DARQUIER Augustin Observations astronomiques faites à Toulouse.

Lalande, p.555; not in Houzeau & Lancaster.

First edition.

Antoine Darquier (the chevalier d'Arquier de Pellepoix) began his career at the Observatory in the tower of the ramparts of Toulouse, but his real activity did not begin until he set up his own observatory above his house, which he equipped with a considerable technical arsenal.

In his introduction, he also recounts how he received a magnificent triple-lens telescope as a gift from Lord Butte, during a visit to Toulouse by the English aristocrat, who was also passionate about astronomy. This work retraces all the observations made by Darquier between 1748 and 1780: in addition to calculating the precise position of his observatory, he describes the aurora borealis, solar eclipses, his observations of the moon, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter and comets. It was while studying the comet of 1779 that he discovered the Lyra nebula.

The work is illustrated with a beautiful aquatinat plate showing the author at work in his observatory, two plates describing his telescope, a plate giving the measurement of the pendulum and a table of the lengths of the pendulum.

A fine, sympatheticaly washed copy.