The publication of this Atlas, in accordance with the desires of Professor Barnard, was assured by a grant made by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1907. The long delay in its appearance calls for an explanation. Mr. Barnard was in the throes of preparing for publication a volume of his pioneer celestial photographs made at the Lick Observatory in the years 1889-1895. He had difficulty in satisfying himself that any mode of reproduction could adequately depict the qualities of the original photographs.

That handsome work, which forms Volume XI of the Publications of the Lick Observatory, was not printed until 1913. It was natural and proper that the preparation of the present volume should have been delayed while the task of completing the earlier volume was in hand. The mode of reproduction to be adopted for the splendid photographs of this Atlas had not been selected at the time the original grant was made, and consequently considerable investigation and experiment were necessary in reaching a decision on this important matter. The attempts made with the photogravure and other processes did not give the assurance of uniformity that was desired, and finally the author was persuaded that actual photographic prints would be more satisfactory and hardly more expensive than any other available method of reproduction. After this decision had been reached and had been approved by the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Professor Barnard began the task of making the reproducing negatives, and then took upon himself the heavy duty of personally inspecting every print of the 35,700 needed in the issue of an edition of 700 copies.