These are a set of eleven large glass slides showing images of the lunar surface (16) taken through a telescope and photographs of the photographers (2). This is a set of eight large glass slides depicting images of the moon. Each 12cm x 16.5cm slide appears to be a copy of a page of a photographic atlas called “Photographie Lunaire” by Maurice Loewy and Pierre Puiseux (1910).
They are kept in a stack separated by pieces of paper (one of these is a piece of U of T newspaper) inside a cardboard “Seed’s” photographic plate box that a two red and white sticker affixed to the top in order to identify the contents. Most of the slides have a sticker on one corner, these read (for example): “II 6”.
Accession Number: 2018.ast.98
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Glass, Cardboard
On the original paper label of the box: “SEED’S Dry Plates”
“Keep in Dry Place
Open only in Dark Room”
Handwritten on the red and white sticker in ink, and then crossed out in pencil: “Duplicates not [???] Printed”
On a piece of paper inside the box: “23 feb 1896
23 Oct 1899” [This appears to refer to the date of the photographs, not the creation of the slides]
Dimensions (cm):
These slides were likely produced and used for demonstration or teaching purposes.
Very Good: The plates are in good condition although they slightly chipped around the edges and in some places the photographic surface is peeling off the glass around the edges. The paper that separates the slides is yellowed. The box is mostly intact, alhtough coming apart at the seams. It is very worn along the edges and corners, and stained in places.
Manufacturer:
Photographs: 1890s, Slides & Exposures: 1910-1925
It is unknown why these slides were produced. They may be associated with teaching at the Department of Astronomy, or with work done at the David Dunlap Observatory. If the latter, they were likely moved from the David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill in 2008, upon the sale of the observatory. It was stored at the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics until 2017, when it was moved to a new storage location in McLennan Physical Laboratories.
Date given comes from a piece of newspaper inside the box, which includes the phrase: “The 1925 basketball season gets underway next Monday afternoon…”
The Metropolitan Museum holds a photogravure by Loewy & Puiseux, <a href=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/265630>and provides some information</a> about their work [24/01/18].
Historical Notes:
Themes: