First and only edition, rarely seen on the market, of a highly acclaimed and richly illustrated collection of writings on aerial photography and photogrammetry, by a pioneer in the field. From the 1840s onward, Laussedat, an engineer in the French Army, had experimented with the possibilities provided by lenses for accurate mapping. With the help of a camera lucida, he produced a topographic map in 1850. Laussedat realised the possibilities which photography provided, but also knew that existing cameras were not suitable for mapping purposes "due to their narrow fields of view and lack of calibrated orientation. He therefore commissioned the Paris instrument maker Brunner to construct a camera to his specifications in 1859. ... The first topographic map was produced in 1861" (Hannavy). Six years later he presented the first map compiled from a stereographic aerial image.
In the first volume of his Recherches, Laussedat gives an extensive description of the history and development of the science and instruments of surveying. In the second volume, in two parts, he presents contemporary surveying. In the first part he describes the mathematical science of what he calls iconometry and metrophotography (modern photogrammetry, the science of making measurements based on photographs, especially in topography). The second part describes the history and developments of photogrammetry in France and other European countries.
With an inscription "Hommage de l'auteur" on the half-title of vol. 2. With a few spots at the end of vol. 2 and the binding worn at the extremities, notably at the spine, but the whole still in good condition. DSB VIII, pp. 64-65; Hannavy (ed.), Encyclopedia of nineteenth-century photography, pp. 13 & 1081.