Histoire de l'astronomie, depuis 1781 jusqu'a 1811,: pour servir de suite à l'histoire de l'astronomie de Bailly.

Paris: Courcier, 1810. First edition. Cloth. Very Good. 4to (29 cm); ix, 383 pages. Bound in mid-20th-century blue buckram, title and owner's name stamped in gilt on spine. Original blue paper publisher's wraps bound in. Untrimmed copy with generous margins. Binding rather mottled, especially on lower board. Ownership mark of Charles D. Humberd, M.D., on spine.

Interesting account of the state of the astronomy at the end of the 18th century and through, optimistically, to the year following the date of publication. This was an active period, which included the later work of William Herschel and J.H. Schroeter, the discovery of planets and comets, advances in understanding motion and gravity, conflict over the placement of the prime meridian, and much more. This copy belonged to the American physician Charles D. Humberd (1897-1960), known as "the freak doctor" because of his nearly obsessive interest in circus sideshows, and particularly in acromegalic gigantism. Humberd not only collected articles of clothing that belonged to giants (their hats, shoes, finger rings, etc.), but he also acquired the remains of two individuals, boiled off the soft tissue and reconstructed their skeletons to decorate his rural Missouri home. Humberd published several papers in the Journal of the American Medical Association (in the 1930s) on the measurements and personality "disorders" of particular individuals, resulting in professional tit-for-tat with Harvey Cushing, and provoking a lawsuit for libel from one of the subjects.