Selenotopographische Fragmente zur genaueren Kenntnis der Mondflache, ihrer erlittenen Veranderungen und Atmosphare, sammt den dazu gehorigen Specialcharten und Zeichnungen.
Lilienthal: Auf Kosten des Verfassers, bey demselben und in Commission bey Carl. Gottfr. Fleckeisen ... in Helmstädt. Gedruckt in Göttingen bey Joh. Georg Rosenbusch ... 1791. First edition, extremely rare when complete, of this important early study of the topography of the Moon. “Schröter was the first to observe the surface of the moon and the planets systematically over a long period. He made hundreds of drawings of lunar mountains and other features, and discovered and named the lunar rilles” (DSB). His observations were published in the present work, together with a second volume that appeared in 1802. The visual lunar albedo scale developed in this work was later popularised by the British astronomer Thomas Gwyn Elger (1836-97) and now bears his name. “Schröter studied law at Gottingen but also attended lectures in mathematics, physics, and astronomy, the last under Kästner. Upon completing his law studies he was appointed junior barrister in Hannover. Through his appreciation of music he met the Herschel family, who revived his interest in astronomy. In 1781 he became chief magistrate at Lilienthal, a post that left him free time to devote to astronomy. With the aid of the optician J. G. Schrader he built and equipped an observatory that subsequently became world-famous for the excellence of the instruments. Some were made in his own workshop; others he bought from Herschel, the latter including a reflector with a twenty-seven-foot focal length, the largest on the Continent … Lilienthal was occupied during the Napoleonic Wars by the French, who looted and partly destroyed the observatory, although most of the instruments were saved. In the ensuing fire Schröter lost all copies of his own works, which he had published himself. He returned to Erfurt and built a new observatory, but his health failed and he did little observing. He died soon afterward” (DSB). A second volume, with a further 32 plates, was published in 1802. “The 75 engraved plates published in the two volumes include anything from whole-page drawings of larger areas to groups of twelve or more sketches of specific small details. Examination shows that while a few drawings appear quite amateurish ... others are reasonably accurate in their portrayal. Schröter consistently gives the rims of craters the appearance of an overhead view of a ring of closely spaced trees ... even though many of those craters display sharp rims as viewed in the telescope. Nevertheless, comparing the many drawings with modern photos shows that they include virtually all of the more important details of each region except in only one or two rare cases where he apparently became confused by what he observed. Whatever criticisms may be leveled against Schröter’s work. it can fairly be said that he pioneered the science of detailed and comprehensive selenography which, with Mayer’s pioneering attention to positional accuracy, laid the ground for an unprecedented burst of lunar observation and cartography in Germany” (Whitaker, pp.107-9). No complete copy on RBH since 1939. The decisive event in Schröter’s life occurred in March 1781, when he was told of William Herschel’s discovery of the Georgium Sidus (Uranus). “The effect was electrifying. In the spirit of emulation, the young bureaucrat resigned his position in Hanover, and applied for, and received, the position of magistrate of the small, somewhat secluded village of Lilienthal, the ‘Vale of the Lilies,’ which is located on the edge of the moor near Bremen. It was a dramatic move, almost headstrong some might say, but Schroeter knew well what he was about. Lilienthal was lonely and isolated, the population relatively small in numbers. Official duties would be minimal, allowing him ample leisure time to devote to astronomy. Thus, in anticipation of starlit nights, he took possession of the Amthaus, his official residence, in May 1782. “His enthusiasm afire he cast around for an instrument to match his great ambition. Through his relationship with the Herschel family he purchased from William in England, for what was then a very large sum, two reflecting telescopes, one of 4.75 inches (12.01 cm) and the other of 6.5 inches (16.51 cm). According to the convention of the day there were known by their focal lengths, thus the 4-foot (1.22 m) and 7-foot (2.13 m) reflectors. “‘Activated solely by irresistible impulse to observe,’ as he once wrote, Schroeter immediately embarked upon his voyages of discovery and exploration with unflagging zeal. Initially he studied the markings of Jupiter and the phenomena of the Sun accessible to his telescope, viz., the faculae and spots … “His attention abruptly turned moonwards in April 1787, when William Herschel announced his sighting of what he believed were three active volcanoes on the dark side of the moon. As we now know, Herschel had made one of his rare mistakes; he was only seeing the bright rayed craters Aristarchus, Copernicus and Kepler illuminated by earthshine. Nevertheless, the observation had a magical effect on Schroeter, and that winter he announced his intention to draw a new map of the moon. The best available map was that of Tobias Mayer, published posthumously in 1775. It was skilfully made and based on accurate measures, but measured only 7.5 inches to the moon’s diameter. “Schroeter soon changed his plans, and instead of a complete map, decided to sketch as many individual formations as possible as they appeared under varying conditions of illumination. These ‘fragments,’ as he called them, were published in his Selenotopographische Fragmente in 1791. This is typical of Schroeter’s publications. It is a big thick book of 680 pages and 43 copperplates. The title is characteristic; the text rambling and difficult to read, being full of undigested details. Yet it has keen insights; emerging as a vast preliminary sketch, more suggestive that definitive, a rough first clearing away of the brush to create a path into a wilderness. “Never had such a powerful telescope or so keen an eye been trained so systematically and indefatigably on the moon. Using a crude micrometer he remeasured the heights of many lunar mountains, and rediscovered the features Christian Huygens (1629-1695) had first noted a century earlier – the Hyginus cleft, the Straight Wall, and the Great Valley near Aristarchus (Schroeter’s Valley). He also discerned other crack-like features, and coined for them the name rilles. Though conscious large bodies of water were non-existent on the moon, he nevertheless detected what he thought were lakes, and industrial smogs. He also claimed the existence of a very thin lunar atmosphere. “Schroeter’s evidence in this respect is worth considering in rather more detail. On several occasions when the moon appeared as a thin crescent, he noted its horns showed faint attenuated extensions for a considerable distance around the moon’s dark side. He attributed this to a lunar twilight effect. His severest critic, J. H. Maedler (1794-1874), in spite of having a better telescope, often sought this effect in later years, but without success, perhaps of negative expectation. Some two days days before or after new moon, whenever optimum conditions of libration occur, a narrow strip of the averted hemisphere can be viewed under oblique solar illumination as a feeble thread of light. This case ought to make one wary of dismissing Schroeter’s observations out of hand. Though unskilled as a draughtsman, he seldom made a serious mistake. “Vulcanism suggested itself as the origin of the craters, though on a much grander scale than their terrestrial counterpart. ‘Nature,’ he wrote, does not confine itself in other worlds to the bounds imposed by our terrestrial existence. Everywhere it follows the same general laws, but has arrived at many and diverse results. “Schroeter’s lunar work made his European reputation, and henceforth Lilienthal became a name to conjure with. Even the poet Goethe (1749-1832) felt intrigued by the research is the astronomer-magistrate, and acquired a copy of the Fragments. “Schroeter’s studies of the moon and planets were largely motivated by contemporary interest in pluralism, i.e., belief in a multiplicity of inhabited worlds. In other words that these and other worlds yet to be found could not be mere barren wildernesses; the Creator made them for a purpose, and that purpose surely could only be to serve as habitations of other beings. Inspired by this principle, and having founded modern selenography with the Selenotopographische Fragmente, Schroeter went on to establish what Percival Lowell would later call planetology, or the comparative study of the planets … “Schroeter’s legacy is one of history rather than of involvement. Without doubt he is one of the great pioneers of selenography. Yet it is not so much what he contributed in terms of data that is important, but the inspiration he provided and influence he had over the nineteenth century. For instance, Maedler rebelled against his pluralistic view of the moon, replacing it in 1837 with his own ashen vision of a dead, dormant landscape. That was overturned in 1866 by the Linné affair [Linné is a lunar feature whose interpretation was controversial]. It too proved illusive but interest in the moon had revived and has continued so ever since. The instigator of that incident, J. F. J. Schmidt (1825-1884), one of the greatest lunar cartographers, in part derived his enthusiasm for the moon from Selenotopographische Fragmente. Hence, through Schmidt, Schroeter indirectly helped rekindle interest in lunar study after the finger snap of Linné” (Sheehan & Baum). In addition to his own legacy Schröter was instrumental in launching the careers of Karl Ludwig Harding (1765-1834) and Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784-1846), both of whom served him as assistants. Sheehan & Baum, ‘Observations and inference: Johann Hieronymous Schroeter, 1745-1816,’ Journal of the British Astronomical Association 105 (1995), pp. 171-175. Whitaker, Mapping and Naming the Moon, 1999.
4to (273 x 218 mm), pp. [xii], xx, 676, [2], with engraved title vignette and 43 engraved plates, each plate signed or initialled by the author and G. Fischbein. A fine copy in original boards.
Item #6231
Price: $12,500.00
