Paris, Hachette, 1877. Thick 4to (26.6 x 18.5 x 7.2 cm). Half-title, title page, iv, 970 pp.; 361 text illustrations, 62 plates of which 22 coloured. Publisher's [?] rich gilt burgundy morocco. Spine and boards with various large, astronomical vignettes in gilt and black. All edges gilt.

A very rare - if not unique - deluxe binding and near mint copy of this profusely illustrated work. First published in 1864, this is the fifth, updated and expanded edition. Being a very popular work, most copies show extensive signs of use, and most come in utility bindings. This, however, is the perfect exception. It appears that the luxurious, bibliophile binding kept readers at bay, hence the book’s extremely fine state after 150 years. Victor Amédée Guillemin (1826-1893) was a French mathematician and popular natural history writer, specialized in astronomy and related sciences. "He ... began to publish his scientific works on physics and astronomy, which were successful. His book Le Ciel, magnificently edited, was translated into several languages. His major work remains Le Monde Physique in five large-format volumes. He also published a whole series of small books on astronomy and physics, collected under the name Petite encyclopédie populaire, a solid, pleasant and scholarly collection of the sciences and their applications, published by Hachette. He contributed to a very large number of literary, scientific and political newspapers and journals, notably La Nature, La République française and the Revue philosophique et religieuse. He wrote the astronomy section of the second edition of Charles d'Orbigny's Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle." (French Wikipedia). Truly minimal wear to the boards, and in fact a mint copy of this spectacular binding, a must-have for the lovers of the univers.