J. Brit. Astron. Assoc., 108, 3, 1998, p.172
Cambridge University Press, 1998. (Published with the support of Gresham College, London.) ISBN 0-521-630606. Pp. xiv + 369 (hbk).
reviewed by Julian Baum
Captivating, enriching, evocative; all equally describe this lavishly illustrated multidisciplinary study published in cooperation with Gresham College, London, as part of its quatercentenary celebrations. The book, which is focused on comet and meteor representation during the Enlightenment, and the Georgian and Victorian periods - 'the Golden Age of both British astronomy and art,' is the result of a highly successful collaboration between distinguished art historian Roberta Olson, Professor of Art History and Mary L. Heuser Chair in the Arts at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts, and well-known astronomer Jay Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Hopkins Observatory at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, who have jointly written several major articles on comet imagery in art.
Here they consider the subject 'more or less chronologically within the broader context of the unique British scientific, artistic, social and cultural developments that encouraged' its genesis. The period covered opens with the comets observed by Newton and Halley in 1680 and 1682, and closes with the reappearance of the second of these as Halley's Comet in 1910; hence from shortly after the invention of the telescope to the foundation of astronomical photography, and the birth of astrophysics. Through eight chapters, 'The Beginnings of Telescopic Astronomy and the Background of British Astronomy and Artistic Tradition,' 'The Heavens on Fire: The Eighteenth Century,' 'The Comet-Crazed Century Opens,' 'The Triumph of Realism,' 'Donati's Comet, the Watershed,' 'The Origin of Comet (and Meteor) Photography,' 'The Triumph of the Imagination,' and 'Comets and the New Century,' the effects of this revolution in astronomical technology on the way comets and meteors were rendered by artists, astronomers and the general public is discussed in fascinating detail. Colin Pillinger, the current Gresham professor of astronomy, adds a perceptive epilogue in which he articulates the past within the framework of Rosetta, ESA's planned Cornerstone mission to comet 46P/Wirtanen, and the Giotto mission launched to Halley's Comet in 1985.
As already noted, the book showcases a breathtaking selection of paintings, many reproduced in colour. For instance there is an anonymous colour reproduction showing Donati's Comet near Arcturus, over Balliol College and Trinity College, Oxford, 1858 October 5, and Edward J. Cooper's exquisite chromo-lithograph of the same comet from Markree Castle, Collooney, Ireland. William Dyce's sunset depiction Pegwell Bay: A Recollection of 5th October 1858 is also very evocative, and strikingly complements William Turner's vivid water-colour imagery of the same date. There are also observational drawings by G. P. Bond, John Brett, Thomas Maclear, Charles Piazzi Smyth, the Rev.T. W. Webb, and others, in addition to photographs, and works of art and illustration. There can be no doubt that Olson and Pasachoff have produced a remarkable work of great value and wide appeal, one destined for posterity.
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