Monday, May 28, 2012

Searching for Halley's Comet

W. Heath Robinson's fascination with mechanical inventions is well-known. Here he imagines comic modifications to the telescope at Greenwich Observatory in the race to sight Halley's Comet. This illustration was published in The Sketch approximately five months prior to perihelion which was to occur on April 20, 1910. Newspaper articles on the celestial phenomenon had already been published with increasing frequency for several months and public fascination with the comet was growing.

W. Heath Robinson, Searching for Halley's Comet at Greenwich Observatory,
The Sketch, 17 November 1909, Chris Beetles Gallery



W. Heath Robinson, Searching for Halley's Comet at Greenwich Observatory,
The Sketch, 17 November 1909, Chris Beetles Gallery



W. Heath Robinson, Searching for Halley's Comet at Greenwich Observatory,
The Sketch, 17 November 1909, Chris Beetles Gallery



December 30, 2012 Update: This piece is no longer listed at the Chris Beetles Gallery. It has apparently been sold.

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