Nineteenth Century E.L. Trouvelot astronomical prints at Emporia State University

Abstract

Abstract Although known more infamously for his efforts with sericulture and the accidental release of the gypsy moth in North America, the mid-nineteenth century French emigrant E.L. Trouvelot left a more honorable legacy to astronomy based on his celestial observations, and his detailed and accurate drawings of astronomical objects and phenomena. A portfolio of 15 Trouvelot prints and an accompanying manual were produced and distributed by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1881; Emporia State University possesses ten of the portfolio prints, but not an original of the manual. The ten prints at ESU include numbers III (total solar eclipse), V (zodiacal light), VI (lunar mare Humorum), 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 with T.M. Iden, who arrived at then Kansas State Normal School in 1897 as head of the physical sci...