elder, 1847



4to (12¼ x 10  in.; 311 x 253 mm).  Lithographed frontispiece after Herschel by Ford, 17 engraved folding plates; half-title browned, minor discoloration to upper margin of frontispiece (not affecting image), light foxing in blank upper margins of a few plates.  Publisher's green blind-stamped binding, spine gilt-lettered; some rubbing, extremities of spine frayed.

Dr. Sydney Ross, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY (bookplate)

DSB VI:326; Norman 1056

First edition.  A clean, crisp copy of Herschel's monumental survey of the stars of the southern hemisphere.  "By 1838 he had swept the whole of the southern sky, catalogued 1,707 nebulae and clusters, and listed 2,102 pairs of binary stars.  He carried out star counts, on William Herschel's plan, of 68,948 stars in 3,000 sky areas.  Herschel made micrometer measures for separation and position angle of many pairs.  He produced detailed sketches and maps of several objects, including the Orion region, the Eta Carinae nebula, and the Magellanic Clouds, and extremely accurate drawings of many extragalactic and planetary nebulæ" (DSB).