The Trouvelot Astronomical Drawings Manual 1882

 If you have ever looked at my site, you know I love to sketch what I observe. Today as I was researching some items for observing this late spring and into summer, I came across this book at the Gutenberg Online free book site LINK. It is the The Trouvelot Astronomical Drawings Manual 1882 by E.L. Trouvelot from 1882. It covers observations and information about various objects in the northern night sky from the late 19th century.  E.L. Trouvelot. You can learn more about him over at Wikipedia at this LINK. He made over 7000 sketches, far more than the 2683 I have made in my life! 

Anyway I would invite you to take a look at the book, read about his observations and drawings and see what was going on in the late 19th century with astronomy.  Here are some of my favorites from the book. 

I loved Plate V the Zodiacal Light. I found this capture just outstanding and made me think back in the late 19th century it must have been far more visible. 

Plates VI and VII of his lunar observations I also enjoyed and feel he did a wonderful job on those. 

Okay, Plate VIII is just funky to me and doesn't relate to any view I have ever had of Mars. 

Plate IX of Jupiter is an interesting sketch to say the least though some parts I like. 

Plate X of Saturn I love some of the hidden details there. 

Plate XI of the great comet of 1881 is perhaps, with Plate V my favorite of the bunch.  It made me look that up.  I'd love to see one like that! 

The "Great Comet of 1881", also known as C/1881 K1 or Tebbutt's Comet, was a bright, long-period comet discovered by John Tebbutt in May 1881. It became visible in the northern hemisphere in June and was a spectacular sight for naked-eye observers. The comet's brightness and long tail earned it the title "Great". Etienne Trouvelot also made drawings of the comet, according to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

I also like Plate XIII of the Milky Way and just wonder how marvelous the views were back in the early 1870's in the west of the US at that time! 

Would love to hear thoughts of what others think of M13 on plate XIV. 

Last, Plate XV of the Orion Nebula is easily identified and I rather enjoy the capture. I know what M42 looks like in a really dark sky, SQM 21.9 or Bortle 1 and 2, but I just wonder if it was just a hair brighter back then! Imagine one of our modern amateur telescopes back then! 

Anyway, I hope some are new to this work as I am and enjoy reviewing it and reading it. I did . I found it worth my time and enjoyable as well as informative for what they knew back in the late 19th century. Also how culture impacted his views on some of these objects and how yet, he got so much right in these drawings in my opinion. You can see the images below at this LINK which is on the Internet Achieve and allows you to maximize them and has his observations when he got the image to draw from. It also has a ruler to show just how large these drawings were. It seems to me that he must have took notes, made a rough sketch and then from them and memory created his drawings. 

If you wish, you can download the book here LINK.  I'll also share it with this Google LINK. 

Group of Sun Spots and Veiled Spots 

Solar Proturberances 

Total Eclipse of the Sun Observed July 28 1878 from Wyoming Territory 

Aurora Borealis as observed March 1 1876

The Zodiacal Light Observed February 28 1876

Mare Humorum from a study made in 1876

Partial Eclipse of the Moon Observed October 24th 1876

Mars Observed September 3, 1877 

The Planet Jupiter Observed November 1, 1878

The Planet Saturn Observed November 20, 1876 

The Great Comet of 1881; Observed on the night of June 23 - 24 1881

The November Meteors; Observed between Midnight and 5 O'clock on the night of November 19-20, 1868

Part of the Milky Way; From a Study made in the years 1876, 1877 and 1878

Star Cluster in Hercules; From a Study Made in June 1877

The Great Nebula in Orion; From a Study done in the years 1875-1876

There you have it. The drawings made from the book and posted here. I am amazed at how well he drew what he saw.  I need to study and find out how he went about making his drawings. 

Nope, I went and found out and will share it here. 

E.L. Trouvelot made his astronomical drawings by combining meticulous observation through telescopes with artistic skill. He used a grid to guide his drawings, capturing the details of celestial objects with high-quality pastels. Later, these drawings were reproduced as chromolithographs. 

Here's a more detailed breakdown of his process:

1. Observation and Sketching:

Telescopic Views:

Trouvelot used telescopes, including the Harvard College Observatory's 15-inch refractor and the U.S. Naval Observatory's 26-inch telescope, to observe celestial objects. 

Gridded Reticle:

He placed a gridded reticle (etched in glass) at the eyepiece of the telescope to project the image onto the reticle. 

Transfer to Paper:

Trouvelot would then copy the projected image onto a sheet of ruled paper with a corresponding grid, creating a skeletal framework for his drawing. 

2. Creating the Pastels:

Pastel Technique:

He filled in the grid with pastel, using high-pigment pastels to create detailed and vibrant depictions of celestial objects. 

Artistic Flair:

Trouvelot's artistic sensibilities allowed him to capture not only the scientific aspects of the objects but also their beauty and wonder.