Proctor (1837-88) was an English astronomer, best remembered for producing one of the earliest maps of Mars in 1867 from 27 drawings by the observer William Rutter Dawes. A crater on Mars is named after Proctor. Following the limited success of his first book on Saturn, he cultivated a more popular style and became a regular contributor to a number of periodicals, writing articles which familiarised the public with the main facts of astronomy. He then went on to produce a long series of popular works throughout the 1870s and 80s, of which this title first published in 1879 was one. Illustrated throughout.