Ca. 409 loose gelatin silver photos (including over eighty duplicates), mostly ca. 20,5x25 cm (8x10 in) (with narrow or wide margins); seventeen larger images are from ca. 21,5x27,5 cm (8 ½ x 11 in) to ca. 23,5x28 cm (11 x 9 ¼ in); ca. 58 smaller photos from ca. 20,5x20,5 cm (8x8 in) to ca. 7x7,5 cm (2 ¾ x 2 ¾ in). Twenty photos with ink-stamped credentials of NASA Washington, D.C. and Langley research centres, dating the images from August 28, 1964 to June 2, 1967. Three images with ink stamps “Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tuscon” on verso; one - with an ink stamp “Jan. 13, 1959” on verso. One photo with an ink stamp “Cambridge Research Center, L.G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, Mass.” and pencil note “Dr. G.P. Kuiper, Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wisc.” on verso. Seven photos with E.A. Whitaker’s handwritten initials or full name on verso or recto. Over forty photos with attached plastic sheets with manuscript numbers or trajectories on rectos, most also with manuscript pencil notes on verso. About twenty photos with ink or pencil captions or notes on recto or verso; over fifty photos with ink or pencil markings or notes on recto or verso. Fourteen photos with period ink captions on paper labels mounted on the top margins. Over twenty photos with numbers or markings in negative. Several photos with creases or tears on the margins, over a dozen with glue residue on verso, but overall a very good collection of important photos.

Historically significant extensive collection of ca. 409 original gelatin silver lunar photos from the estate of an outstanding selenographer (geographer of the lunar surface) and lunar cartographer Ewen Whitaker, who co-founded the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona (1960), co-authored multiple Moon atlases and helped NASA to select a landing site for the Apollo 12 mission in November 1969. “Over his career, Whitaker quite possibly developed the best knowledge of the geography, or selenography, of the lunar surface of anyone alive” (see more).

The photos, taken by several NASA spacecrafts, date back to the 1960s-1970s and were apparently used by Whitaker during his work at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL). Seven images bear his handwritten initials or full name on verso or recto; one image has the handwritten name of the Laboratory’s Director, Gerard Peter Kuiper (1905-1973). Twenty-four photos have ink stamps of NASA research centres, the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, and Air Force Cambridge Research Labs at Hanscom Field (Bedford, Mass.). The images include views of the Moon taken from space and during the spacecrafts’ approach, with a series of photos of the lunar surface, documenting the track of the spacecrafts. Among the identified general views are photos of the northeastern quadrant of the Moon’s nearside with Mare Serenitatis, Mare Tranquillitatis, Mare Crisium and Mare Fecunditatis; Mare Orientale; Mare Imbrium and Copernicus crater.

The photos with the official stamps of NASA research centre in Washington, D.C. include six images, taken by the Ranger VII spacecraft on July 31, 1964 (southern lunar highlands near crater Tycho); seven photos transmitted by Surveyor I spacecraft on June 2, 1966 (lunar surface and the spacecraft itself); and two photos taken by the Lunar Orbiter III on February 20 and 22, 1967. Four photos with the stamp of NASA’s Washington, D.C. centre and one photo with the stamp of NASA’s Langley centre are the images taken by the Lunar Orbiter IV in May-June 1967 (Mare Orientale, Mare Veris and Rock Mountains; Moon’s North Pole; Inghirami crater; Moon’s South Pole).

Forty-five photos with attached plastic sheets document the track of the Ranger VII spacecraft on July 31, 1964 (the photos’ numbers, date and time are visible on the lower margin). Three plastic sheets have handwritten numbers, apparently indicating lunar craters; most plastic sheets have green and red lines, possibly outlining the spacecraft’s trajectory. Three more images were also taken by the Ranger VII.

A series of about seventy photos show the lunar surface taken by the Ranger VIII spacecraft on February 20, 1965, including craters Ritter and Sabine in the Mare Tranquilitatis area and Delambre, Theo Junior and Theon Senior craters southwest of Mare Tranquilitatis. Images of this area also show the Sinus Medii lunar plain with several craters (Hipparchus, Horrocks, Halley, Hind, Lade, Godin, and others).

Three images relate to the space voyage of Ranger IX on March 24, 1965 to the Alphonsus crater; one of the photos shows Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Albategnius craters. There is also an image of the Schröter’s Valley taken by the Apollo 15 mission (July 26 – August 7, 1971).

Overall an interesting extensive collection of original photos of the Moon, taken during the active phase of the 20th century Space Race.

Excerpts from the NASA ink captions:

“This is one of 4,316 lunar photographs returned by NASA’s Ranger VII spacecraft, which impacted on the lunar surface at 9:25 am., EDT on July 31, 1964.”

“Wide-angle photograph of cratered lunar surface southwest of spacecraft at low Sun illumination.”

“Wide-angle photograph of footpad 2. Note the displaced material that covers the lunar surface beyond the footpad, and the ray extending to the left from the footpad.”

“This photograph was taken by the Lunar Orbiter III of secondary site 20 in its mission to photograph potential manned landing sites on the Moon <…> The area is an oblique view looking north of an area of Hortensius domes…”

“Tenth lunar surface picture taken by Surveyor I spacecraft on June 2, 1966, shows a moon rock six inches high and twelve inches long. <…> Surveyor I, America’s first lunar soft-landing spacecraft, touched down on the moon at 11:17 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time, June 1, 1966.”

“This segment of the first telephoto picture taken by the camera of NASA’s Lunar Orbiter IV spacecraft at 8:45 a.m. PDT on May 11 [1967], covers part of a region near the Moon’s south pole never before viewed from directly above…”

Some of the captions: “Fig. 3-20. Related ridge and depression Mare Tranquillitatis, Ranger VIII;” “Mare Cognitum at full moon;” “Apollo 15 view o Schröter’s Valley – with coordinates. Figure 4;” “Mosaic of highest resolution photographs of floor of Alphonsus. Arrows indicate positive relief features;” “Mosaic of last “p” frames on a portion of the last “A” frame;” “only craters readable;” “Kepler (duplicate);” “E.A. W’s copy;” “Dr. G.P. Kuiper, Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wisc.;” “Fig. 5, Mare Orientale;” “330 miles square;” “180 miles square;” “40x50 miles;” “22 miles square,” “11 miles square,” “6 miles square,” “4 miles square,” “1 ¼ miles square,” &c.

“Ewen Whitaker's research was fundamental to the success of the manned lunar program. He pioneered the technique of groundbased differential UV/Infrared lunar photography, resulting in the first compositional maps of lava flows on the Moon. These maps, scientifically important in their own right, were also instrumental to the selection of landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions. In 1961, he was tasked with selecting impact sites for Rangers 6 and 7. He later located the landed positions of four Surveyors; the Surveyor 3 site was eventually chosen as the Apollo 12 landing site. He also selected sites for Lunar Orbiter 5. Whitaker briefed astronauts for Apollo missions 13, 15, and 16. He analyzed Apollo images and located the impact craters formed by the Ranger 7 and 9 spacecraft and the Apollo 13 and 14 3-stage launching system modules” (see more).