An Eclipse Party in Africa
Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1896.
First Edition. 412 pp. 8vo. Original olive-green cloth with intricate gilt and black pictorial decorations to the front board and spine. Top edge gilt. Illustrated with photographs and diagrams from the expedition. Minor rubbing to the spine ends and corners. Internally clean with a contemporary 1897 ownership notation to the title page.
Written by the Senior Assistant of the U.S. Nautical Almanac Office, this narrative details the 1889 scientific expedition to West Africa intended to observe the total solar eclipse. Loomis provides a vivid account of the voyage aboard the U.S.S. Pensacola, touching on the Azores, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast. While centered on astronomical pursuits, the text is equally valued by collectors for its Victorian-era observations of African colonial life and the botanical and zoological specimens encountered. A striking example of late 19th-century book design and scientific exploration.
Price: $170.00