---
title: James Nasmyth made what look like photos of the lunar surface at home in 1874
url: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/photographs-of-models-of-the-moon-1874/
edition: /collider/2025-09-23/index.edition.md
position: 6
date: 2025-09-23
source: mailchimp
original: https://mailchi.mp/pathwright/collider-september-23-25
retrieved: 2026-11-09
visibility: public
author: /people/justin-hall.person.md
emoji: 📸
description: 📸 James Nasmyth made what look like photos of the lunar surface at home in 1874. "Peering through a self-made telescope, Nasmyth sketched the moon’s scarred, cratered and mountainous surface … then built plaster models based on the drawings, and photographed these against black backgrounds in the full glare of the sun.”
---

[![Nasmyth's photo of the “lunar surface”](./assets/06-james-nasmyth-made-what-look-like-photos-of-the-lunar.webp)](https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/photographs-of-models-of-the-moon-1874/)

*Nasmyth's photo of the “lunar surface”*

📸 **[James Nasmyth made what look like photos of the lunar surface at home in 1874.](https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/photographs-of-models-of-the-moon-1874/)** "Peering through a self-made telescope, Nasmyth sketched the moon’s scarred, cratered and mountainous surface … then built plaster models based on the drawings, and photographed these against black backgrounds in the full glare of the sun.”