Account of the Discovery of a Sixth and Seventh Satellite of the Planet Saturn; with Remarks on the Construction of its Ring, its Atmosphere, its Rotation on an Axis, and its spheroidical Figure
by HERSCHEL, WILLIAM
- Used
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Copenhagen, Denmark
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About This Item
1790. London, Peter Elmsly, 1790. 4to. In recent marbled paper wrappers. Extracted from "Philosophical Transactions". Including title-page of volume. Title-page with professional repair to lower margin, not affecting text. Leaves reinforced in margin. Very light brownspotting through out and light offsetting from folding plate as usual. (2), iii-vi, (2), (1)-20 pp. + three folded plates. First edition of Herschel's important paper on his observations of the rings of Saturn. "Saturn exercised a special fascination for Herschel, and between 1789 and 1808 he devoted seven papers and part of an eighth to the planet, its ring, and its satellites.On 19 August 1787 Herschel suspected he had found a sixth and previously unknown satellite, but he was not able to confirm this until 28 August 1789, when his forty-foot telescope came into commission. A few days later he found a seventh satellite. For some months he carefully tracked the satellites, establishing for Mimas and Enceladus periods within seconds of the modern values, and giving evidence to show that Iapetus rotates in its period of revolution.He also made careful observations of the rings, which he believed to be solid. As the earth happened to be in the plane of the ring structure at the time, he compared the thickness of the ring when seen edge-on with the diameter of Jupiter's satellites; and although his estimate exceeds modern values, his method showed that the thickness did not exceed a few hundred miles." (DSB)
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Details
- Bookseller
- Herman H. J. Lynge & Son (DK)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 57070
- Title
- Account of the Discovery of a Sixth and Seventh Satellite of the Planet Saturn; with Remarks on the Construction of its Ring, its Atmosphere, its Rotation on an Axis, and its spheroidical Figure
- Author
- HERSCHEL, WILLIAM
- Book Condition
- Used
- Date Published
- 1790
Terms of Sale
Herman H. J. Lynge & Son
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About the Seller
Herman H. J. Lynge & Son
Biblio member since 2017
Copenhagen
About Herman H. J. Lynge & Son
Herman H. J. Lynge & Son A/S was founded 1821 in Copenhagen, and has been a member of the Danish Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABF) and International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB-LILA) since their beginning.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Marbled Paper
- Decorative colored paper that imitates marble with a veined, mottled, or swirling pattern. Commonly used as the end papers or...
- Wrappers
- The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Plate
- Full page illustration or photograph. Plates are printed separately from the text of the book, and bound in at production. I.e.,...
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...