[ELGER, THOMAS GWYN]. The Moon: A Full Description and Map of Its Principal Physical Features. London: George Philip and Son, 1895.
FIRST EDITION, cloth-bound, hardcover, tall octavo (25cm x 15.5cm), pp. viii, 173, [3]. English text, with 4 double-page maps of the moon. Bound in publishers original blue cloth with bevelled edges, lettering to upper board and spine, coated endpapers, half-title, advert leaf at end. Condition: GOOD. Binding tight and secure. Covers well-preserved with slight rubbing to spine ends. Small taped repair to front endpaper and half-title. Some inking to head of title-page. Maps excellent. Scarce.
Notes: Rare first edition. Elger was the first director of the Lunar Section of the British Astronomical Association, which kept up interest in the moon after the demise of the Selenographic Society. Using an 8.5" reflector, Elger made many drawings of the moon between 1884 and 1896; his sketchbooks survive, and are now in the possession of the British Astronomical Association. The Moon contains Elger's own lunar map, in four sections, with a diameter of 18 inches. It is much less complex than the maps of Neison, Schmidt, Mädler, and Lohrmann, and for that reason, one of the most usable lunar maps ever produced. Printed with the maria in green, and with easily legible type, it is still an ideal reference map (Ashworth).
