COLLECTION NAME:
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Record
Author:
Lowell, Percival, 1855-1916
Date:
1894
Short Title:
The planet Mars. (1)
Publisher:
Lowell Observatory
Publisher Location:
Flagstaff
Type:
Celestial Map
Type:
Globe
Obj Height cm:
31
Obj Width cm:
29
Note:
Celestial map of Mars in 1894. Shows regions of the planet with shaded areas, spots and lines, the latter representing canals. Relief shown photographically Includes latitudinal and longitudinal lines. Black and white photograph, mounted on board sheet. Map is 14 x 14 cm, on 30 x 26 sheet cm. First of twelve maps in the atlas, each of which provides a uniquely rotated view of the planet, as indicated by longitudinal degrees: here, 360° - 130°. Together, the maps document the Lowell Observatory's manuscript globe of Mars from 1894. Imprint appears in bottom right margin.
Region:
Mars
Subject:
Art
Subject:
Imaginary
Subject:
Astronomy
Subject:
Exploration
Full Title:
The planet Mars. Lowell Observatory, Arizona, 1894. (1)
List No:
14332.002
Series No:
2
Engraver or Printer:
Lowell Observatory
Publication Author:
Lowell, Percival, 1855-1916
Pub Date:
1894
Pub Title:
The planet Mars. Lowell Observatory, Arizona, 1894.
Pub Note:
Along with Etienne Trouvelot's fantastic chromolithographs of the heavens, this is one of the great artistic documents from the moment just before celestial art was superseded by direct photography. It is a quintessential marriage of art and science, prefiguring the birth of Constructivism and coming at the end of the era of the celestial artist.
The planet mars, by Percival Lowell, was published in Flagstaff Arizona by the Lowell Observatory in 1894. Bound in marbled board with black roan spine, which has debossed, gilded title, authorship and imprint. Marbled end papers. Verso of front board has a bookplate of the John Crerar Library, University of Chicago, with ink deaccession stamp. Flyleaves have perforated stamps of the John Crerar Library. Collation: [1-2] pages, [12] leaves of plates, [1-2] pages (first two and last two pages are blank). Plates comprised of 12 mounted black and white photographs of Mars. Photographs show regions of the planet with shaded areas, spots and lines, the latter representing canals. Images include latitudinal and longitudinal lines. Each photograph provides a uniquely rotated view of the planet, as indicated by longitudinal degrees. Together, these celestial maps document the Lowell Observatory's manuscript globe of Mars from 1894. Imprint appears in bottom right margin of each sheet.
Atlas was produced by the Lowell Observatory in its first year of operation, 1894. The observatory was founded by the Lowell family, supporting Percival Lowell’s goal of providing unparalleled imagery of Mars with which he could document the planet's alien topography. Lowell dedicated himself to the study of Mars after reading Camille Flammarion's La planète Mars and becoming familiar with the work of the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. The latter was the director of the Milan Observatory, and through observations made during Great Opposition of 1877, he promoted the notion that Mars was crisscrossed by a complex network of structures that he called "canali". That term is most accurately translated "channels", but in the English-speaking world it became more widely understood to mean "canals". This simple mistranslation would give rise to a long-lived belief that Mars' surface had been modified by extraterrestrial beings. Lowell was the strongest proponent of the theory that the canals had been built by an intelligent civilization of Martians. He went much further than even Schiaparelli, who viewed much of the detail in Lowell's drawings as mistaken or imaginary. Lowell developed and promulgated his theories in the face of increasing opposition from the scientific community. In 1903, Joseph Edward Evans and Edward Maunder conducted experiments that demonstrated that the appearance of canals could arise from an optical illusion. During the 1909 opposition of Mars, no canals were observed by the largest telescopes. The theory was conclusively disproved when NASA's Mariner 4 arrived at Mars in 1965 and found no canal-like structures.
In addition, Lowell rendered his observations of Martian topography on a series of blank globes between 1894 and 1914. He sketched on the plaster or gessoed surface with graphite, creating crossing lines, and shading between them. As his theories and observations developed, he added more lines and toponyms and refined his interpretation of the surface gradations. The globe depicted in this album is the earliest Lowell manuscript globe held at the Observatory and reflects the earliest stages of his theory. The Lowell Observatory remains an active site of astronomical research today. (See PLN 14331.000 for Mars, book by Lowell, 1894.)
The planet mars, by Percival Lowell, was published in Flagstaff Arizona by the Lowell Observatory in 1894. Bound in marbled board with black roan spine, which has debossed, gilded title, authorship and imprint. Marbled end papers. Verso of front board has a bookplate of the John Crerar Library, University of Chicago, with ink deaccession stamp. Flyleaves have perforated stamps of the John Crerar Library. Collation: [1-2] pages, [12] leaves of plates, [1-2] pages (first two and last two pages are blank). Plates comprised of 12 mounted black and white photographs of Mars. Photographs show regions of the planet with shaded areas, spots and lines, the latter representing canals. Images include latitudinal and longitudinal lines. Each photograph provides a uniquely rotated view of the planet, as indicated by longitudinal degrees. Together, these celestial maps document the Lowell Observatory's manuscript globe of Mars from 1894. Imprint appears in bottom right margin of each sheet.
Atlas was produced by the Lowell Observatory in its first year of operation, 1894. The observatory was founded by the Lowell family, supporting Percival Lowell’s goal of providing unparalleled imagery of Mars with which he could document the planet's alien topography. Lowell dedicated himself to the study of Mars after reading Camille Flammarion's La planète Mars and becoming familiar with the work of the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. The latter was the director of the Milan Observatory, and through observations made during Great Opposition of 1877, he promoted the notion that Mars was crisscrossed by a complex network of structures that he called "canali". That term is most accurately translated "channels", but in the English-speaking world it became more widely understood to mean "canals". This simple mistranslation would give rise to a long-lived belief that Mars' surface had been modified by extraterrestrial beings. Lowell was the strongest proponent of the theory that the canals had been built by an intelligent civilization of Martians. He went much further than even Schiaparelli, who viewed much of the detail in Lowell's drawings as mistaken or imaginary. Lowell developed and promulgated his theories in the face of increasing opposition from the scientific community. In 1903, Joseph Edward Evans and Edward Maunder conducted experiments that demonstrated that the appearance of canals could arise from an optical illusion. During the 1909 opposition of Mars, no canals were observed by the largest telescopes. The theory was conclusively disproved when NASA's Mariner 4 arrived at Mars in 1965 and found no canal-like structures.
In addition, Lowell rendered his observations of Martian topography on a series of blank globes between 1894 and 1914. He sketched on the plaster or gessoed surface with graphite, creating crossing lines, and shading between them. As his theories and observations developed, he added more lines and toponyms and refined his interpretation of the surface gradations. The globe depicted in this album is the earliest Lowell manuscript globe held at the Observatory and reflects the earliest stages of his theory. The Lowell Observatory remains an active site of astronomical research today. (See PLN 14331.000 for Mars, book by Lowell, 1894.)
Pub List No:
14332.000
Pub Type:
Celestial Atlas
Pub Maps:
12
Pub Height cm:
31
Pub Width cm:
29
Image No:
14332002.jp2
Authors:
Lowell, Percival, 1855-1916
The planet Mars. (1)
