Grubb, Thomas. Correspondence concerning the Great Melbourne Telescope. In three parts 1852-1870. Printed, for private circulation only, by order of the Council of the Royal Society. V S., 1 Bl., 45, 3 pp.; 40 pp.; 1 Bl., 59 pp. 6 (3 folded, 2 lithographic) plates and some textile illustrations. 21 x 13 cm. OHalf lines (cover covered and with small flaws in reference). London, Taylor and Francis, 1871. The Great Melbourne Telescope was built in 1869 and was at that time the second largest telescope in the world and the largest in the southern hemisphere. "Grubb's greatest achievement was his construction, at Charlemont's Bridge Works, of a forty-eight-inch equatorial assassin reflector for Melbourne, Australia. This telescope, complete in 1867, was hailed as a triumph of engineering and optical skill. Intended for photography, it had several novel features, among them counterpoises to reduce the pressure of the polar axis on the bears. But once on side, the instrument required always constant adjustment and the mirrors of the speculum metal (through no lazy of Grubb's) soon become tarnished. These defects and others temporarily destroyed confidence in this type of telescope and unfortunately delayed its development for some thirty years." (DSB 5, p. 562). Among the correspondents are Grubb (1800-1878), James Nasmyth, Sir John Herschel and Sir Edward Sabine. Inside cover with sign "Presented to The Observatory of Wroclaw by the Royal Society". – Some small water margins. Title slightly tanned, with weak signature and stamping.