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Historic solar eclipses

Here in Provo, Utah, people are gearing up for the solar eclipse which will be visible in our area on August 21. To add to the festivities, we’ve pulled out a few books (both scientific and literary) about eclipses of past centuries.

This small pamphlet was published by astronomer Johann Erich Müller in Greifswald, Germany, about the total solar eclipse of Sept. 14, 1708:

Here’s a folding plate illustrating the May 3, 1715 eclipse by another German astronomer, Johann Wiedeburg:

Not all our eclipse books are strictly scientific! The solar eclipse of Sept. 7, 1820 inspired this piece of English political satire. King George IV had inherited the throne earlier that year, and this pamphlet likens his well-known vices to the moon blocking the virtuous sunshine across Britain.

Interested in finding books about eclipses at the library? Search on the subject term “eclipses” or “solar eclipses.” If you’re looking for a specific eclipse of the past, you can also include the year it occurred as a search term.

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