The Description and Use of the Universal Planispheres; or, Terrestrial and Celestial Globes in Plano. Being Compleat Substitutes for A Large Pair of Globes. With Their Applications, in the Solutions of all the Capital Problems in Geography, Astronomy, and Navigation.

London: For the Author, and W. Owen, 1759.

Second Edition, with Additions and Improvements, [8],xxx,[2],159,[1]p., imprimatur leaf before title, 5 large folding engraved maps (“S. Dunn & W. Owen, December 1st 1757”), one slightly shaved just touching caption, untrimmed and unopened in contemporary boards, rebacked preserving original spine, housed in morocco-backed book box, 8vo,

COMPLETE WITH THE FIVE RARE CELESTIAL AND TERRESTRIAL MAPS, UNCUT AND BOUND IN CONTEMPORARY BOARDS, with no complete copies traced on Rare Book Hub.

Dunn (1723-1794), a teacher of mathematics and navigation, was the inventor of the “universal planispheres, or terrestrial and celestial globes in plano, an economical method of teaching spherical geometry without the expense of purchasing actual globes”, the use of which is explained in this work.

In 1757 Dunn published a small geographical pamphlet which he expanded in 1759, under the title The Description, and Use, of the Universal Planispheres. The maps depict a “stereographic projection”. He intended this to mimic the visual and mathematical properties of globes, and their utility as teaching tools, without the expense.

Provenance: ?C.S. Lockhart, early ownership signature on the “Recommendations of the Universal Planispheres” leaf.