Book Collection
"Himmelskunde" by Joseph Plassmann - 1898
Here is a copy of 'Himmelskunde' by Joseph Plassmann that was published in 1898 that I acquired for a mere $20 USD. It has a very decorative cover with a star chart on the front cover, solar eclipse on the spine, and a comet on the back cover. The book was re-backed sometime in the past and it is ex-library, which I can easily overlook in this case. The book was intended for more advanced amateur astronomers since mathematics comes up frequently between its covers. The book is loaded with lots of illustrations, but most of them are black and white. The only color illustrations are the frontispiece showing Jupiter, a plate showing Egyptian constellations between pages 238 and 239, and a plate showing solar prominences between pages 332 and 333. The best part is the huge planisphere attached at the back of the book. That planisphere when it was unfolded covered a good part of our dining room table. There are a few copies available on ABE Books in the $20 to $90 USD price range. There is a 1913 edition of this book that in my opinion is not as nice as the 1898 edition.