Lot 383
Lowell, Percival
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photography
Auction: 31 August 2016 at 12:00 BST
Description
Mars and its Canals. New York and London: Macmillan, 1906. First edition, 8vo, 16 plates, 4 coloured, original blind and gilt-stamped green cloth, small inscription on endpaper ("Lilian from Kirkwood, Dec. 25, 1907"); Lowell, P. Mars as the Abode of Life. New York: Macmillan, 1910. Reprinted August 1910. 8vo, plates, original maroon cloth, slightly rubbed (2)
Footnote
Note: "Lowell was not the first to regard the Martian bright areas as deserts and the dark areas as vegetation but he studied in unprecedented detail the progressive 'wave of darkening' of the dark areas as the seasons advanced... The premise that the dark areas are vegetation was almost universally accepted until the late 1950's" (DSB).