LAMBERT, Johann Heinrich (1728-1777). Beschreibung und Gebrauch einer neuen und allgemeinen eccliptischen Tafel. Berlin: Realschulbuchhandlung, 1765.

First edition of a scarce work on eclipses, with a table which precedes modern illustrations of eclipse patterns by two centuries. Lambert, an Alsace native, published this ecliptic table soon after his appointment to the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. His "prescient [work] identifies the 29-year solar eclipse cycle known today as the Inex cycle. This cycle was not described again until 1901 in separate papers by John Stockwell and A.C.D. Crommelin" (Michael Zeiler, "Solar eclipse maps from 1741 to 1800," accessed online April 2024). Hammond, p.69.

Octavo (170 x 104mm). Two engraved folding plates; woodcut head-piece, letterpress tables (spotting to text and plates.) Contemporary vellum and marbled paper over boards (rubbed, first few leaves loosening).