Beer, Wilhelm, and Mädler, Johann Heinrich

Der Mond nach kosmischen und individuellen Verhältnissen; oder, Allgemeine vergleichende Selenographie.  Berlin: Simon Schropp & Comp., 1837



4to (12¼ x 9½ in.; 311 x 242 mm, uncut).  Lithographed additional title, 5 lithographed plates; scattered foxing and browning.  Modern half green morocco, spine gilt, marbled boards, endleaves renewed.

Halstead Place (library inventory label) — Frederick I. Ordway III (pictorial bookplate)

DSB I: 568-69, and IX: 2; Houzeau & Lancaster 1251; Tooley, p. 47 

First edition. The 1836 lunar map by Beer and Mädler "constitutes a milestone in the development of selenographical literature.  It was the first map to be divided in to four quadrants ... and contained a remarkably faithful representation of the moon's face as it is visible through a 4-inch refractor ... [A]n accompanying volume, Der Mond ... (1837) contains the results of micrometric measurements of the diameters of 148 lunar craters and of the relative altitudes of 830 lunar mountains, determined by the shadow method. This book also contains a reduced version (to 32 centimeters) of the original map of 1836" (DSB).