London : Bloomsbury –Astronomy and Space

Bloomsbury Auctions’ sale at Astronomy Books and Space Photographs on December 12th covers five centuries of extra-terrestial discoveries including a first edition by Galileo Galilei (1613) as well as colour views of the Moon from the NASA spacecraft Galileo (1992).



The earliest lot, and with an estimate of £40,000-60,000 potentially the most valuable, is a unique compendium of illustrated manuscript astronomical texts compiled in Italy, probably in Verona or Bologna around 1470. with its original covers, the volume (lot 1) was formerly in the collection of bibliomaniac Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872). 


There are three seminal works by Galileo, the earliest (lot 7) his first published endorsement of the Copernican system, 1613 (est. £8,000-12,000) and the third (lot 13 ) the first edition of his collected works,1655-56 (est. £3,500-5,000). 



Hand-coloured astronomical charts from.1660 to 1720 by Cellarius and Doppelmayer were originally destined for the libraries of antiquaries but are now more often seen on the walls of drawing-rooms and boardrooms. A set of eight framed celestial charts by Cellarius from his Harmonia Macrocosmica of 1708 (lot 20) is estimated at £3,000-4,000. 



Astronomical studies were revolutionised by the advent of photography after 1839 and the sale includes some classic late-19thcentury images of the Moon by Loewy and Puiseux taken from the Paris Observatory (lots 52-54, est. £400-800 each).



The new science of rocketry was developed in Russia and Germany in the 1920s and 1930s and the sale includes a rare manuscript by the Russian father of theoretical rocketry Konstantin Tsiolkovsky dated 1927 (lot 59, est.£1,000-1,5000).



Using the expertise of Wernher von Braun and his co-workers on the V-2 rocket program, the United States made huge post-war strides in rocketry, although challenged by the U.S.S.R. in the early 1960s. The sale includes early, 1950s, American launches as well as later Russian images. 



A group of 27 rare large-format (11 x 14 in) colour photographs includes fine examples of the celebrated Earthrise from Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve 1968 and Crescent Earthrise from Apollo 17, the last crew to view the Earth from the Moon forty years ago this month (lots 127 and 128, both estimated £3,000-5,000). Also in large-format are five portraits of Buzz Aldrin taken by Neil Armstrong during the first moonwalk (lots 130 to 134, est. £2,000 to £4,000 each).



The first of 120 lots of lunar photography is a boxed set of the first ever close-up views of the Moon taken from the Ranger 7 spacecraft in July 1964 (lot 245, est. £4,000-6,000). Dramatic, large (20 x 16 in) views of lunar craters from the Lunar Orbiter series, 1967, are estimated £400-600 each. More unusual items include a 1966 lunar globe (lot 249, est.£150-200), a group of Polaroids of the first broadcast images of Armstrong and Aldrin on the Moon (lot 298, est.£600-800) and an unused design for the “First Man on the Moon” stamp commissioned by the U.S.Postal Service from space artist Paul Calle (lot 309, £1,500-2,000). Many views of the lunar surface from orbit are estimated around £150 each. 



The sale concludes with a collection of views of deep space and planets including two striking views of star clusters from the telescope of the Mount Wilson Observatory, 1918-1921, (lots 366 and 337, ests. £400-600 each). Lot 373 is the complete set of 22 views of Mars, 1965, not only the first pictures of the Martian surface but also the first images of another planet from deep space (est. £600-800). 



The catalogue includes many photographs estimations between £200 to £500 ; the cover image, a composite view of Jupiter and its largest moons from 1979, is estimated £200-300.

Auction
Astronomy and Space
Exploration: 15th to 20th Century
Wednesday 12th December 2012
after 1.00 pm (lots 1-407)
Bloomsbury Auctions
24 Maddox Street
W1S 1PP London
UK

For more information please contact:
Bloomsbury Auctions | [email protected] | +44 020 7495 9494