Adolphe Neyt - Atlas photographique de la lune

In: In: Photobook Belge 1854 - now, Hannibal/FOMU, 2019, pp. 32-33.

After some uninspired steps in politics, wealthy industrialist Adolphe Neyt decided to dedicate himself to his real interests: the sciences and fine arts. As part of this change in direction, he started to take photographs, convinced that the medium had a vital role to play in scientific research. In 1867, Neyt produced a series of stereoscopic photographs of micro-organisms, earning him international success and a silver medal at the World Exhibition in Paris. After this recognition, he ventured into astronomical photography. Neyt had a private observatory built at his home in Ghent's Coupure to take shots of the moon. The project led in 1869 to his most impressive publication, the Atlas photographique de la lune.
This work contains a lithographic map and 12 photographs of the lunar surface in which the Mare Serenitatis and the Copernicus and Archimedes craters can be seen. In a beautiful tonal scale, the first 11 photographs show the complete circumference of the orb while the last shot zooms in on the two crater structures. Neyt placed his signature on each negative plate in an elegant arch that follows the curvature of the moon. Each atlas consists of original prints on albumen paper (25 cm square), mounted on cardboard and bound in a hard cover. This valuable work appeared only in a limited edition, intended for researchers and scientific institutes.
On the last four pages is a reprint of an article that had previously appeared in the bulletin of the Royal Academy of Belgium (1869). Neyt's Essai de cartes photographiques de la lune takes a closer look at the technical realisation of the lunar photos. Among other things, we learn that he used a movable reflecting telescope from British telescope manufacturer John Browning, and that he projected the focal image directly on to the photosensitive plate.
Although Neyt was not the first photographer to make recordings of the lunar surface, his results were distinguished from previous examples by their unrivalled clarity and sharpness. They were among the highlights of the Belgian pavilion at the 1873 World Exhibition in Vienna.