This book comprises a fascinating collection of contributions on the Merz telescopes in Italy that collectively offer the first survey on historical large refracting telescopes in the country, drawing on original documents and photographs. It opens with a general introduction on the importance of Merz telescopes in the history of astronomy and analyses of the local and international contexts in which the telescopes were made. After examination of an example of the interaction between the maker and the astronomer in the construction and maintenance of these refractors, the history of the Merz telescopes at the main Italian observatories in the nineteenth century is described in detail. Expert testimony is also provided on how these telescopes were successfully used until the second half of the twentieth century for research purposes, thus proving their excellent optical qualities.

“This volume will be of a valuable resource to all those interested in nineteenth-century telescopes. The editor and contributors also deserve credit for putting forward this effort to better understand, contextualize and preserve the instruments produced by the Merz enterprise, an effort that will hopefully be continued.” (Pedro M.P. Raposo, Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 49 (02), May, 2018)

“This is a multi-author work, edited by Ileana Chinnici, and all the chapters are well written and highly informative. There are plenty of illustrations, in both colour and black & white, most of which I had not seen before.” (Richard McKim, The Observatory, Vol. 137 (1260), October, 2017)

Ileana Chinnici is a research astronomer at INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo in Italy. She has been an Officer of the Italian Astronomical Society, National Coordinator of the INAF Museums, and Chair of the International Astronomical Union Commission C41 “Archives” Working Group. She has also served as a member of the Italian Astronomical Society (SAIt) Council and in 2008 was appointed Adjoint Scholar at Vatican Observatory. Her research has focused on the history of nineteenth century astronomy and astrophysics, the history of scientific instruments, and historical astronomical archives. She is the author or editor of several books as well as 25 journal papers and book chapters.