HERSCHEL, John Frederick William. Traité de la lumière, traduit de l'anglais avec notes par MM. P.-F. Verhulst et A. Quetelet. 1829-1833.

First edition in French of Herschel's treatise on light: "Light", published in 1827 in "Encyclopaedia Metropolitana".

The major delay due to the change of editor in 1833 allowed the translator, Quetelet, to write an important supplement in the second volume, pages 333 to 602. He introduced new discoveries such as the phenakistiscope of Plateau, at origin of the cinematograph (pages 471 to 489).
"John Herschel was a mathematician as well as an astronomer, was the first to take a photograph onto glass and gave us the terms, ‘photography’, ‘negative’, ‘positive’, and snapshot’. His researches extended into corneal irregularities and astigmatism and he realised that in these cases vision could be improved by neutralising the cornea. Herschel suggested the making of moulds of the eye with gelatine although there is no evidence that this was actually done. He included these observations in his article on ‘Light’ in 1827".