Lowell, Mars as the Abode of Life, 1910

Mars as the Abode of Life. By Percival Lowell, A.B., LL.D. Author of “Mars and Its Canals,” Etc. Director of the observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona; non-resident professor of astronomy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Membre de la Societe Astronomique de France; member of the Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of America; mitglied der Astronomische Gesellschaft; membre de la Societe Belge D’Astronomie; honorary member of the Sociedad Astronomica de Mexico; Janssen medalist of the Societe Astronomique de France, 1904, for researhes on Mars; Etc., Etc. Illustrated. New York. The Macmillan Company. 1910. All rights reserved. 
 
Octavo in original red cloth. Old library sticker near bottom of spine. Minor points of fraying at edges of boards. Joints/hinges strong. Penciled notation on ffep. Hand-written library numbers on title page. 1 inch arborizing tear at fore-edge of D8, not involving text. Clean, bright, and tight throughout. Numerous color and black & white engravings.
 
Xix (1) 288 (2). First edition, third printing.
 
Britannica: “Percival Lowell (born March 13, 1855, Boston, Mass., U.S.—died Nov. 12, 1916, Flagstaff, Ariz.) was an American astronomer who predicted the existence of a planet beyond the orbit of Neptune and initiated the search that ended in the discovery of Pluto. In the 1890s, inspired by Giovanni Schiaparelli’s discovery of “canals” on Mars, Lowell decided to devote his fortune and energy to the study of Mars. After careful consideration of desirable sites, he built a private observatory at Flagstaff, Ariz. Lowell championed the now-abandoned theory that intelligent inhabitants of a dying Mars constructed a planet-wide system of irrigation, utilizing water from the polar ice caps, which melt annually. He thought the canals were bands of cultivated vegetation dependent on this irrigation. Among his many books on this subject is Mars and Its Canals (1906). Lowell’s theory, long vigorously opposed, was finally put to rest by information received from the U.S. spacecraft Mariner 4 when it flew past Mars in July 1965.”