Library of Congress Digital Collections

Introduction

Map of the western hemisphere with a black circle partially covering a red circle, both partially obscuring North America. — Smith, Asa. Eclipse of the sun, 1846: April 25. 1846. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division

The Library has digitized a variety of works related to eclipses, including maps and diagrams, photographs of eclipses and eclipse observers, and astronomical texts. The following titles are just a sample of what is available in the Library of Congress' Digital Collections, and as the Library continues to identify material to digitize, the collections continue to grow. Titles below link to digital content, including full digitized books, when appropriate. Physical item locations link to bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog.

Digital Collections

[Photograph of the solar eclipse of May 26, 1854, taken at West Point] by W. H. C. Bartlett
Call Number: QB543.54B Case X
Published/Created: 1854
Physical Item held in: Prints and Photographs Reading Room
Author, Professor W.H.C. Bartlett, of the U.S. Military Academy, wrote an article for Astronomical Journal, "On The Solar Eclipse of 1854, May 26 External", describing his efforts to measure and photograph that eclipse.
[Four diagrams of Solar eclipses] by Johannes Buno
Call Number: G3180 1711 .B9
Published/Created: 1711?
Physical Item held in: Geography and Map Reading Room
This sheet contains four diagrams drawn from Universal Geography, London, 1711. The diagrams show how solar eclipses demonstrate the Earth is globe and not a triangle, square or hexagon.
Meet-konstige vertoning van de grote en merk-waardige zons-verduistering by Simon Panser
Call Number: G3195 1748 .P3 TIL
Published/Created: 1748
Physical Item held in: Geography and Map Reading Room
This map, "Meteorological display of the great and remarkable solar eclipse", includes a number of hand-colored drawings of the moon crossing front of the sun, surrounding a drawing of the path of totalitiy of an eclipse seen in Europe in July, 1748.
Eclipse of the sun, 1846: April 25 by Asa Smith
Call Number: G3290 1846 .S6
Published/Created: 1846
Physical Item held in: Geography and Map Reading Room
This diagram of an 1846 eclipse, which is shown above, was completed by a New York schoolteacher and includes a broadside describing and explaining the eclipse.
Corona and Coronet: being a narrative of the Amherst eclipse expedition to Japan, in Mr. James's schooner-yacht Coronet, to observe the sun's total obscuration, 9th August, 1896 by Mabel Loomis Todd
Call Number: DS809 .T63
Published/Created: 1898
Physical Item held in: Rare Book/Special Collections Reading Room
This work is writer Mabel Loomis Todd's account of an 1896 expedition to view an eclipse in Japan. Todd was an accomplished writer with a number of books on astronomy, travel, and other topics to her credit, and accompanied her astronomer-husband on several expeditions to observe eclipses in far-flung corners of the world.

Solar Eclipses: A Reference Guide

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Library of Congress Digital Collections

Introduction

Digital Collections