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Educational Version of Gaudibert's Map of the Moon Presented To The Astronomical Society of France in February 1888

Fine togographically projected map of the moon, drawn by Leon Fenet, produced at the end of the 19th Century in Paris, published by Emile Bertaux.  Published on two sheets, the second sheet is a transparency, which is laid over the first sheet, adding place names and outlines of the topographical features of the moon illustrated on the first sheet.

The work is the collaboration of French Astronomer Casimir Marie Gaudibert, French astronomer, author and scientific popularizer Camille Flammarion, publisher Emile Bertaux and artist Leon Fenet.  Gaudibert's map introduced six crater names later adopted into the International Astronomical Union's original lunar nomenclature in 1935.

The map is based upon the work of Casimir Marie Gaudibert (1823 – 1901),  a French amateur astronomer and selenographer. Gaudibert produced a map of the Moon in 1887 and later, under the direction of Camille Flammarion.  Emile Bertaux subsequently produced a globe of the moon based on Gaudibert's lunar map.   On February 1, 1888, Bertaux presented the Gaudibert's map, drawn by Fenet and reproduced by heliography to the Royal Academy. The original image measured 64 centimeters in diameter.

Nicolas Camille Flammarion (1842 - 1925) was a French astronomer and author. He was a prolific author of more than fifty titles, including popular science works about astronomy, several notable early science fiction novels.  He also published the magazine L'Astronomie, starting in 1882. He maintained a private observatory at Juvisy-sur-Orge, France.   He was a founder and the first president of the Société astronomique de France, which originally had its own independent journal, BSAF (Bulletin de la Société astronomique de France), first published in 1887.

The map would seem to be a reduction of a larger separately published map issued by Fenet and Flammarion advertised as follows:

Carte pittoresque de la Lune dressée sous la direction de Camille Flammarion, par Léon Fenet. — Cette carte mesure 0 m 47 sur 0 m 38; elle est imprimée en taille-douce sur bristol; un transparent donne les noms des 500 principaux cirques, des mers et des montagnes. Prix: 2 fr. 50.

Sans rien sacrifier à la précision, cette carte a acquis par un mode de représentation pittoresque un aspect de relief obtenu en supposant la topographie du globe lunaire éclairé sous un angle de 23 degré», l'épaisseur des ombres correspond à la hauteur de chaque montagne.

Translation:

Picturesque map of the Moon constructed by Camille Flammarion and Léon Fenet. - This map measures 0.47 by 0.38; it is printed in soft size on Bristol [paper]; with a transparency [laid on top] giving the names of the 500 major crators, seas and mountains. Price: 2 fr. 50.

Without sacrificing accuracy, this map has acquired, through a picturesque mode of representation, an aspect of relief obtained by assuming the topography of the illuminated lunar globe at an angle of 23 degrees ”, the thickness of the shadows corresponds to the height of each mountain.

 Rarity

We were unable to locate the present map in any instutitional or on-line digital collections.

The original example of the map noted above is extremely rare.  We note only the example at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and the University of Pennsylvania.  https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb40718002h