Smith, Asa [Telescopic View of the Full Moon]

Asa Smith.  [Telescopic View of the Full Moon]. 

From Der Bau des Himmels, oder anschaulichste Darstellung des Weltsystems in Bildern.  Für Schulen und für Freunde der Astronomie.  [The structure of the sky, or most descriptive representation of the world system in pictures For students and friends of Astronomy].  Schwäbisch Hall, Germany:  ca. 1855.  Ca. 10 x 8.  Lithograph by Halder & Cronberger, Stuttgart.  Very good condition. 

A print from a series of celestial illustrations included in a German edition of Asa Smith’s Illustrated Astronomy.  Written by the principal of Public School No. 12 in New York City, this work was aimed at school students.  Smith stated is goal as “to present all the distinguishing principles in physical Astronomy with as few words as possible,” and his text was presented in fifty separate lessons with a series of questions and answers.  The handsome charts of the planets and stars are printed predominantly in black, which makes the images as similar as possible to what one would actually see in the night skies.  A striking series of instructive astronomical illustrations from the mid nineteenth century.