TWO SCARCE OFFICIAL REPORTS ON
OBSERVATIONS OF THE 1882 TRANSIT OF VENUS
TRANSIT OF VENUS, 1882,
Report of the Committee Appointed by the British Government
AND
METHODS AND RESULTS, THE TRANSIT OF VENUS 1882
Report of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
Scarce softbound publications in original wraps.
Description: Two Official Reports on Observations of the 1882 Transit of Venus. (1) G.G. Stokes et al: TRANSIT OF VENUS, 1882: Report of the Committee appointed by the Royal Government to superintend the Arrangements to be made for the Sending of Expeditions at the Government expense and securing co-operation with the Government Expeditions for the Observation of the Transit of Venus, 1882, December 6. London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office, nd but 1883 or 1884, 13 x 8 in., 88 pp & 8 pages. Not Illustrated. (2) J.E. Hilgard et al. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Transit of Venus, 1882. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1884; 9 x 11.5 in; 8 pages numbered 371 to 378. Not illustrated.
Condition: Both reports are softbound in original wraps. British report is missing back cover. Front cover is considerably frayed with loss of paper at edges. (see photos) . U.S. report shows less fraying at the margins and retains back cover. Interior pages have slight wear at edges but are clean and unmarked. Overall VG condition.
Information: The transit of Venus, a rare occurrence (1761, 1769, 1874, 1882, 2004, 2012, etc) was of great importance before the 20th century for determining the absolute size of the solar system, so much so that all major nations sent expeditions around the world to measure the time it took for Venus to cross the disk of the sun. England sent expedtiions to Jamaica, Barbados, Bermuda, the Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar, New Zealand, Australia, and also took data from Natal, Mauritius, and Canada, as reported in the British publication here. U,S Observations reported from Washington, Nevada, and California. The reports include numeric data and anecdotes from the expeditions. For example the British report from Mauritius notes "Owing to an accident, no photographs were taken...the first assistant (Mr. Bell) was blinded, and his mouth and tongue scaled by the contents of a bottle of ammonia, which he was opening, flying up into his face, between 1 and 2 o'clock on the 6th, and disabling him."
Two scarce and unique items of astronomical ephemera.
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