The Moon at one Meter

A souvenir from the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, an attraction that allowed visitors to view the moon through a giant telescope.

The imagery for the attraction may be related to the Georges Méliès 1898 film “La Lune à un mètre” (or “The Astronomer’s Dream”)

Works of Industry of All Nations

A scrapbook, compiled by William Paxon, an exhibitor at The Great Exhibition of 1851 (The Crystal Palace Exhibition). In addition to flyers and cards gathered at the stalls of fellow exhibitors, Paxon appears to have helped himself to examples of placards that were intended to remain where they were.

Paxon, from Hampstead, exhibited a device called the “Lunarian, an improved contrivance for showing phases of the moon.”

Riding the Moon Bats to Saturn

A marvelous volume from a genre of speculative lunar travel around the turn
of the 20th century:

Ville D’Avray, A. de. Voyage dans la lune avant 1900. Paris: Librairie Furne, Jouvet & Cie, 1892.

Starring M. Baboulifiche and his manservant, Papavoine:

They encounter lizards hiding in mussel shells:

A moon cyclops who steals their umbrella:

But then they take a ride on moon bats to Saturn:

where they encounter much more friendly natives:

Before, well . . . being eaten alive by lizards, but that image is a bit too ghastly to post.

There’s a moon in the sky.

It’s called the moon.

ASTRONOMIA [card game] / LONDON / PUBLISHED BY F.G. MOON,

20, THREADNEEDLE STREET / 1829

in the Cary Collection of Playing Cards