Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 8

Moritz Loewy; Pierre-Henry Puiseux
GEMMA FRISIUS_SACROBOSCO_DESCAR - Héliogravure of the Moon's Surface.

1899

About the Item

Héliogravure after photographs by Loewy and Puiseux depicting the Moon’s surface, from Atlas Photographique de la Lune. [Published: Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1899]. The finest and most meticulous images of the moon until the 1970’s. The Atlas photographique de la lune was the ultimate achievement of nineteenth-century astronomical photography and can be regarded, along with Muybridge’s Animal Locomotion (1887) and Edward S. Curtis’ The North American Indian (1907-30), as one of the great publishing ventures of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Indeed it was not until the 1970’s when Bernard Lyot at the Pic du Midi Observatory obtained results that were clearly better than those of Loewy and Puisseaux. As with all books published in fascicles, complete copies are rare and the individual plates, amongst the largest and finest ever made, are prized by collectors for their sheer aesthetic beauty. Moritz Loewy (1833-1907) and Pierre-Henri Puiseux (1855-1928), assisted by Charles Morvan, undertook a project to make a complete series of detailed photographs of the moon and the lunar surface. The two astronomers devoted approximately 500 evenings to observations in order to make more than 6,000 photographs of the moon. Their very best images were then published in L'Atlas photographique de la Lune. This was issued in fascicles from 1896 and 1910 by the Observatory of Paris, the atlas represents the best and most complete overview of the work of Loewy and Puiseux. The photographs were taken through the 24-inch coudé refractor, which had been invented by Loewy in 1889. The negatives were produced at the Paris Observatory with a camera attached to a telescope. Since the earth and the moon are moving constantly, the camera and telescope had to move accordingly to produce a clear image-no easy feat considering the long exposure times required to take photographs at night. Both were synchronized with the moon's path by a sophisticated preset clock system, and the resulting images, such as this example, maintained an impressive amount of detail, even after subsequent photographic enlargement and transfer to an etching plate. The majority of the photographic reproductions by heliogravure were entrusted to M. Fillon at Heuse, Gaultier and Schutzenberger. The enlargements were used to decorate the showroom of the Ministère de l'Instruction Publique at the Exposition Universelle during the World's Fair, which was held in Paris in 1900.
  • Creator:
    Moritz Loewy; Pierre-Henry Puiseux
  • Creation Year:
    1899
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 33.94 in (86.2 cm)Width: 26.38 in (67 cm)
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Framed and glazed. Overall dimensions: 67cm x 86.2 cm.
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 1014331stDibs: LU141926977842

More From This Seller

View All
BOUSSINGAULT _ VLACQ _ MAUROLYC - Héliogravure of the Moon Surface.
Located in London, GB
Héliogravure after photographs by Loewy and Puiseux depicting the Moon’s surface, from Atlas Photographique de la Lune. [Published: Imprimerie Nationale,...
Category

1890s Naturalistic Black and White Photography

Materials

Other Medium

POSIDONIUS_ATLAS_CORNE BORÉALE. - Héliogravure of the Moon's Surface
Located in London, GB
Héliogravure after photographs by Loewy and Puiseux depicting the Moon’s surface, from Atlas Photographique de la Lune. [Published: Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1899]. The finest a...
Category

1890s Naturalistic Black and White Photography

Materials

Other Medium

PETAVIUS_LANGRENUS_MER DES CRIS - Héliogravure of the Moon's Surface
Located in London, GB
Héliogravure after photographs by Loewy and Puiseux depicting the Moon’s surface, from Atlas Photographique de la Lune. [Published: Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1899]. The finest a...
Category

1890s Naturalistic Black and White Photography

Materials

Other Medium

MAUROLYCUS_WERNER_SACROBOSCO - Héliogravure of the Moon's Surface.
Located in London, GB
Héliogravure after photographs by Loewy and Puiseux depicting the Moon’s surface, from Atlas Photographique de la Lune. [Published: Imprimerie Nationale,...
Category

1890s Naturalistic Black and White Photography

Materials

Other Medium

PÔLE SUD_PITISCUS_ZAGUT. Héliogravure of the Moon's Surface
Located in London, GB
Héliogravure after photographs by Loewy and Puiseux depicting the Moon’s surface, from Atlas Photographique de la Lune. [Published: Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1899]. The finest a...
Category

1890s Naturalistic Black and White Photography

Materials

Other Medium

Bowers returned from Southern journey.
By Herbert Ponting
Located in London, GB
PONTING, Herbert. Bowers returned from Southern journey. circa 1935. Classic Ponting photograph from Captain Scott’s Terra Nova expedition (1910-...
Category

1930s Naturalistic Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

You May Also Like

Black and White Photograph of One Year old Gorilla in Rwanda Before the Genocide
By Peter Beard
Located in Brookville, NY
This black and white photograph by Peter Beard, measures 40"x60" unframed, it measures 48" 3/4 x 76" framed. It is printed on platinum paper by W.Ingram signed in pencil by the artist, Peter Beard. This is an A/P from an edition of 15 Exhibited Nassau Co Museum of Art 2016 -2017 Illustrated in Peter Beards Book...
Category

1980s Naturalistic Black and White Photography

Materials

Black and White

"Chapel of St. Basil" Black and White Photograph of Church Interior Cross Window
Located in Houston, TX
Black and white photograph by Houston, Texas photographer, Nash Baker, of the Chapel of St. Basil's cross window and crucifixion procession sculpture. Titled, signed, and dated by ar...
Category

1990s Naturalistic Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Slight Fragments #11
Located in New York, NY
All artworks are Fine Art archival prints on handmade Ise-Washi paper, from the color Analog negative made with a lensless pinhole camera. The proposed framing is a float mount in a deep shadow box frame, where the artwork is hinged inside the frame, for the 2 larger sizes, and matted with an 8 ply museum board for the 2 smaller sizes. We propose a white mat frame or a natural wood frame. Japanese photographer Reiko Yagi...
Category

2010s Naturalistic Black and White Photography

Materials

Handmade Paper, Washi Paper, Color, Pinhole

"Chapel of St. Basil" Black and White Photograph of Church Window and Crucifix
Located in Houston, TX
Black and white photograph by Houston, Texas photographer, Nash Baker, of the Chapel of St. Basil. Titled, signed, and dated by artist on matte. Matted and framed in black aluminum f...
Category

1990s Naturalistic Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

El Caballero - Baryta silver gelatin print - wood frame, 2014
By James Sparshatt
Located in Coltishall, GB
The gentleman… a man of calm dignity and endessly kind eyes in Old Havana in 2016. The Spirit of the Revolution series documents the generation of Cubans that saw the dramatic chan...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Naturalistic Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin, Glass, Wood

U WASH Truck, Death Valley CA
By Gerard Giliberti
Located in East Hampton, NY
Black & White Photo U-Wash-Truck, Death Valley, CA Edition: 5 Medium: Archival Pigment Print Price: $550 Printed to Order Also available in 20"x30" Edition of 10 $725 Gerry Gilibe...
Category

2010s Naturalistic Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Recently Viewed

View All