Advertisement of the Expected Return of the Comet of 1532 and 1661 in the Year 1788. Read at the Royal Society, June 29, 1786.

Bookseller Notes

The Rev. Dr. Nevil Maskelyne's interest in astronomy began in 1748, while attending Westminster School, when he observed the great solar eclipse in July of that year. Graduating from St. Catharine's College, Cambridge and with a fellowship at Trinity, he became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1758, rising to the position of Astronomer Royal in 1765.While he is most notable for his contributions regarding longitude, latitude and the density of the earth, he published articles on Venus, astronomical instrument improvements, and here, following the predictive methods of Dr. Halley, on the future return of the 1661 comet, with a helpful guide to its forecast locations across the night sky.Also appearing in the Philosophical Transactions of the same year, this off-print is scarce: BL, Cambridge (Trinity & Queens'), and one US copy (Bowdoin College).