nineteenth century e.l. trouvelot astronomical prints at...

Nineteenth Century E.L. Trouvelot astronomical prints at EmporiaState University

DEWAYNE A. BACKHUS1 AND ELIZABETH K. FITCH2

1Departments of Physical Sciences, Physics Department, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS 66801 [email protected] Sciences Department, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS 66801

Although known more infamously for his efforts with sericulture and the accidentalrelease of the gypsy moth in North America, the mid-nineteenth century Frenchemigrant E.L. Trouvelot left a more honorable legacy to astronomy based on hiscelestial observations, and his detailed and accurate drawings of astronomical objectsand phenomena. A portfolio of 15 Trouvelot prints and an accompanying manual wereproduced and distributed by Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1881; Emporia State Universitypossesses ten of the portfolio prints, but not an original of the manual. The ten printsat ESU include numbers III (total solar eclipse), V (zodiacal light), VI (lunar mareHumorum), VII (partial lunar eclipse), VIII (Mars), IX (Jupiter), XI (comet of 1881),XIII (Milky Way), XIV (Hercules cluster, M13), and XV (Orion nebula, M42).Although the basis for their presence is uncertain, it has an apparent coincidence withT.M. Iden, who arrived at then Kansas State Normal School in 1897 as head of thephysical sciences. The ESU Trouvelot prints have been properly conserved to preservethese historically significant renderings.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE KANSAS

ACADEMY OF SCIENCE

Vol. 109, no. 1/2p. 11-20 (2006)

caterpillars invaded the neighborhood. By themid-1890s the entire state was infested; seeUSDA Forest Service-Northeastern ResearchStation (2003) for graphic portrayals ofmeasures utilized by the Massachusetts StateBoard of Agriculture to thwart the infestation.Although Trouvelot may be remembered morenotoriously as the person responsible forintroducing the gypsy moth to the NorthAmerican continent, by the mid-1880s he hadachieved a more honorable distinction for hiscontributions to astronomy. But ironically, hewent back to France in 1882 and neverreturned to the United States to witness thefeared effects of the gypsy moth egg release.

Several factors converged to inspire adistinctive episode in Trouvelot’s life in the1870s. The Boston area was obviously a richintellectual community, and he had amembership in the Boston Society of Natural

TROUVELOT: THE PERSON

Etienne Leopold Trouvelot (1827-1895)emigrated from France to the Boston,Massachusetts area in 1855. Althoughtrained as an artist in his homeland, hedabbled in sericulture after arriving in theUnited States. The family home in Medford,Massachusetts had acres of land covered withnetting for the purpose of raising silkwormsfor silk production. Apparently desirous ofmore silk production than that obtained fromsilkworms indigenous to North America,Trouvelot traveled to Europe in the late 1860sand he returned in 1869 with eggs of gypsymoths.

Subsequently, the gypsy moth eggs wereaccidentally released. Trouvelot sensed thegravity of the matter, but others expressedlittle concern until 1886 when their

12 Backhus and Fitch

History (Herman and Corbin 1986). Throughthis association he would have had theopportunity to become acquainted withnaturalists such as Louis Agassiz, Asa Grayand Joseph Winlock, the latter of whom wasdirector of the Harvard College Observatory.That circumstance, Trouvelot’s artistic talents,and his observations and drawings of a meteorshower (November, 1868) and several aurorasin 1870 combined to set the course for anoteworthy contribution to the heritage ofastronomy in the form of drawings and printsof celestial objects and phenomena (Trouvelot1882).

THE TROUVELOT PRINTS

A meteor shower or auroras would beaccessible to many as naked-eye phenomena.However, Trouvelot’s drawings andrenderings of what he observed, reflecting thetalents of one trained as an artist, captured theattention and admiration of Winlock, whoinvited Trouvelot to join the Harvard CollegeObservatory staff in 1872. This providedTrouvelot access to the Observatory’s 15-inchrefractor telescope. Later, in 1875, he wasgranted observing privileges to the 26-inchrefractor, then the world’s largest, at theUnited States Naval Observatory. Trouvelot’ssubsequent studies and ultimately hisdrawings and prints based on naked-eyeobservations and use of the telescopesincluded features of the sun (his self-proclaimed forté), the moon, the planetsMars, Jupiter, and Saturn, a comet (1881),and “deep-sky” objects (including a globularstar cluster and a nebula). During his U.S.-based observing career, from about November1868 when he observed meteors (the basis forPlate XII, The November Meteors) to 1881when he made observations for Plate XI, TheGreat Comet of 1881, he produced some 7000drawings (Trouvelot 1882).

In spite of embryonic developments inastrophotography beginning in the late 1840s,Trouvelot was confident of a continuing role

for sketches produced by an astute and carefulobserver:

Although photography renders valuableassistance to the astronomer in the caseof the Sun and Moon…for othersubjects, its products are in general soblurred and indistinct that no details ofany great value can be secured. A well-trained eye alone is capable of seizingthe delicate details of structure and ofconfiguration of the heavenly bodies,which are liable to be affected, and evenrendered invisible, by the slightestchanges in our atmosphere. (Trouvelot1882, p. vi)

To ensure exactness with his drawings,Trouvelot used a grid system positioned at theprime focus of his observing telescope. As atestimony to his accuracy relative to starpositions, one analysis concludes thatTrouvelot’s drawings of star positions near theOrion nebula were within 6 arc seconds ofactual star positions (Herman and Corbin1986, p. 567).

From his plethora of drawings, some wereselected for special exhibitions. For example,several drawings were displayed at the UnitedStates Centennial Exhibition in 1876 inPhiladelphia as part of the Naval Observatoryexhibit. But to reach a broader audience, and“to illustrate the principal classes of celestialobjects and phenomena” (Trouvelot 1882, p.v), 15 drawings were selected and madeavailable through Charles Scribner’s Sons in1881 as a portfolio of chromolithographic(multi-color) plates. The portfolio of 15chromolithographs and an accompanyingmanual written by Trouvelot were sold for$125.

Shortly thereafter in 1882 Trouvelot returnedto France to join Jules Janssen, a solarastronomer and director of the MeudonObservatory (Herman and Corbin 1986).Trouvelot never returned to the United States.

Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 109(1/2), 2006 13

Consequently, fate would enable him toescape the direct wrath that might be incurredbecause of the gypsy moth outbreak in themid-1980s, which Trouvelot must haveconsidered inevitable. But by this time hiscontribution to observational astronomy wasestablished.

THE TROUVELOT PRINTS AT ESU

In 1995 while cleaning a storage area in thescience hall complex at Emporia StateUniversity, Marvin Harrell, a mathematicsfaculty member, found the ten Trouvelotprints. They were considered to besufficiently interesting that they were retainedand transferred to one of the authors (DAB).Initial investigations indicated that a portfolioof 15 Trouvelot prints and an accompanyingmanual had been available from CharlesScribner’s Sons. Subsequent research since2004 has established the significance of theseprints.

The 15 plates in a complete portfolio ofTrouvelot prints are titled by subject asfollows:

Plate I. Group of Sunspots and Veiled Spots

Plate II. Solar ProtuberancesPlate III. Total Eclipse of the SunPlate IV. Aurora BorealisPlate V. The Zodiacal LightPlate VI. Mare HumorumPlate VII. Partial Eclipse of the MoonPlate VIII. The Planet MarsPlate IX. The Planet JupiterPlate X. The Planet SaturnPlate XI. The Great Comet of 1881Plate XII. The November MeteorsPlate XIII. Part of the Milky-WayPlate XIV. Star-Cluster in HerculesPlate XV. The Great Nebula in Orion

Additional information concerning thecomplete Trouvelot portfolio may be obtainedfrom the Princeton University Library website

for its rare books and special collections(Principi 2004); Princeton is the archival sitefor Charles Scribner’s Sons. A gallery ofselected prints with color exists at theBendheim (2001) citation.

A tangible part of Trouvelot’s legacy remainsat Emporia State University. The Trouvelotprint plates at ESU include III, V, VI, VII,VIII, IX, XI, XIII, XIV, and XV. All printsmeasure 965 mm (~38 inches) by 760 mm(~30 inches). The “subject” parts of the ESUTrouvelot prints are in excellent conditionwith one exception, plate XV. This plate ofthe Orion nebula (M42) has several surfaceabrasions in the upper left and lower centerthat are one to eight centimeters long, and afew millimeters wide. A nearly circularabrasion of about three centimeters diameteris present in the lower left, but the renderingof the nebula is not affected. Color remainsvivid on all prints, which suggests that theywere stored in a dark space for extendedperiods of time. A previous mounting of theprints resulted in a few holes and tears onsome prints, but these are nearer the bordersand beyond the subject of each print. Some“aging” has occurred, perhaps due principallyto the absorption of foreign substances formprevious mounting materials, and a couple ofthe prints show minor water stains on borders,but not on the subject area of any of theprints.

In the following figures the 10 plates in theESU collection are shown with anaccompanying caption indicating the realcelestial phenomena that served as theinspiration to Trouvelot, and with a briefdescription of features portrayed. Theobservational details in captions are based inpart on narrative of Trouvelot from TheTrouvelot Astronomical Drawings Manual(Trouvelot 1882, p. xi-xii and p. 159-167), acopy of which was available to the authorsthrough an interlibrary loan. It can be notedthat plates were produced in both “landscape”and “portrait” formats.


THE BASIS FOR THE PRINTS AT ESU

The origin of the extant Trouvelot prints atEmporia State University is not certain.However, there are some grounds forspeculation. The following are quotes fromtwo late nineteenth century publications of theKansas State Normal School (now EmporiaState University) which refer to Thomas M.Iden, who came to the State Normal School in1897 as head of physical sciences (Durham1963):

• “Professor Iden’s room has beenhung with paper in olive brown tints,and the new astronomical views addmuch to the beauty and the value ofthe furnishings” (State NormalMonthly 1897, p. 12).

• “Professor Iden’s classes are enjoyingtheir class-room work in a veritablepicture gallery” (Students Salute1897, p. 10).

• “Room[s] 44 and 45 [of] ProfessorIden [in the main building] giveexcellent accommodations for theregular class work in physics,chemistry, and physiology. Thesuperb series of astronomical viewson the wall ought not to beoverlooked in passing” (State NormalMonthly 1901, p. 123).

Indeed, one can infer that there is aconnection between Iden and the presence ofthe Trouvelot prints at ESU. ESU archivesstaff examined purchasing records for thisperiod of time, but found nothing connectedto Charles Scribner’s Sons publishing orTrouvelot prints. Iden left the Kansas StateNormal (KSN) for a position at the Universityof Michigan in 1913 (Anderson 1935).Whether he brought the prints to KSN orwhether KSN purchased them before or afterIden’s arrival remains unknown. Regardless,they have survived relocations involving

several campus buildings, and fortunatelythose who literally handled them consideredthe plates worthy of maintaining in theinstitution’s continuing inventory.

SIGNIFICANCE OF TROUVELOT PRINTS

The significance of the Trouvelotastronomical prints (especially a completeportfolio of 15) and the accompanying manualis shown by the following indicators:

• An online search of librariesworldwide (WorldCat database ofFirstSearch, February 6, 2005) forextant copies of the TrouvelotManual identified 50 libraries withthat item.

• Similarly, a search with the samesearch engine indicated only twolibraries worldwide that had, andwere reporting that they had, aportfolio of the Trouvelotastronomical drawings. However,neither institution reported theiridentity at the search level accessibleto a searcher.

• The pre-eminent Linda Hall Library(of Science, Engineering, andTechnology), Kansas City, Missouridoes not own the portfolio nor theaccompanying manual. The rarebooks librarian has indicated thatthey wish to acquire the items, andhave for some time, but they are“fairly rare” and “hard to find in verygood condition” (Curtis, pers.comm.).

• An antiquarians dealer in the U.S.had a sales listing on the Internet inJuly, 2004, of a complete portfolio,but with reported damage for someprints; the asking price was $45,000.

These facts suggest the significance of theprints and the accompanying manual.


Conclusion

In the mid- to late-nineteenth century whennascent developments in astrophotographywere beginning to supplant the role of handdrawings produced by an assiduous observerat the eyepiece of a telescope, the work of E.L.Trouvelot represented a waning methodology(and talent). Consequently, his prints serve todocument the method of study and the meansto preserve images of astronomical objectsand celestial phenomena which were utilizedfor centuries. The ten ESU Trouvelot printshave been retained, perhaps through asequence of fortuitous circumstances. In late2004 they were properly conserved, andpending some decisions contingent to that,they will be selectively displayed in a securemanner.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to a number ofindividuals and entities for their contributionsto this effort, including the unknownindividuals whose judgment enabled theTrouvelot prints to survive more than acentury at the Kansas State Normal Schooland now Emporia State University. Amongthose we acknowledge by name are SherryBackhus, librarian, for advice and assistancewith research; James R. Garvey, UniversityPhotography, ESU, for the digitalphotography and image processing; ESUProfessor Marvin Harrell, mathematics andcomputer science department, for making usaware of the Trouvelot Prints at ESU; MaxKrause and Blair Jackson, former ESUarchives assistants, for sleuthing in the ESUAnderson Library Archives; ESU ProfessorDon Perry (emeritus), art department, forconsultations for conserving the prints, andtechnical assistance with matting and framingthe prints; ESU Professor Larry Schwarm, artdepartment, also for consultations for

conserving the prints; and ESU AssociateProfessor Rich Sleezer, earth sciencedepartment, for assistance with digitalphotography. Also, staff at the BentleyHistorical Library, the University ofMichigan, provided research assistance.Monies from the Kansas NASA EPSCoR(Backhus grant) and the Dennis and SusanNeff Fund (in the ESU Foundation) wereutilized for purchasing archival-qualitymatting and backing materials, and ultravioletprotective glass. These contributions wereessential to this project.

LITERATURE CITED

Anderson, D.K. 1935. Donald K. Andersonbiographical sketch [of Thomas M.Iden…]. Bentley Historical Library,University of Michigan: Ann Arbor,Michigan, 15 p.

Bendheim, F. 2001. The art and science ofEtienne Trouvelot. The Lancet 357, p.1983-1984. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673600050728/fulltext(September 11, 2005).

Curtis, S.A. 2005. Personal correspondencevia email.

Durham, R. 1963. Thomas M. Iden. Qualitiesof Greatness. Kansas State TeachersCollege Publications Office: Emporia,Kansas, p. 30-32.

Hartmann, W.K. 1972. Moons and planets:An introduction to planetary science.Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc.;Belmont, California, 404 p.

Herman, J.K. and Corbin, B.G. 1986.Trouvelot: From moths to Mars. Sky &Telescope 72, p. 566-568. Also see: http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/trouvelot/moth2mars.html (July 1, 2004).

Mullaney, J. and McCall, W. 1972. The FinestDeep-sky Objects. Sky PublishingCorporation, Cambridge, Massachusetts,32 p.


Principi, V. 2004. Trouvelot AstronomicalPrints Collection. Graphic ArtsCollection, Department of Rare Booksand Special Collections, PrincetonUniversity Library: Princeton, NJ. http://libweb.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/aids/gc167.html (January 14, 2005).

State Normal Monthly. 1897. Oct., p. 12.University Archives, Special Collections.Emporia State University Emporia,Kansas.

State Normal Monthly. 1901. May, p. 123.University Archives, Special Collections.Emporia State University Emporia,Kansas.

Students Salute. 1897. Oct. 18, p. 10.University Archives, Special Collections.Emporia State University Emporia,Kansas.

Trouvelot, E.L. 1882. The Trouvelotastronomical drawings manual. CharlesScribner’s Sons; New York, 167 p.

USDA Forest Service-Northeastern ResearchStation. 2003. Gypsy moth in NorthAmerica (E. Leopold Trouvelot,perpetrator of our problem). http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/morgantown/4557/gmoth/trouvelot/ (July 14, 2004).

Figure 10. (Cover art shown here in black and white) Plate XV. The Great Nebula in Orion.Based on telescopic studies in 1875 and 1876. In the vicinity of the middle star (Theta Orionis)of the sword of Orion is the nebulosity known as M42. The star Theta of Orion is a pattern offour “bright” stars called the “Trapezium,” which is depicted in detail in Trouvelot’s print. Thestar Iota Orionis is the relatively bright object near the top of the plate (just right of center).


Figure 1. Plate III. Total Eclipse of Sun. Based on telescopic observations, July 29, 1878,Creston, Wyoming Territory. This plate suggests telescopic features attendant to a solareclipse: the corona with pronounced “wings” (as they were called by Trouvelot) in the plane ofthe ecliptic (the plane of planets’ revolutions around the sun), ray-like “streamers,” and chromo-spheric prominences. The chromolithograph depicts prominences and an “inner” corona withpinkish hues, and the streamers with greenish hues.

Figure 2. Plate V. The Zodiacal Light. Basedon naked-eye observations of February 20,1876. Due to sunlight reflected by interplan-etary dust in the plane of the ecliptic, thischromolithograph shows the zodiacal light(extending diagonally from the lower right),the reddish star Aldebaran (in the constella-tion Taurus) about one-quarter of the distancefrom the upper left of the print and just to theleft of the zodiacal light band, the Pleiades(Seven Sisters) cluster to Aldebaran’s right(and flanking the right side of the zodiacallight), then extending downward we see thereddish planet Mars (in the zodiacal lightabout one-third of the way from the bottom),and near the horizon is the bright planetVenus. Three prominent stars of Andromedaare shown in a nearly vertical line toward theright of the print (about one-fourth to one-halfof the distance from the top).


Figure 3. Plate VI. Mare Humorum. Based on telescopic studies in 1875. Revealing remark-able detail, the olive-hued features of this mare (~450 km across) as drawn by Trouvelot depictnamed craters corresponding to modern-day lunar photos and maps, including Gassendi withseveral “peaks” near its center (lower right), and then clockwise from Gassendi to Agatharchides(one-fourth of the distance horizontally from lower left), Hippalus (a partial double crater justbelow left center), Vitello (upper left), Lee, and Dopplemayer (slightly left of upper center).Details of features include “central peaks” with some craters, and fault-like rilles and ridges.The terminator (illuminated/nonilluminated boundary) is near the right of the image. [Note: Theimages rendered from telescopic studies (with a refracting telescope) are inverted and “flipped”right to left relative to the naked-eye view.]

Figure 4. Plate VII. Partial Eclipse of theMoon. Based on naked-eye observations,October 24, 1874. The un-eclipsed portion ofthe moon is depicted with greenish huescharacterizing the lunar mare. Brown tones(suggestive of the lunar reflection of copper-red colors due to scattering of the shorterwavelength regions of the visible spectrum byEarth’s atmosphere) characterize the eclipsedportion of the moon’s surface where theumbra shadow region of Earth extends to themoon. Prominently depicted by Trouvelot arethe “rayed” craters Tycho (left of lower centerin the eclipsed region), Copernicus (one-halflunar diameter above Tycho), and Keplerfaintly seen to left of Copernicus).


Figure 5. Plate VIII. The Planet Mars. Based on telescope studies made September 3, 1877.The rendering shows the south polar ice cap near the top of the image. The darker regions(greenish-colored tints) were inferred by Trouvelot to be an absorbing liquid; water is suggestedspecifically as the agent. Land masses, cloud cover, and the polar cap were depicted withlighter hues (and shown with a reddish tint in the chromolithograph). Coincidentally, 1877 wasthe same year that the Italian astronomer Schiaparrelli “fantasized” the existence of “canali,” orcanals, on the planet Mars (Hartmann 1972, p.16).

Figure 6. Plate IX. The Planet Jupiter. Based on telescopic observations made November 1,1880. Features shown and discussed by Trouvelot include the shadows of two Galilean satellites(moons) of Jupiter that are cast on the surface (the two dark spots “above” the equatorial plane), thegreat red spot (shown in pastel pink on the plate), the inference of dense cloud bands (light-colored)alternating with dark belts (parallel to the equator), and an equatorial diameter greater than the polardiameter. Two tiny dark spots on the red spot (and proximate to one of the moon’s shadows) werenoted by Trouvelot, but he conceded that he had no explanation for them.


Figure 7. Plate XI. The Great Comet of 1881.Observed June 25-26, 1881, the print is basedon naked-eye observations and telescopestudy of the nucleus and associated coma(s).Detail in the “inner” coma—a diamond-shapedfeature—is shown with pinkish hues. TheComet of 1881 is also known as CometTebbutt, an attribution to its discoverer.

Figure 8. Plate XIII. Part of the Milky-Way.This print with a highly detailed star fieldcovering an extensive region of the sky wasbased on naked-eye studies from 1874-1876.Discernible in the star field near the horizon(lower right) are the constellation Scorpio andthe bright red star Antares, Sagittarius is tothe left of Scorpio, higher (about midway up)are the three prominent stars of the SummerTriangle (Altair in the constellation Aquila,Vega in Lyra, and Deneb in Cygnus or theNorthern Cross), and near the top (in theMilky Way band) is a part of Cassiopeia. Thischromolithograph certainly lets one appreciatethe 6 arc sec accuracy of the observationsand portrayals of the star field as determinedby Holden (Herman and Corbin 1986, p. 567),and the need for study by Trouvelot over anextended period of time to develop renderingswith a substantial star field.

Figure 9. Plate XIV. Star-Cluster in Hercules. This plate is based on telescopic studies made inJune, 1877. It is the prototype globular star cluster, M13. Trouvelot refers to it as a “small nebulousmass” (1882, p. 166), but also as a globular star cluster, its contemporary designation. TheTrouvelot “image” is often included in other publications (e.g., Mullaney and McCall 1972, p. 19).

nineteenth century e.l. trouvelot astronomical prints at...

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