Art

A scarce surviving set of eight large-format glass plate positives showing the lunar surface and its curvature in remarkable detail. The photographs were taken by Maurice Loewy, Pierre Puiseux, and Charles le Morvan to illustrate their Atlas photographique de la lune, "the ultimate achievement of 19th-century astronomical photography" (Parr & Badger). Le Morvan subsequently used the images for his own map of the moon. Charles le Morvan (1865-1933) spent his entire career at the esteemed Paris Observatory. As a young astronomer he supported Maurice Loewy (1833-1907) and Pierre Puiseux (1855-1928) with their ambitious project: to produce the first complete photographic lunar atlas on a large scale. The trio began in 1894 by obtaining direct shots in negative. The exceptional accuracy of the photographs, which depict portions of the lunar disc at a high enough calibre for microscopic study, was made possible by Loewy's development of a powerful equatorial coudé telescope. "Loewy and Puiseux employed mammoth dry-plate glass negatives that recorded the moon in images six to seven inches in diameter. The partners created photographic enlargements [these glass plate positives] that were then used as the basis for detailed photogravures of an unprecedented size" (Saunders, p. 27). This culminated in the Atlas photographique de la lune, published in twelve fascicles between 1896 and 1910. It "would remain the most comprehensive set of lunar maps for more than 50 years" A scarce surviving set of eight large-format glass plate positives showing the lunar surface and its curvature in remarkable detail. The photographs were taken by Maurice Loewy, Pierre Puiseux, and Charles le Morvan to illustrate their Atlas photographique de la lune, "the ultimate achievement of 19th-century astronomical photography" (Parr & Badger). Le Morvan subsequently used the images for his own map of the moon. Charles le Morvan (1865-1933) spent his entire career at the esteemed Paris Observatory. As a young astronomer he supported Maurice Loewy (1833-1907) and Pierre Puiseux (1855-1928) with their ambitious project: to produce the first complete photographic lunar atlas on a large scale. The trio began in 1894 by obtaining direct shots in negative. The exceptional accuracy of the photographs, which depict portions of the lunar disc at a high enough calibre for microscopic study, was made possible by Loewy's development of a powerful equatorial coudé telescope. "Loewy and Puiseux employed mammoth dry-plate glass negatives that recorded the moon in images six to seven inches in diameter. The partners created photographic enlargements [these glass plate positives] that were then used as the basis for detailed photogravures of an unprecedented size" (Saunders, p. 27). This culminated in the Atlas photographique de la lune, published in twelve fascicles between 1896 and 1910. It "would remain the most comprehensive set of lunar maps for more than 50 years" (ibid.). Parr and Badger say it "can be regarded, along with Muybridge's Animal Locomotion (1887) and Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian (1907-30), as one of the great photographic publishing ventures". Le Morvan participated in the preparation of the glass plates (sometimes known as clichés) for the Atlas and, following Loewy's death in 1907, assisted Puiseux with its completion. In 1914 he used a selection of the originals to publish the Carte photographique et systématique de la lune. His portfolio comprised a set of 48 heliogravures accompanied by printed tissue overlays delineating the moon's topographical features. These glass plates match Plates I, II (in duplicate), III, IV, V, VI, and XXII of the Carte. The hand-written dates on three of the plates correspond with those given in print for Plates III, VI, and XXII. The plates were manufactured by the Société Lumière, the film production company of the Lumière family, best known for their pioneering Cinématographe motion picture system. Their assistance was acknowledged in one of the Paris Observatory's annual reports: "special photographs on a large scale were taken of the moon... considerable difficulty was encountered in the preparation of the plates for these, and special mention is made of the services rendered by MM. Lumière in this matter" (Nature, p. 606). The Lumière box which is preserved alongside these plates is annotated to note the presence of Plates I to VI of le Morvan's portfolio (Plate XXII not mentioned) and that the images are "cliché definitifs" ("final shots"), though at some point "1 cassé remplacé" ("1 broken, replaced"). Given its long and complex publication history, complete copies of the Atlas are rare. This is compounded by the individual photogravure plates being highly prized by collectors, which results in fragmentary sets. Only two near-complete copies are recorded at auction in the past 30 years, one at Christie's on 18 May 2006 (lot 117, plates complete, lacking text fascicule no. 7, £54,000) and another at Sotheby's 20 November 2009 (lot 13, plates complete, lacking text fascicule no. 5, €24,750). This is to say nothing of the exceedingly fragile glass plates, which are even less encountered in commerce. The moon was much in vogue among creatives in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as seen in Jules Verne's novels From the Earth to the Moon (1865) and Around the Moon (1870), Jacques Offenbach's operetta Le voyage dans la lune (1875, loosely based on Verne), H. G. Wells's The First Men in the Moon (1901), and the simulator attraction "A Trip to the Moon" at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. The Lumière brothers famously refused to sell their cinematic system to their admirer and imitator Georges Méliès, maker of the iconic 1902 short film Le voyage dans la lune. READ MORE Together, nine items. Eight photographic positives on glass (varying sizes between 287 x 337 mm and 300 x 397 mm), of which three hand-dated in margins (22 February 1901, 20 December 1904, and 27 April 1909) and five undated. Offered with original black cardboard storage box (415 x 320 mm), printed label on lid lettered "Société anonyme des Plaques et Papiers photographiques A. Lumière & ses Fils". Three plates mounted and displayed in battery-powered backlit frames with museum acrylic glazing (size 570 x 470 mm), the remainder plus cardboard box housed in chemises within custom dark blue cloth archival case. Plates unevenly cut, one or two small chips to edges, a couple of plates a little tarnished in clear margins, black paper pasted at early date to negative space of 1904 plate to aid projection or printing (adhesive visible), the images entirely without loss, fissures, or deterioration; box extremities worn and chipped, label annotated in ink and pencil. Overall in near-fine condition.