Account of a Comet; In Philosophical Transactions the Royal Society of London, vol. 71

by William Herschel

$3,000 · Offered by Biblioctopus

First edition

London: J. Nichols, 1781. First Edition. Hardcover. First printing anywhere of Herschel’s paper read April 26, 1781 announcing his sighting of Uranus, the first new planet to be discovered since antiquity Mercury in 265BC . Herschel thought that what he had seen was doubtless a planet, but since he was an amateur, and not a member of The Royal Society, he modestly titled his article with reserve, and in his paper, he

• Binding: Hardcover

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