astronomer (1704-1760). Autograph letter signed ("Godin"). Petit-Goâve, Saint-Domingue (Haiti). 4to. 2½ pp.
$ 4,793 / 4.500 €
(88573/BN58464)
A long, highly interesting letter written from Haiti, during the early months of the French Royal expedition for the measurement of the meridian arc. - In 1734 Godin had been requested to submit to the French chief minister the best means of measuring the exact figure of the Earth, and proposed sending expeditions to the Equator and the polar sea. The plan was approved, and three members of the Académie, Pierre Bouguer, Charles de La Condamine, and Godin, were sent on the mission to Peru. They sailed from La Rochelle on 16 May 1735 and remained in Haiti for six months, taking observations.