Hammond's Our World in Space Atlas (1963)

 Our World in Space Atlas is one of the thrift store staples, with copies seemingly everywhere. It is mostly a conventional atlas of the earth's surface and countries. What makes it special is the prequel section "Space : A New Frontier" which reuses the Hammond space images found all though late 50s and early 60s publications. These beautiful space art paintings capture a time when children could dream of exploration.

Our World in Space Atlas : A concise and modern atlas containing new maps of all parts of the world plus a timely section on the exploration of space. Maplewood, N.J. : C.S. Hammond. xvi, 50 pp, 32 cm, 1963.

This last page is especially "cutting edge" for space exploration to come.

The Solar System (1962)

 

Another tour of the neighborhood. With the advent of the space age we now see more speculation how we might explore the solar system. The paintings by Fedini in this book are very special and I am excited to share them. The book was originally published in Italian in 1961.

Rocca, Angelo. Illustrated by Fedini. The Solar System. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce. (58 p.) 1962.

Touring the neighborhood

Mercury

Venus

Earth's Moon

Mars

The Asteroid Belt

Jupiter from Europa

Saturn from Titan

Saturn from Mimas

Uranus and Neptune

Returning to our local address

Exploring the Universe (1956)

 

We continue our exploration of our "neighborhood" with Exploring the Universe. The illustrations are once again amazing. The book are 8" x 14" so the impact of these paintings in person is hard to recreate.

Gallant, Roy A. Illustrated by Hess, Lowell. Exploring the Universe. Garden City, NY: Garden City Books. (62 p.) 1956.

An illustration about why people thought eclipses occurred.

Our place in comparison to some really big objects

A spectacular strike

The fate of the universe as explained to a child in 1956.

Exploring Mars (1956)

 

To celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Dreams of Space blog I bring you exploring the solar system! The February posts are all from children's books exploring the solar system (and maybe a few nearby stars).

Roy Gallant and his illustrator Lowell Hess created some beautiful books about space for children. This one in particular is inspiring in pointing to our future on Mars.

Gallant, Roy A. Illustrated by Hess, Lowell. Exploring Mars. Garden City, NY: Garden City Books. (62 p.) 1956.

Both of these Mars landscapes are beautiful as double page illustrations.

I think the seasons on Mars (as color changes) helps explain how fascinating Mars through a telescope was for many years.

Earth and Sky (1961)

 

An astronomy book from 1961 in Ukrainian. The highlights of this book are its color illustrations of the planets, along with a few spaceflight illustrations.

Earth and Sky. (22 cm) 192 p. 1961.

The black and white drawings in this book are very beautiful. 

These illustrations of the Moon as also beautifully detailed.

I missed seeing umbrellas as part of most mission plans, but they look like fun for protection and balance.

A mission to Mars

These last 3 color illustrations I like very much also for their evocative feeling. The solar flare is almost impressionistic in its violence.